24 Amendments of Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ related to 2017/2146(DEC)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas effective coordination is central to limiting the risk of aid fragmentation and maximising impact coherence and partners’ ownership of development priorities;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas mobilising the private sector and attracting further investments is key given the funding gap required to reach ambitious development goals, and to secure the best building blocks for sustainable development in the recipient countries in their own administrative capability and societal structure;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas budget support, while being a key driver for change and to addressing the main development challenges, carries a significant fiduciary risk and should only be granted if it provides sufficient transparency, traceability and accountability and is accompanied by clear commitment from partner countries to reform policies;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas aid development is implemented in a complex and fragile geographicpolitical context, including eithermpacted by issues such as weak governance frameworks, corruption, social and economic instability, armed conflicts, crisis or post- crisis situations triggering migrations or forced displacements, health crisis, etc.;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Regrets that these encoding errors were already present in 2015 in the context of the management of recovery orders; notes however that in 2016 DG DEVCO issued detailed instructions to its staff on the correct encoding of recovery orders of this type;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is concerned by the recurrence and persisting typology of errors, in particular in the area of public procurement, despite consecutive corrective action plans, i.e. non-compliance with procurement provisions with a case of services contracts awarded without a competitive selection procedure, expenditure not incurred, ineligible expenditure or lack of supporting documents; observes that those errors were also related to transactions linked to programme estimates, grants and contribution agreements between the Commission and international organisations; calls on the Commission to address the shortcomings in the contract management, selection procedures, document management and the procurement system as a matter of urgency;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes the successive action plans implemented to enhance theWelcomes DG DEVCO´s continuous efforts to improve the implementation of its control framework of DEVCO, in particular the targeting of high-risk areas related to funds under indirect management through international organisations and development agencies and grants under direct management; notes the extension of the reservation to grants and programme estimates under indirect management;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Repeats its call for unwavering attention to be paid to the recurrent weaknesses observed within the running of key control steps, namely the vulnerability of ex ante checks carried out before project payments are made and external audits verifications on expenditure; notes that DG DEVCO is currently revising the terms of reference of the audits and verifications to obtain information allowing for a quality assessment;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Welcomes that DG DEVCO addressed all weaknesses reported in 2013 by ECA, however notes that the RER- specific estimation method still leaves too wide a margin for individual error rates;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. AsksCalls on DG DEVCO, along with other services and actors of the external affairs stakeholders, to further develop its communications strategy and tools by highlighting the main results achieved, and by showing various stakeholders and citizens how the Union ito further strengthen the overall visibility of the EDF supported projects in order to reach out to wide public by providing relevant information on the EU´s contributiong to the mainglobal challenges it faces;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Stresses that the coherence and complementarity of such development financial instruments with the EDFs’ strategy and overarching objectives of Union development policy should be continuously ensured;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)
39a. Stresses however that the Commission must ensure that such trust funds add value to existing actions, contribute to increased visibility of the EU external action and soft powers, and avoid duplication of other financial tools;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Recalls, however, the high inherent risks incurred by these development instruments and, for the time being, the mixed experience in their implementation; reiterates the need for ensuring maximum transparency and accountability of utilization of these instruments;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Considers it essentialso that the Union’s trust funds’ ability toim at mobiliseing additional funds from the Member States or other donors must be improved, private sector and other donors;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Acknowledges the Commission’s room for manoeuvreflexibility in assessing whether the general eligibility conditions have been met to make the payments to the partner country (differentiation and dynamic approach to eligibility) due to broad interpretation of the legal provisions and is concerned by the final use of the funds transferred and the lack of traceability when the Union’s funds are merged within the partner’s country budget resources;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. SRecalls the need for the EDF to offer maximum openness and transparency; supports the public disclosure of relevant budget information related to budget support programmes in order to enhance domestic and mutual accountabilitytransparency and accountability, of and towards all the stakeholders, including citizens;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63 a (new)
Paragraph 63 a (new)
63a. Further invites the Commission to increase its commitment in the fight against tax evasion and tax abuse by decreasing its financial support of blacklisted tax havens through the means of the EDF in order to create an incentive for the listed countries, that encourage abusive tax practices, to comply with the EU´s fair-tax criteria;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71 a (new)
Paragraph 71 a (new)
71a. Encourages the Commission to make an increased use of micro financing instrument, which is considered to be a significant and effective tool in fight against poverty and in lifting up local economies;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71 b (new)
Paragraph 71 b (new)
71b. Recalls the need for the EDF financial tools to attract further investments from private sector; encourages the Commission to draw up an action plan that would address this need and to inform the discharge authority on the progress;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
73. Recognises the necessity to develop new patterns for designing development assistance instruments and related conditionalities, in line with the commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals and the new European Consensus on Development, in order to respond to new critical features such as the development and humanitarian nexus, the development, migration and mobility nexus, the climate change nexus and the peace and security nexus;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 75
Paragraph 75
75. Recognises the operational difficulties or challenges encountered, in particular for the purpose of consensus building especially when the coordination of a large number of donors is at stake in an evolving, complex context and changing needs;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78
Paragraph 78
78. Expresses its support to theRecalls that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the European Union and governments across the globe; streongthening ofly calls on the Commission to fulfil its commitments based on the Paris Agreement to strengthen the climate conditionalities of Union funding to finance only climate- compatible projects in order to reflecting the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which will require a change in selection criteria that could differ between partner countries; EU climate objectives, which will require an increased consistency in selection criteria;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79 a (new)
Paragraph 79 a (new)
79a. Insists that educational material financed by European funds including PEGASE comply with the common values of freedom, tolerance and non- discrimination through Education adopted by EU Education Ministers in Paris on 17 March 2015; asks the Commission to ensure that European funds are spent in line with Unesco- derived standards of peace and tolerance in education;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 87
Paragraph 87
87. Takes note of the European Parliament'Reiterates its call for the inclusion of the EDF Fund in the general budget.