51 Amendments of Inés AYALA SENDER related to 2015/2154(DEC)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D – point f
Recital D – point f
(f) approach the discharge process from the perspective of the close relationship between the Union budget and the new Union macroeconomic policy paradigm76; this should at all events take account of anomalies as regards both deficit and excessive surplus; __________________ 76 Europe 2020 Strategy; European Semester; Six-Pack, Two-Pack; Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) among others; close compliance with the CSRs as a benchmark for effective EU Budget´s expenditure allocation could be the way.
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E – point c
Recital E – point c
(c) conditionalities and performance reserve - sound financial management principles are based on the fact that Union funding is allocated in appropriate national fiscal, macroeconomic and institutional circumstances that serve as a precondition for funding itself, whereby account should be taken of anomalies as regards both deficit and excessive surplus; on the other hand, as a bonus for good performers, a performance reserve has been introduced;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considering that a result-oriented budget requires strong, solid and commonly agreed indicators; notes however that these indicators still need to be agreed with the co-legislators, the Commission and through extensive consultation with Member authorities together with stakeholders .Welcomes in this sense the establishment of the inter institutional working group on performance of result - oriented budget that has only recently started its works; encourages all parties involved to speed up its works while ensuring that a high quality set of indicators is agreed.
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines that the main objective of the Union budget is to benefit Union citizens and, in parallel, to protect the Union's financial interests and comply with the obligations and objectives laid down in the Treaties; the benefits consist in support oriented towards development and current priorities compatible with the economic policy context and economic performance, also taking into account the necessary flexibility to cope with new situations that may arise and with emergencies; the protection of Union financial interests requires the correct utilisation of expenditures in line with rules and without errors or fraud. The discharge approach should contribute to reaching a balance between these elements;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Points out, nevertheless, that the objectives and the budget for results must be geared to the objectives laid down in the Treaties, the Europe 2020 Strategy and sectoral and cohesion policies and must be sufficiently flexible so that it can be adapted to emergency situations that may arise, such as the economic crisis and/or the refugee crisis;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls that the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework is the first to make fewer budgetary means available than its predecessors and that pressure on the payment ceilings is much greater than in previous multiannual financial frameworks;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Points out, as acknowledged by the Commission in its replies to the remarks made by the Court of Auditors1a, that the Union’s objectives are defined in the treaties and have to be pursued and respected (e.g. the common agricultural policy), and within this framework, the EU budget is allocated to the various activities and aligned as much as possible with the changing headline EU priorities (i.e. Lisbon strategy, Europe 2020 strategy); __________________ 1a 2014 Annual Report of the Court of Auditors, point 3.5.
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Underlines however that 3/4 of Structural funds projects achieved their policy goals entirely or in parts and that only in 2% of the cases none of the objectives set up in the OP or on the grant agreement were attained.
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 – point b
Paragraph 25 – point b
(b) publishing not only the national declarations but also the annual summaries and management declarations, as "confidential documents" where applicable, in order to give more insight into and achieve a real improvement in financial management; however it is still not clear the effectiveness of these measures considering the differences Member's State structures and the political accountability of the different national authorities.
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Requests a commitmentn action plan from the Commission to preventwith a calendar and objectives to strengthen the prevention of these recurrent errors;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Streshares the Court of Auditors’ concern and surprises that, for the first time in a long while, in the operational expenditure the estimated level of error for spending under shared management with the Member States amountshas been reduced to 4,6 % (2013: 4,9 %) and for, equalling the level of error in the other forms of operational spending where the Commission has a leading role, it is als and which have soared to 4,6 % (2013: 3,7 %);
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 – point a
Paragraph 46 – point a
(a) priorities include a balanced approach between traditional methods and a strengthened focus on performance and results, taking account in every case of the obligations arising from the Treaties, the sectoral policies and the flexibility necessary to deal with unforeseen events;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 46 – point e a (new)
(ea) regrets the significant increase in errors in operational expenditure directly managed by the Commission, which have risen to a point where they now match the level of error for spending under shared management with the Member States for the first time;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Paragraph 48 a (new)
48a. Shares the view that, as stated by the President of the Court in the presentation of the annual report in the Parliament, geography is not the root cause of the errors.
