17 Amendments of Bart STAES related to 2017/2131(INL)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
- having regard to the Analysis of the Use and Impact of European Union Funds in Hungary in the 2007-2013 programming period commissioned by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office and prepared by KPMG Tanácsadó Ltd. and its subcontractor GKI Gazdaságkutató Corp.;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Cohesion Funds’ (ERDF, CF, ESF) payments from the Union to Hungary between 2004 and 2017 amounted to EUR 30,15 billion; whereas the amount of financial correction resulting from Union audits amounts, to date, to an approximate amount of EUR 940 million for the ERDF, CF and ESF and is expected to exceed EUR 1 billion;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas since 2008 Hungary has fallen by 19 points in the Corruption Perception Index, making it one of the worst performing Member States in terms of fighting corruption;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, according to the Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018, corruption, governmental favouritism and the lack of transparency of governmental policymaking are the biggest obstacles for businesses in Hungary ;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Country Specific Recommendations of the Commission under the European Semester between 2014-2017 (CSRs) highlighted theat Hungary needs to improve the transparency of public finances and strengthen public procurement structures and the anti-corruption framework; its anti-corruption framework; whereas, according to the CSRs, limited progress has been made in the transparency of public finances with the adoption of the Public Procurement Act, but important actions were delayed, especially in the field of e-procurement, and the indicators show that competition and transparency are still unsatisfactory in public procurement; whereas, according to the CSRs, no progress has been registered as regards the improvement of the anti-corruption framework and no changes are envisaged in the National Anti-Corruption Programme to make it more effective in preventing corruption and applying dissuasive sanctions; whereas, according to the CSRs, the prosecution of high-level corruption cases remains the exception;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the monitoring institutions, such as the Court of Auditors and the Prosecutor General, are separate from the executive branch and are independent bodies according to the Basic Law and the relevant cardinal laws of Hungary; whereas in practice they do not, however, seem to have independence and autonomy from the ruling political elite as both the president of the Court of Auditors and the Prosecutor General have close links to Hungary’s ruling political party and are therefore not completely independent in carrying out their duties;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the number of investigations carried out by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) for 2013-2016 in relation to Hungary, at 41, is the second highest in the Union; whereas 85 % of the investigations were concluded with judicial and financial recommendations, which is the highest in the Union;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the financial impact of OLAF investigations relating to Hungary in the areas of Structural Funds and Agriculture for 2013-2016 reached 4,16 %, which is the highest in the Union and about 900 % higher than the Union average;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas less than 10 % of the information coming to OLAF from Hungary in 2016 came from public sources;
Amendment 19 #
Fa. whereas the Transparency Index (TI) of public procurement in Hungary between 2015–2016 remained far below the 2009–2010 level; whereas, since 2011, Union-funded tenders were characterised by significantly lower TI values in each year compared to non-Union-funded tenders; whereas the detailed analysis shows that the level of transparency was significantly weaker in 2016 than in 2015;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas estimations show a very high level of direct social loss in Hungary, reaching 15-24 % in total contract value in the 2009-2016 period, which amounts to at least between EUR 6,7 billion and EUR 10,6 billion;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
Fc. whereas a vibrant civil society sector should play a vital role in promoting the transparency and accountability of governments with respect to their finances and their fight against corruption;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. 1. Regrets that the developments in Hungary have led to an increasing level of corruption and a serious deterioration of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights over the past few years, including the functioning of the constitutional system, the independence of the public prosecution, the Court of Auditors and of other controlling institutions, and that there are many worrying allegations of corruption and conflicts of interest, which, taken together, could represent an emerging systemic threat to the rule of law in this Member State;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls its recommendation of 13 December 2017 to the Council and the Commission following the inquiry into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, in which it noted that the anti- corruption monitoring by the Commission was to be pursued through the European Semester process, took the view that anti- corruption might be overshadowed by other economic and financial matters in that process, and called on the Commission to lead by example, resuming the publication of the anti-corruption report and committing to a much more credible and comprehensive anti- corruption strategy; points out that the fight against corruption is a matter of police and judicial cooperation, a policy area where Parliament is co-legislator and has full powers of scrutiny;
Amendment 27 #
1b. Recalls its Resolution of 25 October 2016 with recommendations to the Commission on the establishment of a Union mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, specifically calling for the establishment of an annual report on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (European DRF Report) with country- specific recommendations, including a specific focus on corruption;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes with concern that the share of contracts awarded after public procurement procedures that received only a single bid remains very high, at 36%, in Hungary, which is the second highest number in the Union, indicating that there are strong risks of corruption in Hungarian public procurement tenders;