BETA


2012/2291(INI) Integrated internal control framework

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead CONT ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea (icon: ECR ECR) SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros (icon: ALDE ALDE), STAES Bart (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), ANDREASEN Marta (icon: EFD EFD), EHRENHAUSER Martin (icon: NA NA)
Committee Opinion REGI
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2013/11/28
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2013/07/03
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2013/07/03
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 309 votes to 264, with 4 abstentions, an alternative motion for a resolution, tabled by the S&D group, on the integrated internal control framework.

Parliament considers that the most effective means for the Commission to demonstrate that it is genuinely committed to ensuring transparency and sound financial management is to do all it can to support measures seeking to enhance the quality of financial management, with a view to obtaining a positive statement of assurance (DAS) from the European Court of Auditors. It calls, accordingly, for the effective implementation of the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework . Parliament notes that the Commission itself stated that the Action Plan was fully completed at the beginning of 2009, although 3 of the 16 original actions could not be implemented.

‘Tolerable level of risk’ and DAS: Parliament returns to the concept of ‘tolerable level of risk’, noting that the Commission chose to complete this action by defining the concept of ‘residual risk of errors’ . They recall that the overall rate of error in underlying transactions increased from 3.3% to 3.7% in 2010, reaching 3.9% in 2011.

As far as the DAS is concerned, Parliament deplores the fact that the commitment made by the Commission to reach a fully positive DAS has not been fulfilled , and points out in particular that, in its 2011 statement of assurance report, the Court of Auditors concluded that overall payments were materially affected by error and assessed that the supervisory and control systems were in general partially effective. The plenary notes that the Commission has maintained its objective of obtaining a positive DAS, whilst Parliament deeply deplored, in its resolution on discharge for 2011, the fact that payments remain materially affected by error. Parliament therefore calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to achieve a trend of a consistent decrease in the error rate .

What is wrong?: broadly speaking, Parliament shares the views of the Court of Auditors and the Commission as regards the fact that the single audit scheme does not work and that the control systems set up by the Member States are not functioning to their full potential. In this regard, it recalls that in 2011, in the area of regional policy, for over 60% of the errors identified by the Court of Auditors, Member State authorities had sufficient information to identify and correct some of the errors before asking for reimbursement from the Commission.

Parliament underlines that the first-level checks, namely the management and control systems in Member States, are insufficient; resulting in a considerably high burden to lower the error rate. It is also concerned that an increasing complexity of rules at national or regional level (‘gold plating’) results in further problems for the legal implementation of the Union budget and in an unnecessary increase in the error rate. On the whole, Parliament is of the view that the Commission cannot fully rely on the findings of the national audit bodies of the Member States.

Moreover, the alternative resolution notes that there is a fundamental discrepancy between the Court of Auditors, which, in the DAS audits, applies an annual approach , and the Commission, which, in the implementation of the budget, applies a multiannual approach .

What is to be done?: Parliament considers that it is up to the Commission to identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action in terms of simplification, improvement of control systems and redesign of programmes or delivery systems. Member States are asked to strengthen their supervisory and control systems and, more particularly, to ensure the reliability of their indicators and statistics.

Member States are called upon to:

assume full responsibility for their accounts and to submit reliable data to the Commission using national management declarations signed at the appropriate political level; cooperate with a view to ensuring that taxpayers' funds are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management , either through appropriate benefits or through strict sanctions or the suspension of the flow of funds.

The Commission is urged to:

harmonise all control procedures within its departments; be more rigorous when certifying the national management and audit authorities and to put in place the right incentives and an effective system of sanctions.

Parliament asks therefore, in accordance with Article 287(3) TFEU, that, in relation to the auditing of shared management, cooperation between national audit bodies and the European Court of Auditors be stepped up.

It also calls on the appropriate EU institutions to assess whether setting the error rate at 2% is appropriate and attainable for all areas of EU policy. In this regard, the alternative resolution raises serious doubts about the usefulness of the statement of assurance, as, due to the complexity of the budget implementation in the area of shared management, there is also a shared responsibility for the legality and regularity of the budget administration between the Commission and the Member States, and between the Commission and regional administrations, whereas the political responsibility still lies only with the Commission. Parliament is, therefore, of the opinion that, in the context of the future revision of the EU Treaty , the concept of the statement of assurance should be reconsidered .

