Next event: Indicative plenary sitting date 2022/05/02
Progress: Awaiting committee decision
Lead committee dossier:
Subjects
Events
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as part of the discharge procedure.
Analysis of the accounts of the EU Institutions: European Commission
The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide financial information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from an accrual accounting and budgetary perspective. They are prepared according to the highest available international public sector standards.
The discharge is a Parliament decision that reflects its conclusions at the end of a process, the discharge procedure, on the way the Commission (and other institutions and bodies) has carried out its task of implementing the EU budget.
The decision is based in particular on the European Court of Auditors reports, in particular its annual report, in which the Court provides a Statement of Assurance (DAS) on the legality and regularity of transactions (payments and commitments).
2020 priorities
The EU faced many economic and political challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The Commission mobilised all means to help Member States coordinate their national responses to the crisis and help those most affected by the crises, using instruments such as the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative or SURE (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency).
Under SURE an amount of EUR 39.5 billion out of a total of EUR 100 billion has already been disbursed in 2020 to affected Member States to address sudden increases in public expenditure for the preservation of employment.
While fighting the pandemic, the EU nevertheless delivered on its policy objectives, with a focus on young people, jobs and growth, as well as climate change. Measures to support economic growth and reduce the economic gaps between regions amounted to nearly half of the funds committed.
EU funding contributed :
- EUR 29.7 billion to less developed regions;
- EUR 16.4 billion to research and innovation under Horizon 2020;
- EUR 59 million to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and Agricultural Fund for Rural Development with total commitments of EUR 59 billion.
2020 budget
The 2020 budget was the final budget of the current multiannual financial framework, with budget implementation totalling EUR 181.7 billion in commitments made – adding value for all Europeans.
2020 was also the year of the agreement on the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027 of EUR 1 074 billion (in 2018 prices), boosted by EUR 750 billion through NextGenerationEU , a temporary instrument to kickstart the recovery and steer the transition towards a more sustainable and digital Europe.
Implementation of the appropriations
Appropriations established in the final adopted budget were EUR 173.9 billion (4.6% higher compared to the 2019 budget) for commitments , and EUR 164.1 billion (10.5% higher) for payments , corresponding to 1.00% and 0.90% of EU gross national income (GNI), respectively.
The implementation of the total commitment appropriations in 2020 totalled EUR 181.7 billion :
- EUR 172.9 billion from the final adopted budget;
- EUR 1.1 billion from appropriations carried-over from 2019;
- EUR 7.7 billion from appropriations stemming from assigned revenue.
Total payments made in 2020 totalled EUR 173.3 billion :
- EUR 161.8 billion from the final adopted budget;
- EUR 1.6 billion from appropriations carried-over from 2019;
- EUR 9.9 billion from appropriations stemming from assigned revenue.
All MFF headings reached high levels of implementation in 2020 . The 2020 implementation for all types of appropriations (budget, carry-overs from previous year and assigned revenue) was 97% for commitments and 94% for payments.
Implementation rates excluding assigned revenue showed full implementation in 2020 (99.5% for commitment appropriations and 98.5% for payment appropriations).
The highest part of income was represented by Own resources, which amounted to 91.9% of the total revenue of EUR 174.3 billion, followed 4.7% from Contributions and refunds in connection with EU agreements and programmes, which mainly concern revenue from financial corrections (ESIF, EAGF and EAFRD).
Main aspects of the financial situation in 2020
- in 2020, the consolidated revenue amounted to EUR 224.0 billion, a considerable increase of EUR 63.7 billion or 39.7% from the previous year figure of EUR 160.3 billion. The main driver of this development was the financial effect of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EUR 47.5 billion);
- the total assets were EUR 280.0 billion, reflecting an increase of EUR 101.1 billion or 56.5% over the previous year (2019: EUR 178.9 billion);
- pre-financing increased from EUR 51.4 billion in 2019 to EUR 62.7 billion in 2020. The increase of EUR 11.3 billion or 22.0% is mainly due to the non-recovery of the 2019 annual pre-financing in 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives measures (EUR 6.6 billion) and the pre-financing paid for the development of vaccines to address the COVID-19 pandemic (EUR 1 billion);
- as at 31 December 2020, the total liabilities were EUR 313.5 billion, an increase of EUR 62.0 billion or 24.7% compared to the previous year (EUR 251.5 billion).
Outstanding commitments (sometimes referred to as RAL - reste à liquider), which are committed amounts not yet paid for, stood at EUR 303.2 billion at the end of 2020 . An increase from the 2019 level had been expected, given the difference between budgeted commitment and payment appropriations (EUR 9.8 billion) in the final adopted budget and taking into account the fact that an increase in outstanding commitments constitutes a normal evolution, as commitment appropriations increase every year as foreseen in the MFF. The increase in outstanding commitments compared to 2019 was EUR 5.5 billion.
Documents
- Committee opinion: PE702.935
- Committee opinion: PE700.428
- Committee opinion: PE700.421
- Specific opinion: PE703.011
- Committee opinion: PE699.120
- Committee opinion: PE699.170
- Committee opinion: PE699.320
- Committee draft report: PE699.012
- Committee opinion: PE699.298
- Committee opinion: PE699.194
- Non-legislative basic document published: EUR-Lex
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2021)0381
- Committee opinion: PE699.194
- Committee opinion: PE699.298
- Committee draft report: PE699.012
- Committee opinion: PE699.320
- Committee opinion: PE699.170
- Committee opinion: PE699.120
- Specific opinion: PE703.011
- Committee opinion: PE700.421
- Committee opinion: PE700.428
- Committee opinion: PE702.935
Amendments | Dossier |
248 |
2021/2106(DEC)
2021/11/29
TRAN
31 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes that, at the end of 2020, Innovation and Networks Executive Agency under Horizon 2020 Transport had a portfolio of 291 ongoing R&I implementation activities in the transport area for EUR 1,9 billion
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Welcomes the fact that in the 2014-2020 period, CEF Transport co- funding amounting to EUR 23.03 billion was allocated to 959 actions. While addressing infrastructure along both the core and the comprehensive network of the trans-European transport network, the programme focuses its support on the core network, with more than 170 sections concerned.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Regrets the low implementation rate of CEF during the 2014-2020 period:
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Regrets the low implementation rate of CEF during the 2014-2020 period: calls on Member States to significantly speed up investments, and on the Commission to step up its monitoring in view of the urgent need for infrastructure investment in order to facilitate a swift recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and to lay the groundwork for a transition to more sustainable transport; is concerned that a significant under-
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Regrets the low implementation rate of CEF during the 2014-2020 period: calls on Member States to significantly speed up investments to deliver the European Green Deal objectives, and on the Commission to step up its monitoring in view of the urgent need for infrastructure investment in order to facilitate a swift recovery from the Covid- 19 crisis; is concerned that a significant under-
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Welcomes that under CEF Transport, the roll-out of the CEF debt instrument to support green mobility projects continued, and the pipeline of operations grew further; underlines that despite the delays in investment decisions due to COVID-19, four new operations were signed under the high-risk ‘Future mobility’ product, leveraging total investments of EUR 266 million.
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the positive evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy progress
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the positive evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy progress and the agreement on the Streamlining Directive, which will play a key role in accelerating
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the positive evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy progress and the agreement on the Streamlining Directive, which will play a key role in accelerating pre-identified cross-border projects on the core network; notes however that there are bottlenecks along the corridors where more focus is needed to guarantee connectivity and cohesion across the Union and the timely completion of the core network by 2030; is concerned that phased and new projects along the TEN-T network
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the positive evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy progress and the agreement on the Streamlining Directive, which will play a key role in accelerating pre-identified cross-border projects on the core network; notes however that there are bottlenecks along the corridors where more focus is needed to guarantee connectivity and timely completion of the core network by 2030; is concerned that phased and new projects along the TEN-T network
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Stresses the need to allocate Union funding exclusively to transport projects that fulfil the requirements of a future- proof, sustainable European transport network, in accordance with the Union taxonomy, and consequently to prioritise projects that significantly contribute to reaching climate-neutrality in the transport sector;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Draws attention to the conclusions of European Court of Auditors' Special Report 10/2020, which raise diverse serious socioeconomic and environmental concerns over different transport flagship mega-infrastructure projects across the Union, such as inaccurate estimations regarding traffic forecasts or the cumulative delays, remarkably impacting the related cost-benefit analysis as well as the life-cycle emissions calculations within the 2030 and 2050 horizons; considers that EU transport funding would be more effectively spent, also in terms of climate neutrality contribution, by considerably supporting smaller-scale regional cross-border rail missing links;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Regrets that poor planning, diverging priorities and procedures of the Member States impact the pace of implementation of cross-border transport projects; calls, therefore for the fast adoption of the European Cross-Border Mechanism; calls also for initiation of a legislation to further reduce administrative burden and increase efficiency in transport services;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Notes that the proportion of high- risk expenditure has grown, as opposed to the previous year, from 53,1% to 59% of all expenditure; stresses that such reimbursement-based expenditures increase the chances and potential impact of related material errors; underlines that this requires complex rules on eligibility and incurring of reimbursement; notes that largest share of these high-risk expenditures take place under Cohesion expenditure (48.8 billion), which is a relevant envelope of for the CEF Transport funding.
