Activities of Indrek TARAND related to 2017/2136(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, Section III – Commission and executive agencies PDF (1 MB) DOC (228 KB)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants/pPostpones the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. Whereas in the context of the discharge procedure, the Parliament wishes to stress the special importance of further strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the Union institutions through improving on transparency and accountability, implementing the concepts of Performance-Based Budgeting (PBB) and good governance of human resources;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Expresses the need to establish an independent disclosure, advice and referral body with sufficient budgetary resources, in order to help whistle-blowers use the right channels to disclose information on possible irregularities affecting the financial interests of the Union, while protecting their confidentiality and offering needed support and advice;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Is surprised by the divergent views expressed by the Court and the Commission as to financial management of the first pillar of the CAP; expresses doubts as to the assertion made by the Court that in expenditure the error is not “pervasive” (ECA annual report paragraph 1.8) since the director general of Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), in his AAR, issued a reservation in direct payments concerning 18 paying agencies comprising 12 Member States; calls on the Commission and the Court to align their methods of assertion by leaning on the international audit standards before issuing the next Annual Report or AAR;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Notes that this decrease is, according to the Commission, mainly due to cohesion's lower inherent risk of error for programmes of the current MFF; is surprised by this explanation given the very low level of budget implementation in this area; calls on the Commission to further explain the matter;
Amendment 79 #
33. Shares the view of the Court that the Commission’s methodology for estimating its amount at risk error has improved over the years but that “individual DGs’ estimations of the level of irregular spending are not based on a consistent methodology”; calls on the Commission to use the same methodology to estimate its amount at risk error for all DGs and inform the Discharge Authority on the progress;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Points out that the College of the Commissioners does not produce an annual statement on governance, in line with best practice and the common practice of Member States; calls on the Commission, in order to provide for a higher transparency and accountability of its College, to produce an annual statement on governance;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Notes with concern that a record level of outstanding commitments has been created, reaching by the end of 2016 an all- time high of EUR 238 billion, 72 % higher than in 2007 and equivalent to 2.9 years of payments compared to 2.2 years in 2007; considers that this has increased the amounts owed by the EU and thus the financial exposure of the Union budget; stresses that the EU Budget is not allowed to run a deficit while its long-term liabilities in fact represent the budget debt;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Recalls that the Union is making increasing use of financial instruments and that the establishment of EFSI creates new governance arrangements with limited public scrutiny; calls on the Court to strengthen its overview over the planning and the spending phase of the ESI funds;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Points out that EU funds form a significant share of some Member States’ expenditure, and in particular that in nine Member States (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia,) outstanding commitments on ESI funds represent more than 15 % of general government spending; calls on the Commission to also prepare a positive advertising campaign with a view to informing the citizens of these countries in more detail about the direct benefits of their membership;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Fears that Member States where European Structural Investment (ESI) funds represent a significant percentage of general government expenditure may find it challenging to identify sufficiently high quality projects on which to spend the available Union funds or to provide co- financing; calls on the Commission and the Court to pay greater attention to the sustainability aspect of the proposed investment projects and critically assess their adequacy;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Points out that the AARs of the directors general report on the annual payments of directorates-general by type of activity or spending programme, whilst on performance they report on the achievement of general and specific objectives with no indication of the corresponding expenditure; regretsdisagrees with Commission's explanation that it is not possible to assess how much was spent on pursuing the set objectives; calls on the Commission to fully implement the PBB principle of budget planning, implementation and reporting phase which will allow the ex-post reporting on the funds spent in pursuing the set objectives;
Amendment 408 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 265
Paragraph 265