Follow up on 2011 discharge to the Commission: once again, Parliament calls on Member States to issue national management declarations at the appropriate political level and asks the Commission to establish a template for such declarations. It considers that the principle of a compulsory national management declaration should be incorporated into the interinstitutional agreement accompanying the decision on the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Parliament calls on the Commission to adopt annually, and, for the first time in September 2013, a communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors with a view to making public all the amounts in nominal terms recovered in the course of the preceding year through financial corrections and recoveries.

It urges that all the actions taken in order to reduce the error rates should be complemented by a new culture of performance . The Commission services should thus define in their management plan a number of targets and indicators meeting the requirements of the Court of Auditors in terms of relevance, comparability and reliability so as to measure ‘departmental’ performance . This would be complemented by a global evaluation of the performance of the Commission in the evaluation report provided for by Article 318 TFEU. The performance indicators should be fully integrated in all proposals for new policies and programmes.

Likewise, Parliament calls for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators.

Lastly, Parliament calls on all the parties involved in the decision-making process concerning the post-2013 legislation and programmes to bear in mind the need to respect the categorical imperative of simplification by reducing the number of programmes and defining proportionate and cost-effective controls and simplified eligibility rules and cost methods.

It should be noted that another alternative motion for resolution, tabled by the ECR group, was rejected in plenary.

Documents
2013/07/03
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2013/07/02
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2013/06/03
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Budgetary Control unanimously adopted the own-initiative report by Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ (ECR, CZ) on the Integrated Internal Control Framework. Members consider that the most effective means for the Commission to demonstrate that it is genuinely committed to ensuring transparency and sound financial management is to do all it can to support measures seeking to enhance the quality of financial management, with a view to obtaining a positive statement of assurance (DAS) from the European Court of Auditors. They call, accordingly, for the effective implementation of the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework. Members note that the Commission itself stated that the Action Plan was fully completed at the beginning of 2009, although 3 of the 16 original actions could not be implemented.

‘Tolerable level of risk’: Members discuss the concept of ‘tolerable level of risk’, noting that the Commission chose to complete this action by defining the concept of ‘residual risk of errors’. They recall that the overall rate of error in underlying transactions increased from 3.3 % to 3.7 % in 2010, reaching 3.9 % in 2011. The report deplores the reversal of the positive trend that has occurred in recent years, and fears that the rate of error will grow in the years to come. It also deplores the fact that the commitment made by the Commission to reach a fully positive DAS has not been fulfilled , and calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to achieve a trend of a consistent decrease in the error rate.

What is wrong?: broadly speaking, Members share the views of the Court of Auditors and the Commission as regards the fact that the single audit scheme does not work and that the control systems set up by the Member States are not functioning to their full potential.

In this regard, the report recalls that in 2011, in the area of regional policy, for over 60 % of the errors identified by the Court of Auditors, Member State authorities had sufficient information to identify and correct some of the errors before asking for reimbursement from the Commission. Members note that there is a fundamental discrepancy between the Court of Auditors, which believes that errors can be prevented, and the Commission, which relies on making subsequent financial corrections and on recovering funds. They urge the Member States to step up their monitoring of the implementation of programmes at grassroots level .

What is to be done?: the committee calls on the Commission to identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action in terms of simplification, improvement of control systems and redesign of programmes or delivery systems. Member States are asked to strengthen their supervisory and control systems and, in particular, to ensure the reliability of their indicators and statistics.

The Commission is called upon to:

· motivate the Member States to cooperate with a view to ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management , either through appropriate benefits or through strict sanctions or the suspension of the flow of funds;

· harmonise procedures within its departments;

· be more rigorous when certifying the national management and audit authorities and to put in place the right incentives and an effective system of sanctions.

Members call on the appropriate EU institutions to assess whether setting the error rate at 2 % is appropriate and attainable for all areas of EU policy.

Follow up on 2011 discharge to the Commission: once again, the committee calls on Member States to issue national management declarations at the appropriate political level and asks the Commission to establish a template for such declarations.

