9 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2154(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Recalls that EU development aid and humanitarian aid expenditures often take place in very challenging environments which increase the difficulties when it comes to project implementation, evaluations and expenditure controls; development aid and humanitarian aid are therefore more error prone than other EU policy areas;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Notes that the Court of Auditors' estimated error rate for "Global Europe" expenditures has increased from 2.1 to 2.7 % between 2013 and 2014; underlines that this error rate is still substantially lower than the error rates of EU expenditures managed by Member States;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Notes that according to the Court of Auditors 57 % of errors are related to ineligible expenditures; supports the Court's recommendation to EuropeAid to improve ex-ante controls and to make better use of on the spot visits in order to detect errors;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. Welcomes that according to the Court of Auditors the control procedures put in place by DG ECHO when it comes to financial transactions are working correctly and that its reporting system is reliable; congratulates DG ECHO for this;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that in 2014, two projects linked to border management in Libya worth EUR 12.9 million were financed via DCI; recalls that the primary objective of DCI is to reduce poverty; reiterates its strong concern that development programmes may be used for purposes not directly related to development; recalls that such an approach will not help the EU to reach the objective of 0.7 % of GNI to be used for official development aid;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Trusts that DG DEVCO will addressWelcomes the Court's Special Report 18/2014 on EuropeAid's Evaluation and Results Oriented Monitoring Systems; is concerned by its findings which point to serious deficiencies when it comes to EuropeAid's evaluation system; highlights that a badly functioning evaluation system increases the risks of selecting projects lacking quality or which do not reach their objectives; notes and is worried by the diverging views between the Commission and the Court of Auditors when it comes to reliable information on the effectiveness of budget support operations; believes that there is a link between a lack of staff in EU delegations and in EuropeAid's evaluation unit and the problems highlighted by the Court of Auditors; considers this to be an illustration of the detrimental consequences staff reductions may have for the efficient functioning of EU programmes; urges nevertheless EuropeAid to address immediately the various weaknesses in its evaluation and monitoring systems pointed to in the Court's Special Report 18/2014; ;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Is seriously concerned by the findings of the Court of Auditors' Special Report n°11/2015 on the management by the Commission of Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs); notes that the Court expresses doubts on the sustainability of FPAs due to the difficult application of the surplus fishing concept; notes as well that the Court seriously puts into question the quality of the Commission's monitoring of the implementation of FPAs; regrets as well that ex-post evaluations of FPAs are insufficiently used in the set-up of follow-up agreements, according to the Court; urges the Commission to implement as soon as possible the Court's numerous recommendations;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that External Assistance Management Reports by EU delegations constitute snap shots as concerns the implementation of EU external aid projects and can therefore not be considered as final project evaluations; warns therefore against premature and biased conclusions as to the general effectiveness of EU aid policies;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Regrets that due to a shortage of payment credits in 2014, budget support payments to Morocco and Jordan worth a global amount of EUR 43 million could not be made in 2014 as contractually foreseen; deems this to be seriously detrimental to the EU's credibility and holds the Council entirely responsible for this due to its irresponsible budget policies;