Activities of Georgi PIRINSKI related to 2017/2044(BUD)
Shadow opinions (2)
OPINION on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018
OPINION on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018
Amendments (17)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the importance of cohesion policy as one of the main public investment instrumentspolicy of the Union budget to helpased on solidarity for reduceing economic, social and territorial disparities within and between European regions; stresses its role in creating growth and jobs across the Un and recognizes the paramount contribution of the Union budget as the key instrument providing resources for achievement of the cohesion policy priorities and objectives; stresses its role in creating growth and jobs across the Union and the need to maintain, enhance and simplify cohesion policy for putting Union back on track of convergence and further integration;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the main objective of the 2018 draft budget will be to ensure that the Union budget is provided with the means it requires to fully deliver its reinforced contribution to economic, social and territorial cohesion, jobs, growth, investment and solidarity, and to respond to continuing challenges and new developments, and their impact onregarding delayed economic recovery and increasing inequalities, as well as immigration, humanitarian aid and security;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Programme Statements of operational expenditure accompanying the budget 2018
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the statements corresponds in parts to the request made by the Parliament concerning the performance-based budget1 but notes that those statements complement the usual activity-based budgeting method with some performance data instead of basing the budget activities on firstly defined political objectives; _________________ 1 In its report on the Integrated Internal Control adopted on 3 June 2013 the Parliament calls for the establishment of a performance-based public budgeting model in which each budget line is accompanied by objectives and outputs to be measured by performance indicators.
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. RegretsTakes note that not all indicators are available on an annual basis given the multiannual nature of some programmes and that the reporting frequency varies from one programme to another; calls on the Commission to unify its reporting as much as possible in order to present a truthful picture of budget implementation and the added value achieved;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that cohesion policy has been characterised by under-implementation during the first years of the 2014-2020 period; stresses the unacceptable delays in implementing the current programmes which put pressure on managing authorities and beneficiaries and thus could lead to increased risk of errors and underperformance; calls on the Commission and Member States to conclude the designation of the respective managing, certifying and auditing authorities as soon as possible and to collaborate actively in order to accelerate implementation and avoid automatic decommitment;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 – indent 1
Paragraph 8 – indent 1
- to align the performance framework used in the Article 318 TFEU evaluation report (Annual Management and Performance Report) and in its management tools (management plan and Directorate General annual activity reports) with the performance framework of the programme statements programme;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 – indent 2
Paragraph 8 – indent 2
- to take thiprogramme statements framework as basis for its evaluation of the implementation of the EU 2020 Strategy and the 10 Commission priorities for 2015- 2019; and
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 – indent 3
Paragraph 8 – indent 3
- to include updated data on results for all the indicators established by programme statements;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Committee on Budget of the European Parliament, in coordination with the sectorial committees of this Parliament, to promote a real culture of results in respect of the optimisation of the use of expenditure byand to propose removing expenditures from programmes showing low performance only on the basis of a thorough analysis of the causes for underperformance; reiterates that tangible results cannot be achieved without sufficient resources;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes the 25,7 % rise in the level of payment appropriations under Heading 1b in draft 2018 budget; questions if those amounts are sufficient to face the payments under that heading given that the selection rate of operations is progressing and implementation is expected to reach cruising speed in 2018; stresses the need to provide the Union budget with adequate level of appropriations to cover the payments for cohesion policy, in order to show the capacity of the Union to fulfil its commitments and add up to its credibility;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for greater synergies of European Structural and Investment Funds programmes with European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and other financial instruments to leverage additional financing, as well as for greater complementarities with the other Union programmes; in that context supports the EFSI extension until 2020, but highlights that it is crucial that EFSI does not replace or crowd out grants for cohesion which are policy-driven instruments; in that context supports the EFSI extension until 2020 bearing in mind its specific nature of a market and demand-driven instrument;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Points out that the 2018 programme statements contain paragraphs referring to financial instruments financed by specific programme butand notes that the Commission considers that such information does not constitute the official reporting on the financial instruments financed by the Union budget as provided for under Article140(8) of the Financial Regulation" as the Commission presents a separate annual report on financial instruments supported by the general budget according to Art.140.8 of the Financial Regulation and the latest report for 2015 was published on 24 October 2016;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Urges once again the Commission to improve transparency in the use of financial engineering instruments (FEI), to regularly report on leverage, losses and risks and to present a cost-benefit analysis of FEIs compared with more direct forms of project funding;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Notes with concern that the EFSI implementation figures show that the majority of the investments are concentrated in the top five economies of the Union, which may further undermine the achievement of the Union's strategic objectives for greater cohesion;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the fact that the draft 2018 budget incorporates the elements of the mid-term revision package, which will allow greater flexibility; calls, however, that no more reallocations (such as those for the Structural Reform Support Programme and for the Solidarity Corps) or cuts from Heading 1.b of the MFF 2014-2020 are proposed by the Commission; calls on the Commission to continue to focus the Union budget implementation on the results, supports all steps undertaken towards a performance- based approach; points out that the 2018 budget should be implemented in line with the increased potential of the proposed simplification and flexibility within the “Omnibus package”.;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Is concerned that trust funds and other facilities using substantial Union budget contributions remain without proper surveillance by and accountability to the Parliament and insists on stronger accountability of these instruments;