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Requests that the Commission, together with the Court and OLAF, closely monitor the EU transport projects, as public investment in infrastructure is particularly sensitive to fraud; considers this essential not only to ensure transparency that prevents corruption and misuse of taxpayers' money, but also to ensure that the highest safety standards for the users are not compromised;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Is concerned that the price hike in construction and raw materials change the total budget for many projects and could lead to underbudgeting, missed milestones, impossible implementations and therefore undermines the TEN-T core network completion;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 c (new) 7 c. Welcomes the fact that EU reaffirms road safety policy as a long- term strategic goal of the Union and welcomes the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety in February 2020; points out that investments in existing infrastructure and the construction of new infrastructure are essential elements in improving road safety in different EU regions and therefore contribute to the goal of reducing deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses that the COVID-19 pandemic placed transport and tourism in Union under an unprecedented pressure and
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses that the COVID-19 pandemic placed transport and tourism in Union under an unprecedented pressure and welcomes the Commission’s efforts to provide relief to the sectors and financing using the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (CRII and CRII+), CEF, RRF, Cohesion Fund, InvestEU, ERDF; welcomes in this regard the Commission’s initiatives such as the green lanes to ensure that freight vehicles are moving freely across the Union, the temporary relief on airport slots and the platform Re-open EU; regrets however that the lack of coordination between the Member States and the individual measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 do not facilitate the recovery of transport and tourism sectors;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses that the COVID-19 pandemic placed transport and tourism in Union under an unprecedented pressure and welcomes the Commission’s efforts to provide relief to the sectors and financing using the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (CRII and CRII+), CEF, RRF, Cohesion Fund, InvestEU, ERDF; stresses that these funds should be used to rebuild the sectors in a truly sustainable form, adapted to the circumstances of a future-looking climate-neutral European economy;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Reiterates the request for the creation of a new budgetary line for Sustainable Tourism, to support the recovery of a sector severely hit by the Covid-19 crisis by means of a green and digital transformation, making it resilient for the future and compliant with the European Green Deal ambitions; welcomes that in November 2020 the European Court of Auditors launched an audit to analyse tourism projects co- funded with EUR 6,4 billion in 2007-2013 and EUR 4 billion so far in 2014-2020 ERDF and Cohesion Fund money, as well as what the EU is doing to limit the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis; looks forward still to the final report and its conclusions so as to assess whether EU funding for public investments in tourism was effective and provided suitable support for the sector prior to the pandemic, and ultimately to help improving EU Tourism policies in general;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Welcomes the progress of the Horizon Europe to prepare for the launch of new EU partnerships in areas such as clean hydrogen, batteries, clean aviation, rail, connected and automated mobility, zero-emission road and waterborne transport, in particular for the Work Programme 2021-2022;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Stresses that investments into good quality public transport infrastructure is crucial for building trust in public and active transport and make sustainable modes of transport more attractive and safer, especially in the wake of a crisis.
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Reiterates the Parliament’s request for the creation of a new budgetary line for Tourism, in order to finance a tourism fit for the future, digitalized and sustainable;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Notes that in 2020, several Research and Innovation activities under Horizon 2020 took place to support innovation in smart and sustainable mobility and to advance the progress in digitalisation and automation of aviation and rail through the SESAR and Shift2Rail Joint Undertakings;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4 c. Notes with regret that current modal split of inland freight transport in EU is highly disproportional, e.g. 76.3 % for road freight transport, followed by rail and inland waterway transport (17.6 % and 6.1 % respectively); calls for further actions to create incentives and intensify investments in railway and inland waterway transport and its harmonisation and standardisation to achieve more competitive, climate-resilient and affordable transport system of the future;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the fact that, in 2020, the 2019 multi annual call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was successfully completed, selecting 125 projects with an overall contribution of more than EUR 2 billion; underlines the importance of investing in sustainable transport networks to enable the necessary faster trend in the shift towards more sustainable modes of transport; underlines the target of at least 60% of the CEF2 related expenditure to be unambiguously contributing in reaching the Union climate targets;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the fact that, in 2020, the 2019 multi annual call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was successfully completed, selecting 125 projects with an overall contribution of more than EUR 2 billion; notes that more than 90% of the CEF contribution was allocated to projects expected to address climate related objectives and in particular railway, inland waterways and maritime ports infrastructures and deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the fact that, in 2020, the 2019 multi annual call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was successfully completed, selecting 125 projects with an overall contribution of more than EUR 2 billion; notes, however, the need to improve the level of awareness of the CEF eligibility rules among the beneficiaries;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Is convinced that the work on the modernisation of the railway sector is contributing both to the objectives of A Europe fit for the digital age and of the European Green Deal; welcomes in this regard the fact that in 2020 twelve actions related to European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) were supported, under both the 2019 MAP call and the CEF Transport Blending Facility in order to improve interoperability, sustainability and security of railway transport; regrets however that currently roughly 30 national signalling systems exist across the Union; it is therefore necessary to foster the cooperation between European Commission, Member States, Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings while improving funding opportunities to incentivise investments in ERTMS;
source: 700.591
2021/12/07
AFET
23 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that 2020 was highly affected by the COVID-19
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Stresses that the Union in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Stresses that the Union in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic secured financial support for partner countries and fragile populations amounting to more than EUR 40 billion; stresses the need to improve visibility and communication concerning the substantial support EU has provided in partner countries during the COVID- pandemics; welcomes Team Europe efforts in addressing the immediate effects of the health crisis and the resulting humanitarian needs in the partner countries, as well as its contribution to the COVAX Facility which provides fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle- income countries;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Stresses that the Union in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, secured financial support for partner countries and fragile populations amounting to more than EUR 40 billion; welcomes Team Europe efforts in addressing the immediate effects of the health crisis and the resulting humanitarian needs in the partner countries, as well as its contribution to the COVAX Facility which provides fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle- income countries;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Strongly commends the efforts of civil society worldwide in promoting and defending human rights, especially at a time of shrinking civil society space and the questioning of the universality of human rights;
Amendment 14 #
3 b. Calls for more independent and publicly available assessments of EU civilian and military security and military measures, in particular EU military training missions, capacity building of military actors in third countries, and border and migration management measures;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 c (new) 3 c. Deplores the continued destruction and confiscation of EU-funded humanitarian assistance in the West Bank; notes that according to EU sources, Israeli authorities demolished or seized 122 structures in 2020 at a loss of EUR 300,000, that had been built with EU or Member States’ funds; is concerned by the lack of resolve of the EEAS and the Commission, as highlighted by the European Court of Auditors, to secure compensation from the Israeli authorities, as requested by the European Parliament in its resolution of September 2018; requests the Commission to deduct in the next draft budget under which EU-Israel programmes are funded the amount corresponding to the cost of demolished EU-funded projects;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes the ECA’s Special Report “Reducing grand corruption in Ukraine” focused on the Union’s contributions to anti-corruption and judicial reforms between 2016-2019; is concerned that grand corruption is still prevalent in Ukraine and has negative effects on the rule of law and economic development in the country; notes, however, that in comparison to the period before 2014 the country has clearly developed positively through huge efforts of real political reformers, civil society activities and comprehensive Union support and cooperation to this end; calls for implementing ECA’s recommendations to the Commission, the EEAS and the European Advisory Mission in Ukraine. considers that the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine has led to a worsening of corruption in the country, and calls on EU leaders to consider whether it is appropriate to maintain or expand the scope of that agreement;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes the ECA’s Special Report “Reducing grand corruption in Ukraine” focused on the Union’s contributions to anti-corruption and judicial reforms
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Is concerned that Horizon 2020 was implemented for projects located in the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, in full defiance of the “Guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 for grants, prizes and financial instruments funded by the EU from 2014 onwards”; reminds of the position of the Council, which expressed its commitment to ensure that all agreements between Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate the inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, as well as to continued implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products; calls on the Commission to establish the necessary legal and technical arrangements to guarantee that the geographical scope of the EU-Israel agreement under Horizon Europe for the 2021-2027 period will be limited to the territory of Israel as defined by international law in 1967.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Remains concerned that incitement to hatred and violence in Palestinian school textbooks has still not been removed and is concerned about the continued failure to address this matter effectively; insists that salaries of teachers and education sector civil servants that are financed from Union funds such as PEGASE should only be used for drafting and teaching curricula which reflect UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, coexistence and non-violence.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Laments that some international organizations provided only limited access to documents and questioned the ECA mandate; calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps so that international organizations provide the Court of Auditors with complete, unlimited access to document necessary to carry out their tasks in acoordance with the Treaty;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Is repulsed and appalled by the EEAS note dated 15 November 2021 on the Political and Strategic Environment of CSDP Missions in the Central African Republic (CAR) and media reports that an EU-trained battalion, certified by EUTM RCA, is raping, pillaging and plundering under the command of Russia-linked Wagner Group mercenaries; calls for an immediate independent evaluation of all related budget lines and for those responsible to be held to account.