It considers that the principle of a compulsory national management declaration should be incorporated into the interinstitutional agreement accompanying the decision on the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Members particularly remind the Commission that it should annually adopt, for the first time in September 2013, a communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors with a view to making public all the amounts in nominal terms recovered in the course of the preceding year through financial corrections and recoveries.

They also point out that all the actions taken in order to reduce the error rates should be complemented by a new culture of performance . Thus, performance indicators should be fully integrated in all proposals for new policies and programmes . At the same time, Members call for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators.

Lastly, the committee calls on all the parties involved in the decision-making process concerning the post-2013 legislation and programmes to bear in mind the need to respect the categorical imperative of simplification by reducing the number of programmes and defining proportionate and cost-effective controls and simplified eligibility rules and cost methods.

Documents
2013/05/28
   EP - Vote in committee
2013/04/30
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2012/12/03
   EP - ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea (ECR) appointed as rapporteur in CONT
2012/11/22
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament

Documents

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

committees/0/shadows/2
name
SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo
group
European United Left - Nordic Green Left
abbr
GUE/NGL
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE510.574
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CONT-PR-510574_EN.html
events/0/type
Old
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament
events/1/type
Old
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee
events/2
date
2013-06-03T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2013-0189_EN.html title: A7-0189/2013
summary
events/2
date
2013-06-03T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2013-0189_EN.html title: A7-0189/2013
summary
events/3/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20130702&type=CRE
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-7-2012-07-02-TOC_EN.html
events/5
date
2013-07-03T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2013-0319_EN.html title: T7-0319/2013
summary
events/5
date
2013-07-03T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2013-0319_EN.html title: T7-0319/2013
summary
procedure/Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 150
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 54
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 052
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
rapporteur
name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 group: European Conservatives and Reformists abbr: ECR
shadows
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2012-12-03T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea group: European Conservatives and Reformists abbr: ECR
shadows
docs/1/body
EC
events/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2013-189&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2013-0189_EN.html
events/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2013-0319_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2012-11-22T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • date: 2013-05-28T00:00:00 body: EP type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • date: 2013-06-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2013-189&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A7-0189/2013 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2013-07-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20130702&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2013-07-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=23030&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0319/2013 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Budget commissioner: ŠEMETA Algirdas
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2012-12-03T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea group: European Conservatives and Reformists abbr: ECR
shadows
committees/0
body
EP
shadows
responsible
True
committee
CONT
date
2012-12-03T00:00:00
committee_full
Budgetary Control
rapporteur
group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
committees/1
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
opinion
False
committees/1
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
docs
  • date: 2013-04-30T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE510.574 title: PE510.574 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2013-11-28T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=23030&j=0&l=en title: SP(2013)627 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2012-11-22T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2013-05-28T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2013-06-03T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2013-189&language=EN title: A7-0189/2013 summary: The Committee on Budgetary Control unanimously adopted the own-initiative report by Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ (ECR, CZ) on the Integrated Internal Control Framework. Members consider that the most effective means for the Commission to demonstrate that it is genuinely committed to ensuring transparency and sound financial management is to do all it can to support measures seeking to enhance the quality of financial management, with a view to obtaining a positive statement of assurance (DAS) from the European Court of Auditors. They call, accordingly, for the effective implementation of the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework. Members note that the Commission itself stated that the Action Plan was fully completed at the beginning of 2009, although 3 of the 16 original actions could not be implemented. ‘Tolerable level of risk’: Members discuss the concept of ‘tolerable level of risk’, noting that the Commission chose to complete this action by defining the concept of ‘residual risk of errors’. They recall that the overall rate of error in underlying transactions increased from 3.3 % to 3.7 % in 2010, reaching 3.9 % in 2011. The report deplores the reversal of the positive trend that has occurred in recent years, and fears that the rate of error will grow in the years to come. It also deplores the fact that the commitment made by the Commission to reach a fully positive DAS has not been fulfilled , and calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to achieve a trend of a consistent decrease in the error rate. What is wrong?: broadly speaking, Members share the views of the Court of Auditors and the Commission as regards the fact that the single audit scheme does not work and that the control systems set up by the Member States are not functioning to their full potential. In this regard, the report recalls that in 2011, in the area of regional policy, for over 60 % of the errors identified by the Court of Auditors, Member State authorities had sufficient information to identify and correct some of the errors before