4 Amendments of Laura FERRARA related to 2017/2131(INL)
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – point 19 a (new)
Annex I – point 19 a (new)
(19a) According to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index on perceived levels of corruption in 2017, published by Transparency International, Hungary ranks 66th with a score of 45 out of 100, three points less than a year ago and 10 points less than in 2012. Numerous non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and business associations have reported that corruption in Hungary poses a significant risk to companies, especially in the areas of tax administration and public procurement. Public procurement is an area that is particularly vulnerable to local irregularities due to robust informal relations between businesses and politicians. Even though corruption in the public and private sectors is considered a crime that is expressly punishable under the Hungarian Criminal Code, that legislation is not being properly implemented.
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – point 20 a (new)
Annex I – point 20 a (new)
(20a) Hungary receives substantial funding through payments from the Structural and Cohesion Funds. In a 2016 report by the European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF), OLAF investigators found ‘serious irregularities’ in projects co- financed by the European Union, including projects managed by a company that was once co-owned by the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. This highlights dangerous conflicts of interest in the country and shows serious irregularities in the use of EU funds in the country and substantial fraud against the financial interests of the Union.
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – point 52 a (new)
Annex I – point 52 a (new)
(52a) In its first report on Hungary’s implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, published in May 2015, the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) found that insufficient measures had been taken to identify possible human trafficking victims among asylum seekers and irregular migrants. In its latest report, published in March 2018, GRETA again criticised Hungary for its inability and unwillingness to detect potential victims of trafficking in human beings among migrants and asylum seekers in the country and called on the Hungarian authorities to adopt a legal framework for the identification of victims of human trafficking among third country nationals who were not legally resident and to step up its procedures for identifying victims of such trafficking among asylum seekers and irregular migrants.
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – point 55 a (new)
Annex I – point 55 a (new)
(55a) On 15 June 2017 the Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Hungary for failure to comply with its legal obligations under the temporary emergency relocation scheme, established under two Council decisions in September 2015 (Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 and Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601). Despite confirmation by the Court of Justice of the European Union of the validity of the EU relocation scheme and of the EU’s right to require Member States to receive refugees, as expressed in its judgment of 6 September, Hungary has continued to infringe its legal obligations by refusing to contribute to the implementation of the relocation decisions. On 7 December 2017 the Commission decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union on the grounds of its failure to comply with legal obligations concerning relocation.