265. Appreciates that its calls on the Commission to review the code of conduct for Commissioners by the end of 2017, including by defining what constitutes a conflict of interest as well as introducing criteria for assessing the compatibility of post-office employment and extending the cooling off period to three years for the President of the Commission, have received the required response have now received the required response but regrets that some of Parliament's recommendations on the reform of the Code of Conduct have not been heeded to;
Amendment 411 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 265 a (new)
Paragraph 265 a (new)
265 a. Is of the opinion that the Commission should make the Commissioner’s special advisers more accountable and their professional ties and background transparent and open to public scrutiny in order to prevent their potential conflicts of interest as they have unfettered access to the Commission; believes that these steps will help to limit the possibility of lobbying at the highest level through the back door;
Amendment 414 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 266 a (new)
Paragraph 266 a (new)
266 a. Deplores the fact that both Commissioner Katainen and the former president of the Commission have acted in breach of Ethics principles by having a meeting as, respectively Member of the Commission and representative of the Goldman Sachs Group - the former by not mentioning Mr. Barrosso's name in the Transparency Register and the later by attending a meeting with an active Commissioner against his own promise given to the Ad-hoc Ethical Committee before taking on his new role with Goldman Sachs to avoid lobbying the Commission; stresses the potential conflict of interests; stresses that the explanations given to the press months after the meeting by Commissioner Katainen were an attempt to water-down the importance of such a meeting and were unsatisfactory on content; asks the Commission's President to give a thorough explanation to the Discharge Authority on the safeguards against the undisclosed lobbying and measures taken to prevent such occasions in the future;
Amendment 415 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267
Paragraph 267
267. Fears that the appointment processes of the Independent Ethical Committee does not guarantee its independence and stresses that independent experts should not have themselves held the position of Commissioner, nor should they have held a position as a senior Commission official; asks the Commission to adopt new rules on the Independent Ethical Committee in line with this remark;
Amendment 417 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 267 a (new)
Paragraph 267 a (new)
267 a. Is concerned that Commissioner Arias Canete receives a pension from the European Parliament's Voluntary Pension Fund on top of his salary as the Commissioner; is of the opinion that such behaviour is ethically doubtful and politically unacceptable; reminds that although Commissioner Canete's decision to ask for a pension was completely legal as he has reached an age of 63 his decision presents additional liability on the fund currently running on deficit with an estimated date of insolvency between 2024 and 2026; stresses the fact that the European Parliament's Voluntary Pension Fund will probably have to be bailed-out at the end with the EU taxpayers money; holds the view that the Commissioner should renounce his pension for the duration of his mandate as Commissioner; alternatively Commissioner Cañete could ask the Commission to deduct his pension from his salary for the duration of his mandate;
Amendment 422 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 268 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 268 – point e a (new)
Amendment 424 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 268 – point e b (new)
Paragraph 268 – point e b (new)
(eb) Declarations of interests should be improved in line with Parliament resolution of 1 December 2016 on Commissioners’ declarations of interests – guidelines (2016/2080(INI));
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 270 a (new)
Paragraph 270 a (new)
270a. Is concerned by the lack of transparency and a possible breach of Union's rules on recruitment by recent appointment of the Commission's President's Head of Office as the new Secretary General of the Commission; calls on the President of the Commission to provide the Discharge Authority with a thorough explanation of processes and procedures taken for this appointment;
Amendment 445 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 283
Paragraph 283
283. Is astounded that the development of a new case management system, devised in-house, will cost EUR 12,2 million; asks whether OLAF undertook any market research for cheaper solutions before engaging in this expense; expects that the Commission and OLAF present a thorough explanation of estimated costs and steps taken to find a more economic solution to the Discharge Authority;
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 49 a (new)
Subheading 49 a (new)
Investigative journalism and fight against corruption
Amendment 448 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 283 a (new)
Paragraph 283 a (new)
283a. Condemns the murder of Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova on 22 February 2018, is very much concerned by information according to which this assassination could be linked to the fraudulent payment of Union transfer funds to a resident in Slovakia and with alleged ties to the organized crime group 'Ndràngheta; asks the Commission and the OLAF to closely examine this file and to report on it in the framework of the follow-up on the Commission discharge;