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Noting with concern the continuous complicated situation in Belarus, it is important to review EU funding and ensure that it is not directed to Lukashenko regime, but towards support of civil society in Belarus; notes that Frontex needs to be sufficiently funded to secure EU's outside border with Belarus.
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Recognises the key role performed by UNRWA in providing Palestine refugees with vital services, including health and education, in the Middle East; commends the results of the study on Palestinian school books performed by the Georg Eckert Institute, which confirms that they adhere to UNESCO standards and adopt criteria which are prominent in international education discourse.
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4 c. Considers that, in comparison to 2020, the budget line structure of the European Neighbourhood for the 2021- 2027 Multiannual Financial Framework is oversimplified, since it only includes two lines, respectively for the Southern Neighbourhood and the Eastern Partnership; regrets that such a simplified structure does not allow the budgetary authority to properly perform its scrutiny role in the annual discharge procedure; believes that the financial needs of each of the two geographical areas should be addressed at least by three budget lines, respectively targeting political, development and security related matters.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Notes with grave concern that, according to the Annual Management and Performance Report 2020, the total financial impact of all reservations by Directors-General to declarations of assurance amounted to EUR 1219 million for 2020, 16% higher than in 2019;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1 b. Notes with grave concern that the financial impact of the reservations for the policy area 'External relations' increased from EUR 16 million in 2019 to EUR 21 million in 2020; calls for immediate action to be taken by the Commission to address this issue;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Underlines that expenditures in heading 4 ‘Global Europe’ are considered high-risk, except for budget support payment; notes that most errors found by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in this area concern absence of essential supporting documents, non-compliance with public procurement rules, costs not incurred and ineligible costs; fully supports the recommendations formulated by the ECA and calls on taking steps so that international organisations provide the ECA with complete, unlimited and timely access to documents necessary to carry out our task in accordance with the TFEU; considers in general that appropriations for the ‘Global Europe’ programme are too high, and that the role of the European Union should not be to interfere constantly in world affairs, but to prioritise defending the Member States’ interests;
Amendment 7 #
2. Underlines that expenditures in heading 4 ‘Global Europe’ are considered high-risk, except for budget support payment; is concerned by the high rate of errors (37,3%) found by the ECA in the 75 transactions samples in heading 4; notes that most errors found by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in this area concern absence of essential supporting documents, non-compliance with public procurement rules, costs not incurred and ineligible costs and calls on the Commission to improve the assistance and the monitoring of the procedure in order to improve this track record; fully supports the recommendations formulated by the ECA and calls on taking steps so that international organisations provide the ECA with complete, unlimited and timely access to documents necessary to carry out our task in accordance with the TFEU;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Underlines that expenditures in heading 4 ‘Global Europe’ are considered high-risk, except for budget support payment; notes that most errors found by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in this area concern absence of essential supporting documents, non-compliance with public procurement rules, costs not incurred and ineligible costs; fully supports the recommendations formulated by the ECA and calls on
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Underlines that expenditures in heading 4 ‘Global Europe’ are considered high-risk, except for budget support payment; notes that most errors found by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in this area concern absence of essential supporting documents, non-compliance with public procurement rules, costs not incurred and ineligible costs; fully supports the recommendations formulated by the ECA and calls on
source: 700.659
2021/12/08
EMPL
47 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Takes note that by the end of 2020, outstanding commitments continued to rise, reaching EUR 303.2 billion; highlights that this increase was smaller than in previous years, partly due to the additional payment appropriations being made available for combating the COVID- 19 pandemic; notes that according to the Commission’s long-term forecasting, which does not include the Next Generation EU (NGEU) instrument, the amount of outstanding commitments should remain fairly stable at this high level until 2027; notes that despite the fact that the absorption of European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds has accelerated at the end of 2020 (55%), it is still slower than at the same time under the previous MFF (2000-2006: 68 %; 2007-2013: 62 %); calls, therefore, on the Commission to analyse the reasons for the low absorption level and to simplify the new rules for the post-2020 period in order to avoid unnecessarily complex and/or burdensome rules with no added value;
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Is satisfied with the Commission's overall implementation of the budgetary headings for environment, climate action, public health and food safety in 2020 but stresses that climate and biodiversity spending and mainstreaming is inadequate and relies on ill justified and faulty methodologies;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Takes note of the Court’s special report 26/2021 ‘Regularity of spending in EU Cohesion policy: Commission discloses annually a minimum estimated level of error that is not final’;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 11 11. Notes
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Is worried about the fact that for 2020 financial year, the Court of Auditors (the “Court”) concluded that the weaknesses detected in some audit authorities’ sampling methods have limited the reliance that can be placed on that work; recalls the crucial role of audit authorities in the Member States in the assurance and control framework in Cohesion;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 12 12. Calls on the Commission to provide Parliament with an annual report setting out in detail the contribution of each budget item to the climate mainstreaming (at least 30 % under the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)) and the biodiversity (7,5 % as of 2024 and 10% in 2026 and in 2027 under the 2021-2027 MFF) targets, in order to facilitate their monitoring; calls further on the Commission to report whether any
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 12 12. Recalls the vital importance of the ESF as the EU's main tool in fostering increased employment and labour mobility, education and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning and promoting social inclusion, combatting poverty and discrimination; notes the Court’s report on ‘the performance of the EU budget – Status at the end of 2020’ which found that while the ESF’S performance framework increased the availability of performance information, the focus remained on financial inputs and outputs, rather than on results and that ESF-funded activities continue to face difficulties in reaching people who are disconnected from the labour market, such as NEETs; Notes that the ESF expenses increased from EUR 11.2 billion in 2019 to EUR 13.7 billion in 2020 due to increased implementation;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 12 12. Calls on the Commission to provide Parliament with an annual report setting out in detail the contribution of each budget item to the climate mainstreaming (at least 30 %) and the biodiversity (7,5 % as of 2024 and 10% in 2026 and in 2027) targets, in order to facilitate their monitoring;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 12 12. Notes that the ESF expenses increased from EUR 11.2 billion in 2019 to EUR 13.7 billion in 2020 due to increased implementation; emphasizes that the ESF is supposed to counter the worst excesses of unequal development and boost local development; furthermore, regional actors must be involved more closely and the Member States contributions should be reduced in order to reach the weakest regions;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 13. Reiterates its strong concern that the reservation on reputational, legal, financial and institutional grounds related to significant security risks identified in the maintenance and the operation of the Union Registry system of the EU Emissions Trading System, as reported in AARs since 2010 and as confirmed by the latest risk assessment exercise, is repeated in DG Climate Action’s 2020 AAR; notes that the most recent evaluation in 2019 continued to reveal residual risk levels which, combined with the rapid rise in the carbon price, has lead to threats outpacing the implementation rate of the security measures that DG CLIMA and DG DIGIT can sustain given their operating constraints and resource allocations; awaits the study on potential alternative and security-sustainable operating models for the Union Registry
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 13. Expresses satisfaction that SURE reached a total volume of EUR 94.3 billion and a total level of disbursements of EUR 89.6 billion (as of May 2021) on a budget of EUR 100 billion; welcomes that SURE have supported approximately 31 million people and 2.5 million firms in 2020; calls in this context on the Commission to put forward a permanent European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme without farther delay taking into account the fact that job layoffs will most probably increase;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 a (new) 13a. Welcomes the efforts that DG Environment has made in connection with the preparation and adoption of the second Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), which brings 35 legislative and non-legislative initiatives, and new EU strategies for industry, while it perceives both initiatives as essential in the implementation of the objectives of the European legal framework for climate;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Urgently calls on the Commission to take the catering staff in-house in order to ensure good working conditions and avoid layoffs;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 b (new) 13b. Welcomes the adoption of the new 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, welcomes the effort to include third countries in this effort, and draws attention, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, to the link between the degradation of ecosystems and zoonoses;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 15 a (new) 15 a. Recognises that the five decentralised agencies (Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF, EU-OSHA and ELA) under the remit of DG EMPL provide significant contribution and each have an important added value to the achievement of the specific objectives of DG EMPL’s policy areas; expresses its satisfaction that the assessment confirms a positive