12 Amendments of Monika HOHLMEIER related to 2021/2158(DEC)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible for the Court to carry out on-the-spot visits to EU delegations, thus preventing it from carrying out certain audit procedures, in particular verifying contract implementation for the transactions selected, and therefore the Court’s audit work was mainly limited to desk reviews of transactions and projects by means of remotely connecting with auditees; notes, nevertheless that desk reviews are a predominantly common tool when carrying out an audit procedure and evaluating data; invites ECA to resume the on-the-spot visits as soon as possible once the COVID-19 situation would allow so;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers that monitoring activities will be more effective if Commission intelligence is regularly published and shared with the discharge authority in advance so long as such reporting is in compliance with applicable legislation;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is worried about, notwithstanding the positive analysis by DG INTPA in its Annual Activity Report on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for 2020 (14 KPIs scoring better than in 2019), the Court’s observation, as in previous years, that the frequency of identified errors, including some contained in final claims which had been subject to ex-ante external auditchecks and expenditure verifications, still points to weaknesses in those checks; reiterates its expectation that the control system be more rigorous and calls on DG INTPA to continue efforts to improve the assessment of both the effectiveness and efficiency of its control system by identifying KPIs for both, by setting realistic and ambitious targets and by monitoring and improving its control system; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to set up a platform covering EDF-funded projects by country, focusing on the final recipients, general and specific project goals and, above all, their practical results in terms of the desired increase in development indices; suggests that developing such an integrated, interoperable information and monitoring platform would increase control reliability and would contribute to enhanced effectiveness and visibility of EU development aid; in this regard, invites the Commission to consider also launching a dialogue with the beneficiary countries with reference to a possible use of a single risk-scoring tool in the future;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Is of the view that it is worth underlying that the regulatory framework governing the RER study and the contract between DG INTPA and the RER study contractor do not provide for any systemic approach for reporting on suspected fraud against the Union budget detected during its RER work; strongly supports the Court’s recommendation in that area and; welcomes in this regard the Commission’s initiative to amend its RER Manual and Methodology by the end of 2021 taking, as much as possible, into account the remarks by the Court; notes that the new version will include an increase in the number of field visits, additional explanations on procurement checks and reliance on previous control work and the obligation to report to the Commission any suspected fraud against the EU budget detected during the work on the RER study; invites the Commission to report back to the discharge authority on the measures introduced in the RER methodology or in the terms of reference to formalise the communication of suspected fraud by the RER study contractor;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Notes that in 2020 DG INTPA developed a new draft anti-fraud strategy, the adoption of which was delayed to 2021; notes, furthermore, that the anti-fraud strategy is based on the DG INTPA survey to assess risks and controls, a risk analysis to be linked to the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI)2 , the new implementation modalities and the Commission’s anti-fraud strategy, adopted in 2019; emphasises also the role of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) as an essential tool to sanction fraud and encourages further DG INTPA to make known the use of this system; _________________ 2 Regulation (EU) 2021/947 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 June 2021 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, amending and repealing Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EU) 2017/1601 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 480/2009 (OJ L 209, 14.6.2021, p. 1).
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Considers that needs assessments in connection with NDICI-Global Europe programming should take into account countries’ debt situations and how those situations influence the possibility of pursuing the SDGs; stresses the need for crowding in private financing to achieve the SDGs and the need for donors to prioritise grant-based financing as the default option, especially to the least developed countries, and not favour blending, guarantees or any loans that could inchighlights the increased efforts to leverage EU funds with a view to providing more ase the burden of debt over grants; sistance to partners including through blending and de- risking mechanisms; discourages the UnCommission and othe Member States to develop, as a first step, and in addition to its pledges on a debt moratorium, a new debt relief initiative regarding heavily indebted poor countries; calls, more broadly, for the creation of a multilateral debt workout mechanism to address both the impact of the crisis and the financing requirements of the 2030 Agendar European institutions from setting up new financial aid instruments and rather encourages them to assure greater visibility of the existent instruments in their respective area of operation and in the European Union and strengthening partner countries capacity to monitor and manage their debt;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Notes with concerns that, as of 12 NovemberAcknowledges the overall positive impact of COVAX to ACP countries despite several implementation challenges and weaknesses throughout the process; notes that by mid-February 20212, COVID- 19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) has delivered only 476 697 161ver 1 billion doses to 144 countries, of which 160265 million doses were donations; notes that EU Members States have provided 48shared 352 million doses; regrets that the impact of COVAX is pretty poor, having missed its own targets for 2021; call on the Commission to stop sending vaccines which are about to expire; (by early February 2022); notes that the impact of COVAX is below its optimal performance with regards to its own targets for 202151a; _________________ 51a COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard, UNICEF Supply Division https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19- vaccine-market-dashboard
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63
Paragraph 63
63. Recalls that 2 EUTFs were created under the EDF, namely the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa (the ‘EUTF for Africa’) and the European Union Trust Fund Bêkou for the Central African Republic (the ‘EUTF Bêkou’); recalls Parliament’s regular stance that the Commission should ensures that any trust fund established as a new development tool must always be in line with the Union’s overall strategy and development policy objectives, i.e. the reduction and in the long term eradication of poverty as enshrined in Article 208 TFEU, and must, in particular, ensure that the security interests of European countries do not override the needsrecipient countries receive support in tackling the root causes of irregular migration flows as security is essential for the stability of the recipient populations; encouragnotes ,the Commission to reconsider financial aid to EUTF projects deflecting from that centreline; proposal for the establishment under the CFSP of a European Peace Facility (EPF) for the financing of military and defence-related cooperation with third countries and IOs that will enhance the ability of the Union to respond more rapidly and effectively to security challenges together with the NDICI;63a _________________ 63a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/IDAN/2021/691520/IPOL_IDA(20 21)691520_EN.pdf p. 28.