asking for reimbursement from the Commission. Members note that there is a fundamental discrepancy between the Court of Auditors, which believes that errors can be prevented, and the Commission, which relies on making subsequent financial corrections and on recovering funds. They urge the Member States to step up their monitoring of the implementation of programmes at grassroots level . What is to be done?: the committee calls on the Commission to identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action in terms of simplification, improvement of control systems and redesign of programmes or delivery systems. Member States are asked to strengthen their supervisory and control systems and, in particular, to ensure the reliability of their indicators and statistics. The Commission is called upon to: · motivate the Member States to cooperate with a view to ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management , either through appropriate benefits or through strict sanctions or the suspension of the flow of funds; · harmonise procedures within its departments; · be more rigorous when certifying the national management and audit authorities and to put in place the right incentives and an effective system of sanctions. Members call on the appropriate EU institutions to assess whether setting the error rate at 2 % is appropriate and attainable for all areas of EU policy. Follow up on 2011 discharge to the Commission: once again, the committee calls on Member States to issue national management declarations at the appropriate political level and asks the Commission to establish a template for such declarations. It considers that the principle of a compulsory national management declaration should be incorporated into the interinstitutional agreement accompanying the decision on the Multiannual Financial Framework. Members particularly remind the Commission that it should annually adopt, for the first time in September 2013, a communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors with a view to making public all the amounts in nominal terms recovered in the course of the preceding year through financial corrections and recoveries. They also point out that all the actions taken in order to reduce the error rates should be complemented by a new culture of performance . Thus, performance indicators should be fully integrated in all proposals for new policies and programmes . At the same time, Members call for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators. Lastly, the committee calls on all the parties involved in the decision-making process concerning the post-2013 legislation and programmes to bear in mind the need to respect the categorical imperative of simplification by reducing the number of programmes and defining proportionate and cost-effective controls and simplified eligibility rules and cost methods.
  • date: 2013-07-02T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20130702&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2013-07-03T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=23030&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2013-07-03T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319 title: T7-0319/2013 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 309 votes to 264, with 4 abstentions, an alternative motion for a resolution, tabled by the S&D group, on the integrated internal control framework. Parliament considers that the most effective means for the Commission to demonstrate that it is genuinely committed to ensuring transparency and sound financial management is to do all it can to support measures seeking to enhance the quality of financial management, with a view to obtaining a positive statement of assurance (DAS) from the European Court of Auditors. It calls, accordingly, for the effective implementation of the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework . Parliament notes that the Commission itself stated that the Action Plan was fully completed at the beginning of 2009, although 3 of the 16 original actions could not be implemented. ‘Tolerable level of risk’ and DAS: Parliament returns to the concept of ‘tolerable level of risk’, noting that the Commission chose to complete this action by defining the concept of ‘residual risk of errors’ . They recall that the overall rate of error in underlying transactions increased from 3.3% to 3.7% in 2010, reaching 3.9% in 2011. As far as the DAS is concerned, Parliament deplores the fact that the commitment made by the Commission to reach a fully positive DAS has not been fulfilled , and points out in particular that, in its 2011 statement of assurance report, the Court of Auditors concluded that overall payments were materially affected by error and assessed that the supervisory and control systems were in general partially effective. The plenary notes that the Commission has maintained its objective of obtaining a positive DAS, whilst Parliament deeply deplored, in its resolution on discharge for 2011, the fact that payments remain materially affected by error. Parliament therefore calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to achieve a trend of a consistent decrease in the error rate . What is wrong?: broadly speaking, Parliament shares the views of the Court of Auditors and the Commission as regards the fact that the single audit scheme does not work and that the control systems set up by the Member States are not functioning to their full potential. In this regard, it recalls that in 2011, in the area of regional policy, for over 60% of the errors identified by the Court of Auditors, Member State authorities had sufficient information to identify and correct some of the errors before asking for reimbursement from the Commission. Parliament underlines that the first-level checks, namely the management and control systems in Member States, are insufficient; resulting in a considerably high burden to lower the error rate. It is also concerned that an increasing complexity of rules at national or regional level (‘gold plating’) results in further problems for the legal implementation of the Union budget and in an unnecessary increase in the error rate. On the whole, Parliament is of the view that the Commission cannot fully rely on the findings of the national audit bodies of the Member States. Moreover, the alternative resolution notes that there is a fundamental discrepancy between the Court of Auditors, which, in the DAS audits, applies an annual approach , and the Commission, which, in the implementation of the budget, applies a multiannual approach . What is to be done?: Parliament considers that it is up to the Commission to identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action in terms of simplification, improvement of control systems and redesign of programmes or delivery systems. Member States are asked to strengthen their supervisory and control systems and, more particularly, to ensure the reliability of their indicators and statistics. Member States are called upon to: assume full responsibility for their accounts and to submit reliable data to the Commission using national management declarations signed at the appropriate political level; cooperate with a view to ensuring that taxpayers' funds are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management , either through appropriate