evaluation report on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and added value of the agencies, as well as the need to reinforce cooperation in order to achieve synergies;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 c (new) 13c. Welcomes the draft 8th Environment Action Programme submitted by the Commission in October 2020 and has hope for its early acceptance in connection with the conclusion of a preliminary agreement between Council and Parliament representatives;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 16 a (new) 16 a. Notes that for the first time the Court also issued an overall assessment of the conditions put in place by the EU to enable the agencies to deliver its policies for the public good and recommends to the Commission to ensure the relevance, coherence and flexibility of the set-up of agencies, allocate resources in a more flexible manner, improve governance, accountability and reporting on performance and strengthen the role of agencies as centres of expertise and networking;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 d (new) 13d. Refers to the efforts made by DG Environment, together with the European External Action Service and the relevant DG, in connection with ‘climate diplomacy’, while it perceives this effort in relation to third countries as essential for averting and mitigating the consequences of ongoing climate change;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 e (new) 13e. Welcomes the submission of a draft regulation on batteries and waste batteries, which revises existing measures and, at the same time, represents the first legal instrument that deals with the effects of these products during their entire life cycle;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 13 f (new) 13f. Welcomes the submission of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, which aims to better protect Union citizens and the environment against the impacts of hazardous substances and promote innovation and the development of safer and sustainable chemicals;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Expresses satisfaction that the biggest part of the Union budget went to boost sustainable growth and enhance competitiveness by reducing the economic gaps between regions, stimulate the creation of quality jobs, fight climate change, and address the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU, as well as provide assistance to third countries; welcomes in this regard the increased flexibility and the simplification of administrative requirements for the use of existing ESI funds to help Member States in their efforts to deal with the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Is satisfied with the work carried out by most of the five decentralised agencies which are under its remit, which carry out technical, scientific or managerial tasks that help the Union institutions elaborate and implement policies in the area of environment, climate action, public health and food safety, as well as with the way in which those agencies' budgets are implemented; stresses that, given the scale of current and upcoming challenges, sufficient funding must be guaranteed for the agencies and the Commission Directorates-General ('DG') working in the areas of environment, climate action, public health
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 14. Highlights the role DG Health and Food Safety has played in securing a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic across the Member States; in authorising and procuring the vaccines against COVID-19 and delivering other essential medical countermeasures; and in supporting Member States in deploying public health measures
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 14. Highlights the role DG Health and Food Safety has played in securing a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic across the Member States; in authorising and procuring the vaccines against COVID-19 and delivering other essential medical countermeasures; and in supporting Member States in deploying public health measures
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 a (new) 14a. Notes that, in 2020, DG SANTE's expenditure in the field of health increased sevenfold compared to previous years, mainly to manage large parts of the Commission's health response to the COVID-19 pandemic: EUR 2,5 billion from the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) were paid for the six Advanced Purchase Agreements (APA) for the COVID-19 vaccines; regrets that, despite its strong links to the EU budget, the activation of the ESI was done without full respect and observance of Parliament’s prerogatives as budgetary authority and final supervisor of the Union budget; criticises that despite several attempts to get a clear overview, the competent committees (Budgets, Budgetary Control and Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) are still not given access to relevant data on the EU funds spent under the ESI to finance the APA contracts;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 a (new) 14a. Regrets that the new European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is ultimately just an agency of the European Commission. Calls on the European Commission to be as transparent as possible in its management of this new authority and to allow the European Parliament full exercise of its budgetary control powers;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 14 b (new) 14b. Urges the Commission to apply a high degree of transparency to all joint procurement activities and related purchase agreements in the field of health; insists that its relevant DGs should put in place a solid and transparent EU public procurement framework, when funds from the EU budget are fully or partially involved, that would allow for comprehensive scrutiny by the Parliament, especially concerning major health crisis-related spending areas;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 18. Notes with concern that, in its Special Report 15/2020 "Protection of wild pollinators in the EU —Commission initiatives have not borne fruit", the Court found that Union measures did not ensure the protection of wild pollinators, including by not establishing a legal framework for the protection and restoration of the species by the EU Pollinators Initiative, and that Union pesticides legislation was a ma
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 18. Notes with concern that, in its Special Report 15/2020 "Protection of wild pollinators in the EU —Commission initiatives have not borne fruit", the Court found that Union measures did not ensure the protection of wild pollinators and that Union pesticides legislation was a main cause of wild pollinator loss; calls on the Commission to swiftly follow up on the recommendations of the Court to assess whether actions should be added to address threats currently not considered in the Pollinators Initiative in the follow- up actions and measures for the EU biodiversity strategy to 2030, accompanied by appropriate governance and monitoring mechanisms;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 18. Notes
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 19 19. Is of the opinion, on the basis of the data available and the implementation report, that discharge can be granted to the Commission in respect of expenditure in the areas of environmental and climate policy, public health and food safety for the financial year 2020, but expects drastic improvements in the tracking methodologies for climate and biodiversity spending in order to be able to grant discharge in future years.
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 a (new) 18a. Welcomes the adoption of a pharmaceutical strategy for Europe, which includes 55 measures aimed, inter alia, at ensuring access to affordable medicines, focusing on innovations in treatment, promoting innovation, competitiveness and sustainability in the Union’s pharmaceutical industry, improving crisis preparedness and response mechanisms and addressing the lack of drugs;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Welcomes that Commission activated business continuity plans in good time to ensure the continuation of key governance processes and the well- being of staff during the COVID-19 pandemic; expresses satisfaction that Commission rapidly adapted its work to the pandemic through accelerated digitalisation measures, collaborated better, and improved the way they exchanged information to remain operational;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Is satisfied with the work carried out by the five decentralised agencies which are under its remit, which carry out technical, scientific or managerial tasks that help the Union institutions elaborate and implement policies in the area of environment, climate action, public health and food safety, as well as with the way in which those agencies’ budgets are implemented; stresses that, given the scale of current and upcoming challenges, sufficient and stable funding must be guaranteed for the agencies and the Commission Directorates-General (‘DG’) working in the areas of environment, climate action, public health and food safety;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 b (new) 18b. Supports the activities of DG Health and Food Safety in connection with the preparation of a legislative framework for sustainable food systems and sustainable labelling, which aims, inter alia, to revise the rules for the sustainable use of pesticides, feed additives, food labellings and materials intended for contact with food;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Recalls the total planned expenditure under this sub-heading of the 2014-2020 MFF is €142 billion, of which €104.6 billion had been paid out by the end of 2020; Expresses satisfaction that EUR 3.1 billion (12.8%) of the spending under the MFF subheading 1a is dedicated to Education, training, youth and sport;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes that in 2020, DG Environment's budget reached EUR 518,30 million and had 476 members of staff; reiterates its call that the staffing level needs to be increased imminently in order to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal and its subsequent strategies; points out that the implementation rates of commitment and payment appropriations were both above 99 % at year-end;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Notes that DG Climate Action and DG Budget monitor the 20 % climate mainstreaming target in the Multiannual Financial Framework , and that DG Climate Action supports other DGs in integrating climate in their activities;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Stresses the importance of the ESF and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to encourage high level of employment, the creation of quality jobs and fight against poverty and social exclusion; expresses the need to provide them with the continued financial and political support of the EU, national and regional institutions in the delivery of their targets in the years to come;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Notes that DG Climate Action and DG Budget monitor the 20 % climate mainstreaming target in the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Notes that, on average, more than one out of five persons and one out of four children are still at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the European Union; recalls the EU commitment to the support for the most deprived through FEAD, alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union, such as food deprivation, homelessness, and child poverty; notes that about 13 million people, including approximately 4 million children under the age of 15 are supported by FEAD annually;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Notes the Court's finding in Review No 01/2020: "Tracking climate spending in the EU budget" that the Commission’s climate tracking methodology needs to be reconsidered to render it more reliable and that there are indications that it will be challenging to reliably step up climate- related spending to 25 % of the EU budget; deeply regrets that the Court's recommendations from its 2016 report1a have not yet been implemented and calls for swift remedy of this problem which leads to overestimations of the contributions to climate action, notably by the agricultural and cohesion policies; _________________ 1a European Court of Auditors special report 2016/31: Spending at least one euro in every five from the EU budget on climate action: ambitious work underway, but at serious risk of falling short
