Activities of Philip BRADBOURN related to 2011/2201(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the 2010 discharge: EU general budget, Section III – Commission
Amendments (24)
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 6 #
Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 11 #
Proposal for a decision 3
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a decision 4
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. .......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a decision 5
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. .......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Research Council Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a decision 6
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Research Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a decision 7
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a decision 8
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ......Postpones its decision on the closure of the accounts of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Underlines that the two policy areas prone to the highest error rates (‘Cohesion, transport and energy’ and ‘Agriculture and natural resources’) are implemented under shared management and regdeplorets deeplythe fact that the estimated most likely error rates amount to 7,7 % and 2,3 %, respectively;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63
Paragraph 63
63. Notes that the Court of Auditors applies a common methodology to categorise and quantify public procurement errors in the area of shared management; deplores the fact that the Commission does not follow a harmonised methodology in the different areas of shared management; is worried that different approaches in shared management could undermine the credibility of the control and audit of shared management expenditure; calls therefore on the Commission and the Court of Auditors to harmonise the treatment of public procurement errors in all shared management policy areas urgently and to report back to the Parliament's competent committee on the progress made by the end of 2012;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
New subheading after "Specific issues" heading
New subheading after "Specific issues" heading
The role of the Commissioner responsible for budgetary control issues
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph - 64 a (new)
Paragraph - 64 a (new)
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66
Paragraph 66
66. Takes the view that those important findings illustrate that Parliament cannot fully rely on the Commission's reporting on performance; believ which is a grave problem; emphasises that reliable data is the basis for good management, policy development and parliamentary oversight; would appreciate it ifasks the Court of Auditors whether it could further develop its activities in this area to include ‘certification’ of the performance data reported by the Commission on a regular basis;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
New subheading a after paragraph 72
New subheading a after paragraph 72
Transparency
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 f (new)
Paragraph 72 f (new)
72f. Emphasises the vital role transparency plays in ensuring accountability for the use of public funds; Reiterates its call for all grant payments from Union funds to be recorded in a user-friendly online database; believes that the payment of Union funds should be explicitly conditional on the acceptance by the beneficiaries that the basic details - including the amount, recipient's name, and purpose - be a matter of public record;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
New subheading b after paragraph 72
New subheading b after paragraph 72
Whistleblowers
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 g (new)
Paragraph 72 g (new)
72g. Requests that the Commission submit to Parliament's competent committee by September 2012 a report on its activities to promote whistle-blowing both amongst its staff and the wider public;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 h (new)
Paragraph 72 h (new)
72h. Reiterates its call for the Commission to review the briefing and training given to staff regarding 'Title II: Rights and Obligations of officials' of the Staff Regulation so as to ensure that all staff are fully conversant with its terms and particularly with the obligations under Article 22a of the Staff Regulations;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
73. Is concerned aboutDeplores the increase of the error rate to 7,7 % in the policy area ‘Cohesion, energy and transport’ despite an increased use of interruptions of payment deadlines; is deeply worried that some of the errors could have been detected and corrected for 58 % of the transactions affected by errors (Annual Report, point 4.25); is greatly concerned that talk of a 'stable' situation regarding error rates betrays a growing sense of complacency;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78
Paragraph 78
78. NotesDeplores the fact that the Commission has no power to impose penalties on Member States or regions which have repeatedly failed to implement Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund correctly;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
82. Believes that payments are resumed too quickly and calls on the Commission to make this power of sanction more effective by only resumeing payments only ifwhen sufficient appropriate audit evidence gathered on the spot proves that weaknesses were remedied;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 88 – indent 3 a (new)
Paragraph 88 – indent 3 a (new)
- ensuring that a full range of sanctions (interruptions, suspensions, financial corrections, and penalties) are available for all funds with minimal scope for discretion when breaches of the rules are discovered;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 88 – indent 4
Paragraph 88 – indent 4
– allowobliging the Commission to impose penalties on Member States or to discontinue operational programmes in Member States or regions which have repeatedly failed to implement Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund correctly;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112
Paragraph 112
112. Notes that the Commission is simplifying ex ante control procedures as far as possible with a view to facilitate the processing of payments with the consequence that only administrative requirements and arithmetical checks can be made; is worried that even in the case of doubt about the eligibility of cost declared, only limited ex ante checks were carried out (Annual Report, point 6.17 and example 6.2); insists that action be taken to remedy this situation;