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Recommends a continuation of the process of simplification of both procedures and budgetary content leading to a reduction of excessive administrative burdens and to limitations on gold-plating in particular Member States; stresses that the process of simplification should not lead to deregulation and should not mean forgetting about control mechanisms and procedures i.e. ex-ante audits; welcomes the existence of the high-level group created by Commission and is expecting results;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 a (new)
Paragraph 57 a (new)
57a. Calls on the Commission to improve communication and cooperation between actors involved in budget planning, implementation and discharge, and with the wider public, by aligning expectations, sharing experiences on implementation and reporting on the attainment of results.
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 b (new)
Paragraph 57 b (new)
57b. Calls on the Commission to consider using tools such as social media, surveys and focus groups to measure public awareness and assess ways to improve their communications strategy in future regarding the results of the projects to the citizens;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 c (new)
Paragraph 57 c (new)
57c. Welcomes the new inter-institutional working group on Performance in order to reach a common understanding of performance-based and results-oriented budgeting principles;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62
Paragraph 62
62. Notes that a large responsibility for correct allocation of the Union budget also lies with the Member States, as 76 % of expenditures are spent under shared management;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
Paragraph 64
64. Underlines that the better the Member States strive to fulfil the national and quantified Europe 2020 Strategy targets, the more Union budgetary spending can be targeted, and the more those targets will reflect the real Union economic, social, territorial and environmental needs, the better the Union will ensure an environment for sound financial management; in this context, recommends the creation of a permanent platform composed of the Commission and national governments´ representations, including the PERM-REP and regional authorities;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Invites the Commission to develop a system of strict indicators and easily applicable uniform criteria based on the requirements set out in the Stockholm Programme to measure the level of corruption in the Member States and evaluate the Member States’ anti- corruption policies; is concerned about the reliability and quality of data coming from the Member States; calls on the Commission, therefore, to work closely with Member States to guarantee comprehensive, exact and reliable data keeping in mind the goal of full implementation of the Single Audit Scheme; invites the Commission to work out a corruption index to categorise Member Statespublic directory of cases of corruption in the Member States in the area of protection of Union financial interests, which should include national, regional and local authorities, financial intermediaries, beneficiaries of European funds, etc.;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73 a (new)
Paragraph 73 a (new)
73a. Notes however that the percentage of serious errors by Member States in public procurement was significantly reduced from 45 per cent in 2013 in the regional policy area to 25 per cent of all qualified errors for the combined policy area economic, social and territorial cohesion in 2014.
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
77. Notes that a total of about EUR 142.5 billion in 2014in 2014 expenditure rose to about EUR 142.5 billion, equivalent to EUR 285 per citizen, which represents almost 2 % of total public expenditure in Union Member States, or 1 % of Union GDP;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85
Paragraph 85
85. Points outRegrets that despite the level of payments continuing to be higher than the MFF ceiling, use of the contingency margin unpaid payments claims rose by EUR 1,4 billion to EUR 25,8 billion;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 88
Paragraph 88
88. Regrets that the backlog in the absorption of multiannual funds is significant and may create a real problem for some Member States85; supports and recognises, in this connection, the usefulness of applying flexibility options, given the delays in launching all the programmes; __________________ 85 Absorption rate ranges from 50% to 92% in the Member States.
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 91
Paragraph 91
91. Underlines that, until changes are made to the Union's own-resources system, a GNI parameter is a key factor behind the revenue issue of the Union budget and stresses that a correct and objective measure of that is therefore a key issue, the only serious one regarding the revenue topic under the current Union budget´s architecture and that it is very important to have reliable and flexible databases for calculating Member States´ contributions;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95
Paragraph 95
95. Points ouDeplores the fact that the VAT gap and the estimated losses on VAT collection amounted to EUR 168 billion in 2013; is concerned that the new system of accountability for VAT as an own resource could not totally achieve its goal of simplification and stresses the need to improve EUROFISC to facilitate the exchange of information and help combat irregularities and frauds;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 97 a (new)
Paragraph 97 a (new)
97a. Is pleased at the establishment of the High-Level Group on own Resources chaired by Mario Monti; welcomes the first evaluation report that it submitted at the end of 2014 and agrees that the system has gradually become dominated by national contributions, with a leftover portion of independent, genuinely European own resources; considers that the current system of own resources should move forward from the current national debate on net contributors and recipients, which is remote from the EU's citizens, towards a system that is recognisably in the general interest of the Union and its policies.