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Notes with concern that the estimated overall level of error in subheading 1b ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ stood at 3.5 % in 2020 (2019:4.4 %, 2018: 5 %); underlines that despite the slight decrease in comparison with the previous years, this figure is still largely above the 2 % materiality threshold and the estimated level of error in expenditure for the Union budget as a whole (2.7 %); stresses that the new control and assurance framework was designed to ensure that annual residual error rates are below 2 %; agrees with the Court's conclusions that further improvements are necessary in terms of the implementation of the framework by the Member States’ programme authorities and by the Commission in order to reduce the high level of error;
Amendment 8 #
11. Notes
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Notes with concern that the estimated overall level of error in subheading 1b ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ stood at 3.5 % in 2020; underlines that despite the slight decrease in comparison with the previous years, this figure is still largely above the 2 % materiality threshold and the estimated level of error in expenditure for the Union budget as a whole (2.7 %); calls for urgent action to decrease the error rate in the future, and especially for the new funding period;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 11 11. Notes with concern the Court’s findings in Special Report 18/2020: “The EU’s Emissions Trading System: free allocation of allowances needed better targeting” that free allowances are not well targeted, tended to slow decarbonisation and that the Commission needs to update its procedure for targeting free allowances to reflect the Paris Agreement; welcomes, in this context, the draft amendment to the EU ETS directive submitted within the framework of the Fit for 55 package, which, inter alia, also revises the method of allocating free allowances;
source: 700.646
2021/12/13
REGI
31 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that, as indicated in the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2020, the estimated level of error in spending on ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ decreased from 4,4% in 2019 to 3,5% in 2020; welcomes the continuous improvement, but is disappointed that it has not proven possible to decrease the error rate below 2% and the effects of error are therefore material and pervasive; notes that the main reasons for this error rate are ineligibility of projects and costs, infringement of internal market rules mainly related to state aid and public procurement, and absence of essential supporting documents;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Stresses the importance of the role of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU, with a special focus on their cross-border dimension; regrets that five Member States are not currently participating in this enhanced cooperation and deplores any irregularities or partisan interventions in the appointment of the prosecutors in the participating Member States;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Notes that six possible fraud cases were reported to the EU’s Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) in comparison to 2019’s nine and highlights the role of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in investigation and prosecution of fraud and other criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union as provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/13711a; _________________ 1a Directive(EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means of criminal law (OJ L 198, 28.7.2017, p. 29)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Points out that the work of audit authorities in the Member States plays a critical role in limiting residual error rates and is worried about the weaknesses found in the work of several audit authorities which continue to limit the reliance that can be placed in their work; urges the Commission to offer support and technical assistance to audit authorities in order to eliminate inefficiencies and disseminate good practices; welcomes that, in 2020, the Commission increased the number of its compliance audits and recognises the Commission’s capacity to detect errors and its commitment to correct them in due time, which reduced the estimated level of error by 0,7%;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the absorption rate of European Structural and Investment Funds
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that, in spite of the change in ESIF eligibility rules for COVID-19- related expenditure, and of the introduction of the possibility of 100 % EU financing (CRII and CRII+), the absorption rate of European Structural and Investment Funds
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the absorption rate of European Structural and Investment Funds
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the absorption rate of European Structural and Investment Funds , which increased from 12% in 2019 to 15% in 2020 , is slower than expected with 45 % (EUR 209 billion) remaining to be absorbed; calls on the Commission to step up its action to address absorption difficulties and help Member States increase their absorption rates;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Regrets that data on costs that were complete, consistent and coherent enough were not collected by the Commission to allow this data to be used for assessing the impact of simplifying EU rules on how to implement the Cohesion policy funds, even though the Commission has for the programming period from 2007-2027 commissioned five studies on the level of administrative costs and the impact of simplification measures;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Acknowledges that, in order to react to the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU co-legislators introduced the relaxation of applicable rules to facilitate the use of ESI funds to provide liquidity, flexibility and simplification; welcomes the timely adoption of such measures allowing managing authorities to accelerate the deployment of Financial Instruments to support 365.000 SMEs across Europe during 2020; calls on the Commission to provide support to the Member States to minimise the risk that these exceptional measures could weaken the control systems and increase the risk of errors and irregularities;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that, the estimated level of error in spending on ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ decreased from 4,4% in 2019 to 3,5% in 2020; welcomes the continuous improvement, but is disappointed that it has not proven possible to decrease the error rate below 2%; stresses that most of the irregularities identified by audit authorities and the Commission concern the same main categories: ineligible expenditure, public procurement, audit trail and State Aid;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Deplores, that complete, coherent and consistent information on costs were also not made publicly available to demonstrate to European citizens that policies are being implemented efficiently; points out that if costs are not kept low whenever possible, it results with less money being available for actually implementing the policy;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an overall allocation of EUR 1 824 billion from NextGenerationEU and the MFF;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an overall allocation of EUR 1 824 billion from NextGenerationEU and the MFF; urges the Commission to limit the risk of delayed start to the implementation of shared managed funds and ensure the sound financial management in the use of funds, including the respect for the rule of law and the fundamental rights
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an overall allocation of EUR 1 824 billion from Next Generation EU and the MFF; urges the Commission to limit the risk of delayed start to the implementation of shared managed funds and ensure
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an overall allocation of EUR 1 824 billion from NextGenerationEU and the MFF; urges the Commission to limit the risk of delayed start to the implementation of shared managed funds and ensure the sound financial management in the use of funds, including the respect for the rule of law and the fundamental rights; regrets that the Commission has de facto suspended the implementation of the rule of law conditionality regulation, despite its entry into force on 1 January 2021.
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Takes note that the EU will be able to spend significantly more than in the previous programming period, with an overall allocation of EUR
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 (new) Points out, that although there is a trend to place an emphasis of the cohesion programmes on results rather than outputs, the set of measurable indicators and robust monitoring to this end were not yet put in place and properly implemented.
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Stresses the importance of cohesion policy in promoting gender equality, as highlighted by the European Parliament's own-initiative report on the gender dimension in cohesion policy and by the “European Court of Auditors’ Special Report 10/2021: Gender mainstreaming in the EU budget: time to turn words into action”; points out the Court’s assessment that the EU’s budget cycle did not take gender equality adequately into account and the Commission had not yet lived up to its commitment to gender mainstreaming in the EU budget; reiterates therefore its call for the implementation of gender mainstreaming, including the implementation of gender budgeting, at all stages of the budgetary process
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes with satisfaction that, the estimated level of error in spending on ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ decreased from 4,4% in 2019 to 3,5% in 2020; welcomes the continuous improvement of cohesion policy investments, but is disappointed that it has not proven possible to decrease the error rate below 2%; underlines in this regard the different types of irregularities and that an error rate is not identical with fraud;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Points out that the overlap between the funds from the last tranche in the implementation of the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework, the 2021-2027 MFF and the Next Generation programmes may lead to an overburdening of the managing administrations and cause implementation problems; calls on the Commission to focus special attention on issues of complementarity between the funds, since in many cases their priorities coincide, and less on forms of reporting to the Community institutions; calls for clear implementation rules to be set out for management entities, and in particular for technical assistance to be provided on this point.