benefits or through strict sanctions or the suspension of the flow of funds. The Commission is urged to: harmonise all control procedures within its departments; be more rigorous when certifying the national management and audit authorities and to put in place the right incentives and an effective system of sanctions. Parliament asks therefore, in accordance with Article 287(3) TFEU, that, in relation to the auditing of shared management, cooperation between national audit bodies and the European Court of Auditors be stepped up. It also calls on the appropriate EU institutions to assess whether setting the error rate at 2% is appropriate and attainable for all areas of EU policy. In this regard, the alternative resolution raises serious doubts about the usefulness of the statement of assurance, as, due to the complexity of the budget implementation in the area of shared management, there is also a shared responsibility for the legality and regularity of the budget administration between the Commission and the Member States, and between the Commission and regional administrations, whereas the political responsibility still lies only with the Commission. Parliament is, therefore, of the opinion that, in the context of the future revision of the EU Treaty , the concept of the statement of assurance should be reconsidered . Follow up on 2011 discharge to the Commission: once again, Parliament calls on Member States to issue national management declarations at the appropriate political level and asks the Commission to establish a template for such declarations. It considers that the principle of a compulsory national management declaration should be incorporated into the interinstitutional agreement accompanying the decision on the Multiannual Financial Framework. Parliament calls on the Commission to adopt annually, and, for the first time in September 2013, a communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors with a view to making public all the amounts in nominal terms recovered in the course of the preceding year through financial corrections and recoveries. It urges that all the actions taken in order to reduce the error rates should be complemented by a new culture of performance . The Commission services should thus define in their management plan a number of targets and indicators meeting the requirements of the Court of Auditors in terms of relevance, comparability and reliability so as to measure ‘departmental’ performance . This would be complemented by a global evaluation of the performance of the Commission in the evaluation report provided for by Article 318 TFEU. The performance indicators should be fully integrated in all proposals for new policies and programmes. Likewise, Parliament calls for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators. Lastly, Parliament calls on all the parties involved in the decision-making process concerning the post-2013 legislation and programmes to bear in mind the need to respect the categorical imperative of simplification by reducing the number of programmes and defining proportionate and cost-effective controls and simplified eligibility rules and cost methods. It should be noted that another alternative motion for resolution, tabled by the ECR group, was rejected in plenary.
  • date: 2013-07-03T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget commissioner: ŠEMETA Algirdas
procedure/Modified legal basis
Old
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
New
Rules of Procedure EP 150
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
Old
CONT/7/11227
New
  • CONT/7/11227
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 052
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
procedure/subject
Old
  • 8.70.03 Budgetary control and discharge, implementation of the budget
New
8.70.03
Budgetary control and discharge, implementation of the budget
activities/0/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
activities/0/date
Old
2013-07-03T00:00:00
New
2012-11-22T00:00:00
activities/0/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0319/2013
activities/0/type
Old
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
activities/1/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
activities/1/date
Old
2013-04-30T00:00:00
New
2013-05-28T00:00:00
activities/1/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE510.574 type: Committee draft report title: PE510.574
activities/1/type
Old
Committee draft report
New
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/3/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
activities/3/date
Old
2012-11-22T00:00:00
New
2013-07-02T00:00:00
activities/3/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20130702&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament
activities/3/type
Old
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Debate in Parliament
activities/4/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
activities/4/date
Old
2013-05-28T00:00:00
New
2013-07-03T00:00:00
activities/4/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=23030&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0319/2013
activities/4/type
Old
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Results of vote in Parliament
committees/0/rapporteur/0/mepref
Old
4de183f80fb8127435bdbce4
New
4f1ac71ab819f25efd000068
committees/0/shadows/0/mepref
Old
4dee5a2d0fb8127435be059f
New
4f1adb75b819f207b30000c6
committees/0/shadows/1/mepref
Old
4de188650fb8127435bdc331
New
4f1adb8fb819f207b30000cf
committees/0/shadows/2/mepref
Old
4de1888a0fb8127435bdc36a
New
4f1adb84b819f207b30000cb
committees/0/shadows/3/mepref
Old
4de182e40fb8127435bdbb4b
New
4f1ac5e7b819f25efd00000a
committees/0/shadows/4/mepref
Old
4de1847f0fb8127435bdbd9f
New
4f1ac7b8b819f25efd0000a5
procedure/Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
procedure/legal_basis/0
Old
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 048
New
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
procedure/legal_basis/1
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 138
activities/4
date
2013-07-02T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Debate scheduled
activities/4/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-319 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0319/2013
activities/4/type
Old
Vote in plenary scheduled
New
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
New
Procedure completed
activities/4/type
Old
Debate in plenary scheduled
New
Debate scheduled
activities/3/docs/0/text
  • The Committee on Budgetary Control unanimously adopted the own-initiative report by Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ (ECR, CZ) on the Integrated Internal Control Framework. Members consider that the most effective means for the Commission to demonstrate that it is genuinely committed to ensuring transparency and sound financial management is to do all it can to support measures seeking to enhance the quality of financial management, with a view to obtaining a positive statement of assurance (DAS) from the European Court of Auditors. They call, accordingly, for the effective implementation of the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework. Members note that the Commission itself stated that the Action Plan was fully completed at the beginning of 2009, although 3 of the 16 original actions could not be implemented.