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112 a (new)
Paragraph 112 a (new)
112a. Recalls that 'Societal Challenge 6 (SC6)', in particular, the social sciences and humanities, was a priority of Parliament which it introduced during the development of Horizon 2020; recalls the importance of this component in the domains in which the Union is facing particular challenges, such as tackling unemployment, radicalisation, terrorism, supporting migrants, economic and monetary governance, and the fight against inequality; is concerned, therefore, that during the implementation phase of the programme, the social sciences and humanities have been downgraded as a priority through the loss of their dedicated leadership and the reduction in their commitment appropriations by 40% at a time when the overall envelope for Horizon 2020 under the 2014-2020 MFF has increased;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 114
Paragraph 114
114. Calls on beneficiaries to make maximum use of audit certificates, as audit certificates reduce error rates by 50 % compared with uncertified cost claims; considers, however, that the error rate found by external audits should be substantially improved given the highly specialised support received from the Commission; welcomes in this context all the guidance, seminars, templates and the list of the most common errors which the Commission put at the disposal of beneficiaries and audit bodies, but calls on the Commission to take more incisive measures to ensure that external audit certificates more accurately reflect the error rate;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119 a (new)
Paragraph 119 a (new)
119a. Considers it intolerable that the error rate for FP7 has not improved on FP6, and that, according to the statements by the Director-General of DG RTD it will be even worse; takes the view the error rate for FP7 should have improved given the greater experience acquired in project management; deplores that dramatic rise in the error rate in the area of 'competitiveness for growth and employment' in 2014 only serves to highlight the sound management of the programme in recent years;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119 b (new)
Paragraph 119 b (new)
119b. Deplores that the area of expenditure 'competitiveness for growth and employment' saw the steepest rise in error rates in the EU between 2013 and 2014;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 122 a (new)
Paragraph 122 a (new)
122a. Deplores the recent press reports casting doubt on DG RTD's ability to protect the financial interests of the Union in an effective manner; calls on the Commission to clarify the circumstances that have been well documented in the media and point to a clear case of maladministration and unequivocal damage to the EU's financial interests and reputation; calls on the Ombudsman to open an investigation into the matter;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 122 b (new)
Paragraph 122 b (new)
122b. Deplores the fact that the simplification has done away with ex-ante audits (there is now no ex-ante certification for spending of over EUR 375 000, for instance), giving rise to cumulative mistakes that lead to a widespread, ever growing error rate that seems unlikely to be reduced in the case of Horizon 2020, given the increase in bodies responsible for managing expenses in relation to FP7;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 126 a (new)
Paragraph 126 a (new)
126a. Notes with concern the increasing trend towards financing European funds and programmes via financial instruments, with the justification of involving the private sector, but which entails the risk of losing the ability to oversee and protect the financial interests of the Union and passes on the risk of losses to all EU citizens;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 126 b (new)
Paragraph 126 b (new)
126b. Points out that certain sectors and policy fields, such as railway infrastructure or theoretical or basic research, are less suited to financing via financial instruments, and thus risk being excluded from the scope of EU activities;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 131 a (new)
Paragraph 131 a (new)
131a. Is concerned that the radical simplification of the Horizon 2020 programme carried out with the aim of reducing error rates could cause the eligible costs of EU funding to exceed levels that cast doubt on the added value of EU action;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 132
Paragraph 132
132. Notes that the Commission launched a stakeholder consultation on additional simplifications that should be introduced in Horizon 2020; requests information on how additional simplifications will be implemented, and urges the Commission not to let this simplification increase the level of reimbursement of costs unjustifiably; calls on the Commission to extend this initiative and look into the possibility of applying a fixed-rate reimbursement system for direct costs on other EU policies plagued by recurring error problems;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 148 a (new)
Paragraph 148 a (new)
148a. Takes note that, according to all available audits results at end of November 2015, 90% of ERDF /Cohesion fund programmes management verifications are functioning well or subject to small improvements. Recalls that the root for errors done by Member State lie among other in complex management structures in some Member States and the loss of expertise consequence of high staff turnover or insufficient staff allocation due to budgetary constraints.