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66
Paragraph 66
66. Expresses concerns aboutNotes the financial contribution of the EDF to the EUTF Bêkou to support the Central African Republic’s exit from the COVID- 19 crisis and its reconstruction and development, due to the control exercised by mercenaries from; expresses concerns about the influence of the Wagner Group over the Central African Armed Forces; echonotes the concerns that mercenaries from the Wagner Group were commanding units that the Union had trained and notes the CommissiCommission's decision to temporarily suspend its military training mission due to concerns referring to activities of the Wagner Group; in this regard, notes, that in December 2021 the EU has decided to impose restrictive measures against the Wagner Group; welcomes EU’s strong decision to temporarily suspend its military training mission;termination to stand up for its interests and values in its worried by reports of systematic and serious human rights violations by the Wagner Group andneighbourhood and to take decisive action against threats to the international peace and security; calls on the Commission to checkmonitor that no funds weare paid out directly or indirectly to the Wagner GroupRussian contractors or sub-contracts especially in view of the current war on Ukraine;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
Paragraph 67
67. Notes that the mid-term evaluation of the EUTF for Africa was concluded in 2020; notes the main findings of the evaluation report and expresses concerns about some of the critical aspects highlighted therein, namely the fact that despite significant resources allocated for addressing irregular migration, the most appropriate means for addressing it, which is the main objective of the EDFs, was not well defined, leading to a situation in which the EUTF for Africa has focused on migration to Europe rather than the broad migration and development agenda; is worried by one ofhose purpose is to provide with an objective assessment of the strategic approach and operationalisation of the EUTF from 2015 to 2019 was concluded in 2020; notes the main findings of the evaluation report, namely that the EUTF for Africa, as a short-term instrument, is not an appropriate vehicl has a too wide mandate for addressing the root causes of major societal problemsigration; notes the need to better address challenges related to intra-African migration that makes up almost 90% of migration flows in Africa; requests the Commission to continue responding to thatese concerns in the remaining implementation period, making sure to have more focused activities to eradicate poverty in line with the EDFs’ main objective and to work towards an approach limiting the dependencies on external intervention;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79
Paragraph 79
79. Notes with concerns that 73,3 % of the contracts with Member States were signed with only 2a few national development agencies (such as the French AFD and the German GIZ); while recognising their expertise of those 2 agencies, considers that, considers that more efforts for promoting also the vision of more national development agencies are necessary; Union development policy cannot be reduced to the vision of only 2two Member States; welcomes the efforts of the Commission in that regard, including the preparation of a study to understand the strength of each partner in the Members States in order to evaluate how they could better contribute in the future; asks the Commission to provide the discharge authority with that report as soon as it is available;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 80 a (new)
Paragraph 80 a (new)
80 a. Recalls that media reports (Congo hold-up) highlighted that money assigned under the EDF, which was used for public infrastructure projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was paid out to a company that is linked to a well-known Hezbollah financier; notes that the Commission did not have any information on alleged links between this company and the financier at the moment of awarding these contracts and that all contracts except one were completed satisfactorily; recalls, however, the Union’s commitment to zero tolerance for suspected fraud, corruption, and funding of activities linked to terrorism and the obligation to avoid that European funding indirectly benefits criminal and terrorist activities; requests that the Commission updates its procurement rules and post- ante checks to strengthen background checks of beneficiaries and their affiliations;