     ‘Tolerable level of risk’: Members discuss the concept of ‘tolerable level of risk’, noting that the Commission chose to complete this action by defining the concept of ‘residual risk of errors’. They recall that the overall rate of error in underlying transactions increased from 3.3 % to 3.7 % in 2010, reaching 3.9 % in 2011. The report deplores the reversal of the positive trend that has occurred in recent years, and fears that the rate of error will grow in the years to come. It also deplores the fact that the commitment made by the Commission to reach a fully positive DAS has not been fulfilled, and calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to achieve a trend of a consistent decrease in the error rate.

    What is wrong?: broadly speaking, Members share the views of the Court of Auditors and the Commission as regards the fact that the single audit scheme does not work and that the control systems set up by the Member States are not functioning to their full potential.

    In this regard, the report recalls that in 2011, in the area of regional policy, for over 60 % of the errors identified by the Court of Auditors, Member State authorities had sufficient information to identify and correct some of the errors before asking for reimbursement from the Commission. Members note that there is a fundamental discrepancy between the Court of Auditors, which believes that errors can be prevented, and the Commission, which relies on making subsequent financial corrections and on recovering funds. They urge the Member States to step up their monitoring of the implementation of programmes at grassroots level.

    What is to be done?: the committee calls on the Commission to identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action in terms of simplification, improvement of control systems and redesign of programmes or delivery systems. Member States are asked to strengthen their supervisory and control systems and, in particular, to ensure the reliability of their indicators and statistics.

    The Commission is called upon to:

    ·        motivate the Member States to cooperate with a view to ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management, either through appropriate benefits or through strict sanctions or the suspension of the flow of funds;

    ·        harmonise procedures within its departments;

    ·         be more rigorous when certifying the national management and audit authorities and to put in place the right incentives and an effective system of sanctions.

    Members call on the appropriate EU institutions to assess whether setting the error rate at 2 % is appropriate and attainable for all areas of EU policy.

    Follow up on 2011 discharge to the Commission: once again, the committee calls on Member States to issue national management declarations at the appropriate political level and asks the Commission to establish a template for such declarations.

    It considers that the principle of a compulsory national management declaration should be incorporated into the interinstitutional agreement accompanying the decision on the Multiannual Financial Framework.