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 150
Paragraph 150
150. Draws attention to the recommendations in the Court's Special Report 10/2015 "Efforts to address problems with public procurement in Union cohesion expenditure should be intensified" and welcomes the Commission's positive reaction to the Court's findings;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 187 a (new)
Paragraph 187 a (new)
187a. Welcomes the Commission for setting-up of a High Level group on simplification for beneficiaries to assist in identifying the obstacles and barriers to simplification and to find a way to address them. Calls the Commission to look at successful simplification procedures recognised by the Court i.e. Horizon 2020 and the simplification of indirect cost with flat rate reimbursements, in order to generalise this approach to other policy areas;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 187 b (new)
Paragraph 187 b (new)
187b. Calls on the Commission to assess or review the possibility of extending the system of payment for entitlements, which leads to fewer errors than the cost reimbursement system – that is the cause of most errors – to other programmes.
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 244 a (new)
Paragraph 244 a (new)
244a. Acknowledges that the assessments derived from the EAMR reports provide only a snapshot of the situation of each project at the end of the year and that the actual impact of the identified difficulties can only be assessed by the end of the project.
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 245 a (new)
Paragraph 245 a (new)
245a. Notes that only a very limited part of the ongoing projects were assessed as having serious problems justifying a red flag; welcomes the corrective actions foreseen which could still produce a positive outcome by the end of the implementation period.
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 246
Paragraph 246
246. Takes the view that heads of Union delegations should be clearly reminded of their duties during their recruitment and pre-posting in terms of management, their responsibility in the management assurance related to their delegation portfolios of operations (key management processes, control management, adequate understanding and assessment of the KPI), providing qualitative and exhaustive reporting in the context of the establishment of the annual activity report and urged not only to concentrate on the political component of their duties;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 248 a (new)
Paragraph 248 a (new)
248a. Welcomes that the Commission has increased the monitoring of Union funded projects in the Tindouf camps with a total of 24 monitoring missions carried out in 2015, and up to 2 weeks /month spent by Commission humanitarian staff in the camps. . Welcomes all efforts by the European Commission to ensure the most efficient use of Union funding in the camps and acknowledges that there is no customs duty on humanitarian imports in the case of Tindouf.
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267 a (new)
Paragraph 267 a (new)
267a. Notes that the level of sick leave at the Commission remains stable; welcomes the establishment of a psychosocial support group, that has seen the number of days of absence fall from 2200 in 2010 to 772 in 2014. is concerned, however, at the need to intervene in 868 cases, albeit with a degree of satisfaction of 95%;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267 b (new)
Paragraph 267 b (new)
267b. Takes note more than 250 staff members, not taken up in the new Cabinets, were reintegrated or hosted in the DGs and that some 550 staff of the new Cabinets were welcomed in new Junker Commission;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267 c (new)
Paragraph 267 c (new)
267c. Expresses concern, therefore, at the extent to which the greater number of complex tasks and increasingly ambitious and urgent assignments carried out by the EU institutions in such areas as economic governance, the refugee crisis, foreign conflicts and external action, the terrorist threat – coupled with austerity measures and the reform of the European civil service for 2013-2017 – is undermining the motivation and individual and family well-being of staff working for the European institutions, with tragic outcomes in some cases;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267 d (new)
Paragraph 267 d (new)
267d. Notes that the reduction of 5% in staff numbers is making it extremely difficult to perform certain public services, placing an undue burden on certain areas of the administration; calls attention to the fact that these measures at times jeopardise the quality of public services provided to European citizens; calls on the Commission to submit, as soon as possible, an action plan including, among other elements, an assessment of the indistinct horizontal distribution of job cuts among different departments and institutions and problems of filling certain positions given the decline in wages and working conditions, with a view to avoiding any possible weakening of the European civil service;
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 275
Paragraph 275
275. Points to the ongoing migration crisis and underlines the need to address it with a coherent Union solution; notes the funds allocated to migration and external-border management in 2014, notes the recently adopted migration fund of 700 Million euro to be managed by NGOs, who find it insufficient considering the magnitude of the catastrophe and asks the Court to consider preparing a quick special report on the effectiveness of these funds drawing conclusions to be reflected in the ongoing process of upgrading the Union migration and border control policy;