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes the positive trend in cohesion policy investments of further attention towards taxonomy and highlights in this respect the ecological minimum standards (“do not significant harm” or “ecological taxonomy” for climate, biodiversity and circular economy) as well as the further promotion of social minimum standards (“social taxonomy”) and the impact on discharge procedures;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Points out the worrying conclusions of the “European Court of Auditors’ Special Report 26/2021:Regularity of spending in EU Cohesion policy”, which highlight that the European Commission’s own control system does not sufficiently compensate for the weaknesses in the work of Member state audit authorities when they check Cohesion spending; calls on the Commission to improve its audit work, audit documentation and review process, as well as to strengthen the main elements of the regularity information provided in the Annual Activity Reports by its Directorates-General;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges that high-risk expenditures are subject to complex rules and eligibility conditions; notes that the estimated level of error decreased from 4,9% in 2019 to 4,0% in 2020 and that six possible fraud cases were reported to OLAF in comparison to 2019’s nine; recalls that the way funds are disbursed has an impact on the risk of errors and
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges that high-risk expenditures are subject to complex rules and eligibility conditions; notes that the estimated level of error decreased from 4,9% in 2019 to 4,0% in 2020 and that six possible fraud cases, which were reported to OLAF in comparison to 2019’s nine, most frequently concerned suspicions of artificial creation of the necessary conditions for EU financing, declaration of costs not meeting the eligibility criteria, use of the grant for purposes other than allowed or procurement irregularities; recalls that the way funds are disbursed has an impact on the risk of errors and welcomes efforts to simplify requirements for project managers and management authorities under the 2021-2027 programming period;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges that high-risk expenditures are often subject to complex rules and eligibility conditions, leading to an increased risk of errors; notes that the estimated level of error decreased from 4,9% in 2019 to 4,0% in 2020
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges that high-risk expenditures are subject to complex rules and eligibility conditions; notes that the estimated level of error decreased from
source: 702.976
2021/12/14
CULT
12 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that in 2020 the total available budget for the Union programmes and actions under the portfolio of Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) amounted to EUR 6 043 million in commitment appropriations (some 7 % more than in 2019); notes that, despite the unavoidable cancellation or postponement of some activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thanks to the measures taken under the ‘force majeure’ clause, DG EAC achieved most targets in 2020 and executed commitments fully and payments virtually fully, as did Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) for relevant expenditure;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Urges DG EAC, DG CONNECT and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to take without delay all appropriate measures to improve the protection of personal data wherever needed, to minimise the risks linked to third country data transfers, in order to enable the continuation of international operations in 2021 in full compliance with EU data protection law, and to strengthen staff awareness and knowledge of data protection rules, including through targeted training.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Underlines that on a Union level, culture and education policies remain a shared area of competence between DG EAC, DG CONNECT and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA); urges all Directorates-General and agencies to maintain and improve the level of coordination and smooth cooperation, in order to ensure the wellbeing of Union citizens and the successful implementation of all policies, as well as the proper management of Union funds; reiterates its position that the current split of competences carries the risk of negatively impacting the performance of culture and education programmes and funding.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Calls for more transparency, less bureaucracy related to project implementation and the constructive use of digital instruments when this can be helpful for beneficiaries and the projects.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges DG EAC’s flexibility and efforts to prevent under- implementation of programmes due to the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes the measures taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis on applicants and beneficiaries, such as extending application deadlines, extending the duration of ongoing projects, supporting additional costs up to the maximum amounts granted to projects under the applicable legal frameworks, and applying further flexibility towards blended activities;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges DG EAC’s efforts to prevent under-implementation of programmes due to the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes the measures taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis on applicants and beneficiaries, and calls on DG EAC to ensure that all the projects that could not be implemented will be in the future;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Underlines the crucial role of the Creative Europe Programme in funding the cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI) in Europe, especially in times of crisis; regrets, however, that due to the lack of budget for the period 2014- 2020, several high quality projects could not be funded at a time where the CCSI needed support;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer on the spot visits were possible in 2020, leading DG EAC to adapt its supervision and auditing approach and to provide specific guidance on COVID-19 for the reporting by National Agencies and Independent Audit Bodies; acknowledges the necessity of such measures; however, underlines that on the spot visits cannot fully be replaced as a means for auditing and supervision; calls, therefore, on DG EAC to increase the number of such visits, taking into account travel conditions and limitations;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Calls on the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to continue its efforts to help applicants and beneficiaries of programmes in the context of the pandemic;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the 2020 update of DG EAC’s Anti-Fraud Strategy a
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the 2020 update of DG EAC’s Anti-Fraud Strategy and the measures taken to prevent the risk of COVID-19-related fraud, including in the design of the next generation of programmes; underlines that the Parliament will monitor closely the implementation of the Strategy and calls on DG EAC to communicate its progress regularly to the Parliament;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Urges DG EAC, DG CONNECT and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to take without delay all appropriate measures to improve the protection of personal data wherever needed, to minimise the risks linked to third country data transfers, in order to enable the continuation of international operations in 2021 in full compliance with EU data protection law, and to strengthen staff awareness and knowledge of data protection rules
source: 702.973
2021/12/15
FEMM
38 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Recital A A. whereas
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that men and women’s rights and a
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Recognises that the pandemic has exacerbated existing structural gender inequalities and affected women’s employment disproportionally, in particular women working in the informal economy and in precarious working conditions; calls for more gender mainstreaming in the post pandemic recovery response,
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Warns that if funds are placed arbitrarily at the service of parties with certain slanted and sectarian assumptions there is a danger that funding may become subject to ideological conditions, with urgent priority needs neglected;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Strongly stresses the important of adequate resources dedicated to preventing and combating gender-based violence under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values, especially following the escalation of violence against women during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis; regrets in that direction that the Commission has postponed the publication of the proposal aiming at preventing and combatting specific forms of gender-based violence, expects the Commission to publish this proposal without further delay,
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Asks for budget items in the General Budget of the European Union to be based on objective technical criteria with no ideological filtering;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Is concerned that the Court, in its Special report No 10/21 on gender mainstreaming in the EU budget (the ‘Court’s special report’)1 , found that the Commission has not adequately applied gender mainstreaming, made insufficient use of sex-disaggregated data and indicators, and published little information on the Union budget’s overall impact on gender equality, ; calls on the Commission to implement gender-responsive budgeting to ensure women and men benefit equally from public spending including within Next Generation EU and all the economic recovery measures; __________________ 1
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Is concerned that the Court, in its Special report No 10/21
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Is concerned that the Court, in its Special report No 10/21 on gender mainstreaming in the EU budget (the ‘Court’s special report’)1 , found that the Commission has not adequately applied gender mainstreaming, made insufficient use of
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Recital A A. whereas gender equality as enshrined in Article
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Stresses the need for the Commission to further develop the methodology and use of gender related objectives and indicators, as recommended by the European Court of Auditors, to track funds spending on gender equality,
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Underlines that the gender perspective has to be integrated at all levels of the budgetary process in order to transform revenues and expenditures to achieving gender equality goals;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes the fact that gender equality and mainstreaming is one of the horizontal principles for Union funds in the multiannual financial framework for 2021- 2027 and in the Recovery and Resilience Facility and calls for gender impact assessments, gender objectives and gender monitoring to be rolled out as outlined in the Court’s special report, expects the Commission to take its commitments seriously in the future by closely monitoring the implementation of these horizontal principles in all of the EU policy areas and providing thorough gender impact assessments and monitoring of all of its policies and programmes;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes the fact that
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Welcomes the commitment by the Commission to put in place a methodology to measure the relevant expenditure at programme level in the 2021-2027 MFF at the latest by the end of 2022; calls on the Commission to apply the new methodology to all EU funding programmes and for the implementation of gender budgeting in the mid-term review of the current Multiannual Financial Framework;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Stresses the need to consider the gender dimension of EU spending, to channel resources supporting efforts for addressing gender equality, as through the recovery and resilience plans.
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Points out the importance to consider the potential of all policy areas to contribute towards gender equality; notes in this regard that both the European Parliament’s own-initiative report on the gender dimension in cohesion policy and the “European Court of Auditors’ Special Report 10/2021: Gender mainstreaming in the EU budget: time to turn words into action”, assess the structural funds as a very important resource to support Member States to achieve progress in the field of gender equality.
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to strengthen the rule of law in the Union, and thus protect fundamental rights and equality, via the rule of law conditionality mechanism for access to Union funds
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Recital A A. whereas gender equality as enshrined in Article 8 TFEU is one of the
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Emphasises that the rule of law conditionality mechanism has been set up to protect EU budget from the risk of frauds and can only be used in cases when there are evident breaches of the rule of law principles which directly affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget or of the financial interests of the Union in a sufficiently direct way; stresses out in this context that it is unacceptable that this mechanism may be politically instrumentalised in order to put pressure on the Member States;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Repeats its concern at the interrelation between the attacks on the rule of law and the backlash on gender equality and women’s rights; calls for this issue to be addressed through the Article 7 procedure against Member States concerned;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Welcomes Commission’s commitment and ongoing work to design a methodology to track spending on gender equality;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4c. Strongly reiterates its demand to increase resources dedicated to preventing and combating gender-based violence under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values, especially following the escalation of violence against women during the COVID-19 crisis; reiterates its request for the Commission to include an independent budget line for all measures specifically targeting gender equality, including on gender-based violence; calls on the Commission and the Member States to apply effectively the gender mainstreaming horizontal priority in the multiannual financial framework 2021- 2027;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 d (new) 4d. Stresses a need to further increase resources in European Social Fund Plus (EFS+) to allow inclusion in the labour market and adapted training, as the COVID-19 crisis affected women’s employment disproportionally, in particular women working in the informal economy and in precarious working conditions, and in some heavily impacted and highly feminised sectors;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 e (new) 4e. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to apply effectively the gender mainstreaming horizontal priority in the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027.
