Activities of Petri SARVAMAA related to 2022/2046(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (debate)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on upscaling the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework: a resilient EU budget fit for new challenges
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework: a resilient EU budget fit for new challenges
Amendments (23)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
— having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget ('Conditionality Regulation')
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
— having regard to Directive (EU) No 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 ('PIF Directive')
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights the importance of the Union budget for achieving the Union’s political priorities, as well as its role in assisting Member States in unforeseen situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, or the Russian’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine; stresses that sound and timely implementation of the budget contributes to addressing more efficiently and effectively the needs and challenges in different policy areas; Recalls that responding to the current crises has required unprecedented financial investment; stresses that the EU must strive to restore economic balance in the long term; highlights that all new resources and instruments should be monitored like any other financial tool from the EU budget;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 c (new)
Citation 2 c (new)
— having regard to the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report – The rule of law situation in the European Union, of 20 July 2021 (COM(2021)0700)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 d (new)
Citation 2 d (new)
— having regard to the Commission report of 20 September 2021 entitled ‘32nd Annual Report on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests – Fight against fraud –2020’ (COM(2021)0578)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses that the upcoming revision of the MFF 2021-2027 should facilitate a true European added value budget with sufficient funding to achieve its ambitions, and a strengthened focus on stability and simplicity, performance and results, leading to better and more effective spending, low operating costs, efficient allocations of resources, equity, and increased accountability and transparency;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the EU budget (the Conditionality Regulation); emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the EU budget; notes that any upscaling of the 2021-2027 MFF should aim to reinforce the protection of the EU’s financial interests, ensuring alignment with rule of law conditionality and strengthening public procurement rules to avoid any potential conflict of interests and increase transparency; reducing the administrative burden for beneficiaries, strengthening the efficacy of spending with a view to achieving greater European added value and increasing access to EU funding for citizens, SMEs and local and regional authorities;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Regrets that the overall annual absorption rate in 2020, the final year of the past MFF, was the same as in 2013 (15 %), the final year of the 2007-2013 MFF; notes that the cumulative absorption was around 7 % lower than under the previous MFF; regrets that there are still considerable differences between Member States in the absorption of the ESIF funds allocated to them during the 2014-2020 MFF; notes that some Member States have absorbed up to 79 % of its total allocation, while others have absorbed only around 45 % of their committed amounts;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls on the Commission to continue its work with Member States, including through technical assistance in order to increase the ability of Member States to make use of the funds allocated to them and to intensify the effort to increase the absorption rate of the ESIF without compromising the quality of projects and the efforts made to avoid misuse and fraud of Union funds;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office have the necessary means and staff to investigate potential cases of fraud against the EU budget.; welcomes the ongoing recruitment of approximately 190 full time equivalents for NGEU-related tasks, including audit and control; as well as the planned new 118 additional posts for EPPO in 2022;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls the negative effects of rapid inflation on markets, investments and the beneficiaries of Union funds; notes that rural communities and farmers, especially small-scale and young farmers, are suffering at a time when their capacity to invest is limited and the budgetary capacity of the Union and the Member States is being reduced; notes that, in the revision of the MFF, particular attention is needed to improve the financial position of farmers not only in the short term but also in the long term, with a sustainable reform of the agricultural financing structures;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines the relevance of reporting on the performance of the Union budget’s programmes for the discharge procedure; draws attention to the fact that the added value of the invested resources is closely linked to the results achieved and their contribution to improving the daily life of Union citizens;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Welcomes the streamlining of key performance indicators for the various EU spending programmes with their inclusion in the respective basic acts; calls on the Commission to put performance at the hearth of budget implementation and maximize the effectiveness of EU spending and develop methodologies to better evaluate the contribution of the EU’s various spending programmes to horizontal priorities;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. Calls on the Commission to ensure that its