    Members particularly remind the Commission that it should annually adopt, for the first time in September 2013, a communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors with a view to making public all the amounts in nominal terms recovered in the course of the preceding year through financial corrections and recoveries.

    They also point out that all the actions taken in order to reduce the error rates should be complemented by a new culture of performance. Thus, performance indicators should be fully integrated in all proposals for new policies and programmes. At the same time, Members call for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators.

    Lastly, the committee calls on all the parties involved in the decision-making process concerning the post-2013 legislation and programmes to bear in mind the need to respect the categorical imperative of simplification by reducing the number of programmes and defining proportionate and cost-effective controls and simplified eligibility rules and cost methods.

activities/3/docs/0/url
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2013-189&language=EN
activities/4/type
Old
Debate scheduled
New
Debate in plenary scheduled
activities/5/type
Old
Vote scheduled
New
Vote in plenary scheduled
procedure/legal_basis/1
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 138
activities/4/type
Old
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
New
Debate scheduled
activities/5
date
2013-07-03T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote scheduled
activities/4/date
Old
2013-07-01T00:00:00
New
2013-07-02T00:00:00
activities/3
date
2013-06-03T00:00:00
docs
type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A7-0189/2013
body
EP
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
activities/2/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2012-12-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
activities/2/type
Old
Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/3/date
Old
2013-09-09T00:00:00
New
2013-07-01T00:00:00
activities/2/date
Old
2013-06-17T00:00:00
New
2013-05-28T00:00:00
activities/1/docs/0/url
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE510.574
activities/0/committees/1/date
2012-11-27T00:00:00
activities/0/committees/1/rapporteur
  • group: EPP name: OLBRYCHT Jan
committees/1/date
2012-11-27T00:00:00
committees/1/rapporteur
  • group: EPP name: OLBRYCHT Jan
activities/1/date
Old
2013-04-29T00:00:00
New
2013-04-30T00:00:00
activities/2/date
Old
2013-05-28T00:00:00
New
2013-06-17T00:00:00
activities/1/date
Old
2013-04-26T00:00:00
New
2013-04-29T00:00:00
activities/1
date
2013-04-26T00:00:00
docs
type: Committee draft report title: PE510.574
body
EP
type
Committee draft report
activities/1/date
Old
2013-07-10T00:00:00
New
2013-05-28T00:00:00
activities/2/date
Old
2013-07-02T00:00:00
New
2013-09-09T00:00:00
activities/2/date
Old
2013-04-22T00:00:00
New
2013-07-10T00:00:00
activities/0/committees/0/shadows
  • group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros
  • group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart
  • group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo
  • group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta
  • group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin
activities/1/date
Old
2013-05-27T00:00:00
New
2013-04-22T00:00:00
committees/0/shadows
  • group: ALDE name: SKYLAKAKIS Theodoros
  • group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart
  • group: GUE/NGL name: SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo
  • group: EFD name: ANDREASEN Marta
  • group: NI name: EHRENHAUSER Martin
activities/0/committees/1/date
2012-11-27T00:00:00
activities/0/committees/1/rapporteur
  • group: EPP name: OLBRYCHT Jan
committees/1/date
2012-11-27T00:00:00
committees/1/rapporteur
  • group: EPP name: OLBRYCHT Jan
activities/0/committees/0/date
2012-12-03T00:00:00
activities/0/committees/0/rapporteur
  • group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
activities/1
date
2013-05-27T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/2
date
2013-07-02T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
committees/0/date
2012-12-03T00:00:00
committees/0/rapporteur
  • group: ECR name: ČEŠKOVÁ Andrea
activities/0
date
2012-11-22T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
committees
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
CONT/7/11227
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
activities
    committees
    • body: EP responsible: True committee_full: Budgetary Control committee: CONT
    • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
    links
    other
    • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget commissioner: ŠEMETA Algirdas
    procedure
    reference
    2012/2291(INI)
    title
    Integrated internal control framework
    legal_basis
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 048
    stage_reached
    Preparatory phase in Parliament
    subtype
    Initiative
    type
    INI - Own-initiative procedure
    subject
    8.70.03 Budgetary control and discharge, implementation of the budget