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Recital B B. whereas Parliament has repeatedly
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Recital B B. whereas Parliament has repeatedly asked the Commission to promote and
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Recital B a (new) Ba. whereas equality and the Rule of law are founding values of the Union and the European institutions shall aim to promote them according to Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU);
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Recital B b (new) Bb. whereas women are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly women working in precarious employment, feminised sectors and the informal economy; whereas this should be taken into account in all the economic recovery measures designed to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that women’s rights and a gender equality perspective should be integrated and ensured in all policy areas, particularly in light of the gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the backlash against women’s rights in several Member States; reiterates, therefore, its call for the implementation of gender budgeting at all stages of the budgetary process, including the implementation of gender budgeting and the assessment of its execution; reiterates its demand to include gender-specific indicators in the common set of result indicators for the implementation of the EU budget;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that women’s rights a
source: 703.040
2022/01/20
LIBE
26 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that for expenditure specifically for Heading III (Security and Citizenship) the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) chose to examine a sample of 27 transactions designed to contribute to the Court's overall statement of assurance;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Notes with grave concern that of two AMIF-funded projects audited in Greece, implemented by a non- governmental organisation (NGO), consisting of provision of accommodation and other services (meals, personal hygiene products, leisure activities, counselling, etc) to unaccompanied minors in shelters located in four Greek towns, with the NGO receiving funding based on a standard daily unit cost per accommodated unaccompanied minor, the Court found non-satisfactory documentation of services provided and that the internal rules of the shelters did not include clear indicators for how the NGO was to prove that certain services covered by the standard unit cost (e.g. supervision, organisation of activities, cleaning, meals) had been delivered and were of sufficient quality and that the NGO was therefore not able to demonstrate that it had actually provided these services at an appropriate level; notes another issue namely that young people stayed on in the shelters without proper justification (e.g. schooling or health problems) after reaching adulthood;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Notes that in the Court's examination of the internal control systems of four authorities responsible for auditing their respective Member States' AMIF/ISF annual accounts and providing the Commission with an annual control report (ACR), the Court identified shortcomings in the ACR's relating to sampling units not being clearly defined, audit samples being too small, responsible authorities submitting draft accounts to the audit authority before completing their own on-the-spot controls and before including technical assistance payments, error rates being calculated and presented inaccurately in the body of the ACR's, value and coverage of the audit samples being incorrectly reported and failures to report that some audit work was outsourced; further notes that the Court found shortcomings in the work of audit authorities relating to checks of project selection processes, inadequate testing of the eligibility of expenditure, insufficient audit trails or poor documentation of audit work, ineligible costs that were not always reported, procurement issues wrongly classified and inadequate reviews of outsourced audit work; regrets any shortcomings that make audit conclusions less reliable and that limit the assurance provided by the audit authority's work;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the residual error rate has increased by comparison to the previous year (2,69 % in 2020 as compared to 2,65 % in 2019)for grants under direct management of the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST); notes that the main cause of error is the lack of supporting documents which has even worsened in 2020
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the residual error rate has increased by comparison to the previous year (2,69 % in 2020 as compared to 2,65 % in 2019) for grants under direct management of the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST); notes that the main cause of error is the lack of supporting documents which has even worsened in 2020 by the fact that due to
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the residual error rate
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the residual error rate has
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Regrets that while the Commission did fund circus workshops to integrate lone-arrival migrants by way of grants to the Swedish branch of the NGO Clowns Without Borders from 2017until December 2020, the Commission did not fund physical border barriers as the Commission does not consider physical barriers such as fences to be the most efficient tool to improve border management; calls on the Commission to urgently reassess its stance on the funding of border barriers and the funding of clown shows;1a _________________ 1a https://www.migrationsverket.se/Andra- aktorer/EU-fonder/Beviljade- projekt/Flikar/Asyl/Cirkus-for-hopp-och- styrka.html
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Stresses that the Court found five errors in payments made by the Commission; points out that one of the errors concerned a minor overpayment of costs for software licences while the other four related to staff allowances; notes the recommendation from the Court to reinforce consistency checks on staff declarations of allowances received from other sources and raise staff awareness of this issue in order to improve the Commission’s system for managing statutory family allowance;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Regrets the rapid and alarming decline of enforcement activity of the Commission, including in the field of justice and home affairs, as a deliberate policy initiated by the Barroso I Commission and perpetuated by the Von der Leyen Commission1a; calls on the Commission to change its practice and start infringement proceedings against Member States that does not properly implement Union law; _________________ 1aKelemen, R. D. and Pavone, T., Where Have the Guardians Gone? Law Enforcement and the Politics of Supranational Forbearance in the European Union (December 27, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?a bstract_id=3994918
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that for expenditure specifically for Heading III (Security and Citizenship) the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) chose to examine a sample of 27 transactions designed to contribute to the Court's overall statement of assurance;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Welcomes the close cooperation between the Court and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to protect the budget of the Union; notes that in 2020 the Court referred six cases of suspected fraud to OLAF (compared to nine in 2019) and that for all those cases an investigation was opened by OLAF;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Calls on DG HOME to provide guidance to the Member State authorities responsible for implementing its funds for both the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 MFFs on how to document the completeness and quality of services when funding is based on standard unit costs;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Welcomes that, following up on recommendations from the Court, DG HOME works together with national authorities and agencies to enhance the operational support by the European Union Agency for Asylum (before 19 January 2022 the European Asylum Support Office) to asylum procedures and to adjust the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s return support to the current situation and needs;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Calls on the Commission for enhanced compliance with the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources1a as a matter of compliance with the Union's legal provisions and good governance principle; _________________ 1a OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 28.
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4 c. Welcomes the adoption by the Commission of the EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation for 2020-2030, set out in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 7 October 2020(COM(2020)620 final) which answers the Parliament recommendation, contained in its resolution of 17 September 2020 on the implementation of National Roma Integration Strategies: combating negative attitudes towards people with Romani background in Europe1a, to establish a genuine European strategy for Roma inclusion; _________________ 1a EUT C 385 af 22.9.2021, s. 104.