impact assessments examine the key substantive aspects of legislation covering several programmes and plan its evaluations for all spending programmes, including evaluations covering specific thematic aspects of such programmes; calls on the Commission to clearly identify relevant follow-up actions arising from evaluations and include more quantitative information, especially cost- benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses when presenting options in impact assessments;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7 d. Notes with concern the increasing use of Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union for creating new mechanisms and bodies with budgetary implications for the EU budget, under which Parliament’s role is limited to the mere right to information; insists on an appropriate role for Parliament in the budgetary scrutiny of such initiatives; stresses, in addition, the importance of ensuring a meaningful role in the decision-making and scrutiny of all EU programmes based on national implementation plans;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Council to preserve an ambitious multiannual budget for heading 3, bearing in mind the importance of food security; recalls, furthermore, to assess the safeguarding of food security in non- EU countries;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7 e. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to shorten the discharge procedure; acknowledges that it delivered the 2020 and 2021 consolidated EU accounts relatively earlier than the regulatory deadline and advanced the publication of the Annual Management and Performance Report by a few weeks; encourages the Commission to keep progressing in this endeavour; acknowledges that further improvements depend on the Court of Auditors publishing their annual report earlier and the Council adopting its discharge recommendation earlier too; calls on the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the Council to focus on this problem and keep progressing towards a quicker discharge procedure;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
7 f. Calls on the Commission to ensure that appropriate administrative resources are available to manage in parallel all shared management funds and in particular the ESIF under the 2014-2020 MFF until closure, together with the increased allocations to them from the NGEU instrument in 2021 and subsequent years, as well as the Recovery and Resilience Facility;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Council and the Commission to recognise that the capacity of farmers to withstand inflation pressure and increased input prices and to ensure food security is impacted by variation in CAP payments; calls, therefore, for additional support to the Member States with the lowest payments; reminds that according to parliaments resolution((2020/2126(INI)) in some member states there is a clear inequality between fund allocations for big and small farmers, with systemic advantages for big farms, whose beneficiaries have close ties to the ruling political parties or are themselves members of these parties in their countries;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Underlines that agricultural and cohesion policy traditionally account for the largest share of the EU budget; stresses that these expenditure items are attractive targets for fraud and criminal activity; stresses that the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation also protects these funds and thus also the position and resources of agricultural producers;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the central role that the EU budget plays in delivering on the Union’s political priorities, including making a success of the green and digital transitions, fostering an inclusive and social recovery, promoting growth, strategic autonomy and energy independence, providing support for small and medium-sized enterprises, fostering sustainable development that leaves no one behind and ensures cohesion and upward convergence, ensuring a more robust European Health Union in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, promoting the rule of law, EU values and fundamental rights, contributing to greater opportunities for all, and ensuring a stronger Union for its people and in the world; in this context emphasises the clear link between the respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the EU budget and reiterates the importance of the Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the EU budget (the Conditionality Regulation);
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Insists that the principle of unity, whereby all items of the Union’s revenue and expenditure are shown in the budget, is both a Treaty requirement and a basic precondition for accountability, democratic legitimacy and the transparency of the EU’s public finances; stresses the need for an upscaled MFF to ensure a stronger and more agile EU budget which meets the highest standards of transparency and democratic accountability, striving to restore economic balance in the long term; requests, therefore, an increase in the MFF ceilings, as well as an increase in and redesign of budgetary flexibility and significantly greater parliamentary control over all EU spending, including off-budget instruments, funds and common borrowing and lending programmes; reiterates that all new instruments should be monitored like any other financial tool from the EU budget;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Reiterates the need for increased transparency of the EU spending and calls for a mandatory single interoperable database to be introduced within the current MFF revision providing relevant information on the direct and ultimate beneficiaries of EU funds and thus, a clear overview of the recipients of EU funding; moreover believes that any upscaling of the 2021-2027 MFF should aim to reinforce the protection of the EU’s financial interests, ensuring alignment with the rule of law conditionality;