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 d (new) 4 d. Welcomes the strong cooperation between the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Court to combat fraud against the budget; notes that in 2020 six cases of fraud were reported to OLAF by the Court and that OLAF opened investigations in all six cases; notes that the main types of suspected fraud detected by the Court are artificial creation of the necessary conditions for Union financing, declaration of costs not meeting the eligibility criteria, use of grants for purposes other than what is allowed and procurement irregularities;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 e (new) 4 e. Calls on the Commission to fully comply with the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources1a as a matter of compliance with the Union’s legal provisions and good governance principle. _________________ 1a OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 28.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that for expenditure specifically for Heading III (Security and Citizenship) the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Regrets that under MFF heading 3 (Security and citizenship) only 25,3 % was spent on Migration and security while the most significant area of expenditure under that heading, 40,5 %, was the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI);
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Welcomes the fact that the Court did not find major flaws in the Commission’s clearance procedures regarding the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF);
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Regrets that for an AMIF-funded project the documentation of services provided to unaccompanied minors in Greece was not always satisfactory; welcomes that DG HOME took steps to improve the referral and reporting system through a centralised approach; calls on the Commission to report to the discharge authority on the progress achieved;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Takes note of the Court's findings for MFF heading 3 (Security and citizenship) and welcomes the recommendation of the Court that the Commission by the end of 2021 carefully check the eligibility of ESI project costs under the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI), submitted by beneficiaries of ESI actions, in particular the regularity of procurement procedures;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Calls on the Commission to suspend payments for border control activities until clear guarantees of compliance with fundamental rights are in place as to not repeat the errors in judgement that was seen in the case of Croatia;
source: 704.538
2022/02/08
DEVE
40 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe Instrument coincides with a dramatic
Amendment 10 #
2.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that the Global Europe Instrument’s spending target of 20% for human development and social inclusion is a minimum target; calls for increasing the fiscal space to protect human development investments and substantially higher expenditure in this area, given the crucial importance of health, education, social protection, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene for the realisation of human rights, addressing inequalities, with special attention to women and children, and of a life in dignity for all, the devastating impacts of the COVID pandemic and the human rights-based approach laid down in the Global Europe - NDICI regulation, the implementation of which Parliament will scrutinise; notes, however, that with the NDICI, the European Commission has effectively limited the European Parliament’s control and scrutiny role, thereby limiting transparency and accountability;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that the Global Europe
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new) 2 b. Notes that the possibilities of mainstreaming migration policy in EU external policy are significantly broadened by the inclusion of migration in the thematic, geographical and rapid response component and the migration budgetary target of the Global Europe Regulation; notes with concern, however, that through the ‘rapid response’ component, cooperation with third countries on migration management can be funded without the need for the Commission to publish any programming documents or consult civil society actors, and without the involvement of Parliament; insists in this regard on the need to ensure that the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework and related financial instruments including Global Europe, is accompanied by a robust human rights framework for the identification, implementation and monitoring of future migration cooperation programmes;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Recalls that Parliament resolutions shall help guide Union cooperation and intends to follow the Commission’s application of this; welcomes the success of Team Europe to contribute to positive attitudes concerning joint action; calls on the Commission to extend its ambition for a better coordinated approach to the multilateral system;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Recalls that Parliament resolutions shall help guide Union cooperation and intends to follow the Commission’s application of this through regular dialogue and evaluation reports;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Acknowledges the quality of ECHO’s implementation of humanitarian aid for education, as found by the Court in its Special Report 2/20211
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe Instrument coincides with a
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Acknowledges the quality of ECHO’s implementation of humanitarian aid for education, as found by the Court in its Special Report 2/20211, and the challenges regarding girls' education; _________________ 1
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Points out that the educational difficulties in some sub-Saharan African countries are attributable in particular to the security context, as a result of Islamist terrorism, and to internal displacement, and that European aid must take account of those specific circumstances;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Underlines the crucial importance of promoting and reinforcing the establishment of social protection mechanisms in developing countries;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Stresses th
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Stresses that choices of aid modalities should always be based on realistic assessments of the likely efficiency of possible options, supported by evidence; points to the salience of this in the rapidly expanding area of private sector cooperation, where the evidence base is limited and should carefully be broadened and deepened in order to facilitate optimal use of official
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Stresses that choices of aid modalities should always be based on realistic assessments of the likely efficiency of possible options, supported by evidence, and on thorough audits concerning possible partners and aid management checks; points to the salience of this in the rapidly expanding area of private sector cooperation
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Stresses that choices of aid modalities should always be based on realistic and independent assessments of the likely efficiency of possible options, supported
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Recalls that the Union and the Member States committed under Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement to align both public and private financial flows to a pathway compatible with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C; stresses that this requires a phase out of all direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies as soon as possible and by 2025 at the very latest;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe Instrument coincides with a dramatic reversal of the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and with rapid aggravation of the global climate and biodiversity cris
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Supports the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors in its annual report, in particular that international organisations must grant the Court complete, unlimited and timely access to documents, and not just in read- only format; calls on the Commission to take action on this matter;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Insists that the newly established Geopolitical Dialogue's impacts on programming and budget decisions and that international initiatives of relevance to the EU, e.g. in the framework of the G7 and International Climate Conferences, should be properly discussed and implemented according to existing legislative procedures and with full respect for Parliament's role as one of the two arms of the EU's budgetary authority;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes that at the end of 2020, the Global Europe heading had 29 billion euros of pending payments;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5 b. Stresses that, given the shortcomings recently reported on blending and guarantee mechanisms to facilitate optimal use of ODA, contribute to SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement and to demonstrate development additionality, widening the geographical scope and budget share of blending finance via EFSD+ in NDICI-GE, and through the Global Gateway strategy, making the blending-guarantee mechanism the main financial tool for mobilising investments is premature and unjustified; insists on the importance of the scrutiny of the European Parliament on the implementation of EFSD+, including its deployment through the Global Gateway and urges the Commission to provide all the necessary means to ensure the Global Gateway Strategy is aligned with the programming exercise;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5 b. Recalls the importance of rising humanitarian aid efforts and funding given the growing financial gap due to the increasing number of humanitarian crises, partly due to climate change, and that vulnerable people are the ones who suffer more from these crises; calls for more and more specific measures for vulnerable persons, especially for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5b. Welcomes the joint coordination of European aid as part of the Team Europe approach and insists that that become the standard method, as it has the potential to address the problem of a lack of visibility of European action and lack of coordination with Member States;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5 b. Reiterates its request of 20131a and 20171b and asks the Commission to submit, on the basis of Articles 209 and 210 TFEU, a proposal for an act concerning regulatory aspects on EU donor coordination on development aid; _________________ 1a P7_TA(2013)0558 1b P8_TA(2017)0026
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) 5 c. Recalls that the EIB intends to strengthen its role in the implementation of European external policies and development role by creating a dedicated branch (‘EIB Global’) for this purpose, reiterates longstanding EP demands that the European Court of Auditors be empowered to audit all EIB operations, and that these audits be made public;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) 5 c. Stresses that in the upcoming years, Member States shall keep investing in Covid-19 and other vaccines for developing countries, as well as to help improving distribution chains;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe Instrument coincides with a dramatic reversal of the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and with rapid aggravation of the global climate crisis; insists that in the implementation of the Global Europe Instrument, maximum efficiency in the response to these incomparably important challenges must be sought; calls on the Commission to increase efforts in climate change mitigation that allows to reduce the impact on vulnerable people;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 d (new) 5 d. Calls for a regular review of partner countries in the light of the development objectives achieved and asks for resolve to end cooperation once these objectives are not met over a longer period of time; calls also on the Commission to inform the European Parliament of the countries and respective sectors in which the EU is the largest donor and whether this is in line with the EU’s geopolitical strategy;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe-NDICI Instrument coincides with a dramatic reversal of the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the replacement of the Development Cooperation Instrument with the Global Europe Instrument coincides with a dramatic reversal of the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and with rapid aggravation of the global climate crisis; insists that in the implementation of the Global Europe Instrument, maximum efficiency and effectiveness in the response to these incomparably important challenges must be sought;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses, furthermore, that European development aid objectives must be laid down in close cooperation with recipient countries and that job- creating sectors should be targeted; calls in this connection for lessons to be learned from the European Court of Auditors’ Special Report 14/2020 of 8 September 20201 a; _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/DocI tem.aspx?did=54267
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Recalls the need to define a strategy for “building back better and greener” to link the COVID-19 response to the ecological transformation required by the Green Deal;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls th
source: 704.891
|
History
(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)
docs/10 |
|
docs/11 |
|
docs/9/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/LIBE-AD-702935_EN.html
|
docs/8 |
|
docs/9 |
|
docs/9/date |
Old
2022-02-09T00:00:00New
2022-02-18T00:00:00 |
docs/5 |
|
docs/9 |
|
docs/9/date |
Old
2022-01-31T00:00:00New
2022-02-14T00:00:00 |
docs/9 |
|
docs/7 |
|
docs/8 |
|
docs/5/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/REGI-AD-700428_EN.html
|
docs/7 |
|
docs/6/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EMPL-AD-699120_EN.html
|
docs/7 |
|
docs/7 |
|
docs/6 |
|
docs/7 |
|
docs/5 |
|
docs/4/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CULT-AD-699170_EN.html
|
docs/4 |
|
docs/3/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-AD-699320_EN.html
|
docs/3 |
|
forecasts |
|
docs/2/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CONT-PR-699012_EN.html
|
docs/0/docs/0/url |
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TRAN-AD-699194_EN.html
|
docs/1 |
|
docs/2 |
|
docs/0 |
|
docs/0 |
|
committees/11/rapporteur |
|
committees/1/rapporteur |
|
committees/16/rapporteur |
|
committees/10/rapporteur |
|
committees/17/opinion |
False
|
committees/2/rapporteur |
|
committees/7/rapporteur |
|
committees/18/rapporteur |
|
committees/19/opinion |
False
|
committees/13/opinion |
False
|
committees/12/rapporteur |
|
events/1 |
|
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee |
|
procedure/stage_reached |
Old
Preparatory phase in ParliamentNew
Awaiting committee decision |
committees/15/opinion |
False
|
committees/0/shadows/4 |
|
committees/9/opinion |
False
|
committees/14/rapporteur |
|
committees/5/opinion |
False
|
commission |
|
committees/3/opinion |
False
|
events/0/summary |
|
committees/0/rapporteur/0/date |
Old
2021-07-13T00:00:00New
2021-07-12T00:00:00 |
committees/0/shadows/3 |
|
committees/8/opinion |
False
|
committees/4/opinion |
False
|
committees/0 |
|
committees/0 |
|
committees/6/rapporteur |
|