Activities of Mikuláš PEKSA related to 2021/2234(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020
Amendments (14)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 29 a (new)
Citation 29 a (new)
— having regard to the Opinion No 1/2021 of January 2021by the OLAF Supervisory Committee on OLAF’s recommendations not followed by the relevant authorities,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the PIF report highlights the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic both in terms of revenue and expenditure; notesis concerned in particular that customs fraud appears to have affected EU Member States to differing degrees; notes, moreover, that the use of simplified procedures and the lower quality of tender specifications in the emergency pose high risks to competitive public procurement, in particular by increasing the risk of conflicts of interest and corruption, and by inflating costs or reducing the quality of implementation; calls on all Members States to keep a high level of checks and monitoring on emergency spending, in case of urgent procedures done as an ex- post control, use emergency procurement on the basis of a case-by-case assessment and finally complete the transition to e- procurement processes;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Observes that in 2020, 451 irregularities were reported as revenue related fraud, 9 % lower than the average number of cases reported each year for 2016-2020; notes, moreover, that the affected amount of TOR estimated and established (EUR 108 million) in 2020 was 6 % greater than the average estimated and established amount for each year in 2016- 2020; notes that most cases reported in 2020 as fraudulent or non-fraudulent affecting EU revenue relate to undervaluation, incorrect classification/mis-description of goods or smuggling; notes, moreover, that inspections by national anti-fraud services were the most successful method of detecting fraud and that they surpassed post-release controls and release controls in detecting fraudulent duty evasion;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Notes that the PIF report mentions the importance of transparency with regards to the use of the public funds, as it constitutes a deterrent element and involves civil society in improving trust; calls on the Commission to work towards increasing transparency of beneficiaries, including contractors, sub-contractors and beneficial owners of EU funds; calls on Member States to also strengthen transparency in the use of EU funds, particularly for emergency procurement, since 8 Member States reported that they have still not done so;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes that, over the period 2016- 2020, the detection of fraud in the context of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was concentrated in a small number of Member States and that this was not substantiated by a similar level of payments to those Member States from the CAP budget; is concerned by the fact that the reporting of fraud related to rural development for 2014-2020 had a slow start, which might indicate insufficient detection efforts in EU Member States; notes moreover that, the majority of fraudulent irregularities concerning support to agriculture involved the use of false documents or false requests for aid, and that their number remained largely stable; observes furthermore that, as a proportion of the payments received by the Member States, the rural development part of the budget was more affected by fraud than support for agriculture, with the exception of market measures, for which incidences of fraud were higher than for rural development; notes that in relation to rural development, the falsification of documents was the main fraudulent practice;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. CReiterates its calls on the Member States to use the ARACHNE risk scoring tool in the MFF 2021-2027 and the NextGenerationEU recovery plan, especially with regard to the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF); believes that ARACHNE should be indicated as a one of the main tools endowing the national anti- fraud strategies (NAFS) that the Member States are expected to adopt in order to improve the integration of anti-fraud architecture; calls on the Commission to provide full direct access to ARACHNE for OLAF, EPPO and ECA;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. NotesIs concerned that by the end of 2020, only 14 Member States reported having adopted a NAFS, up from 10 in 2019; notes, however, that these strategies vary in scope and depth and that some need to be updated; is further concerned that 8 Member States have no yet started working on setting up their NAFS; calls for more Member States to adopt a NAFS and to report it to the Commission;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Is concerned about the decrease of the indictment rate from 53 % in the 2007- 2014 period to 37 % in the 2016-2020 period in the cases put forward to the Member States by OLAF; calls on the Member States’ authorities to cooperate closely with OLAF and examine the transmitted investigation reports and the judicial recommendations carefully, and to open criminal cases wherever they are necessary to ensure that misused EU funds are recovered; invites OLAF to investigate the reasons for the low indictment ratefollow the recommendations of the Supervisory Committee in its Opinion No 1/2021, such as the review the current system of monitoring procedures and the more timely cooperation with national judicial authorities; calls on OLAF to regularly follow up on its judicial recommendations and add data about them into its annual report;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Notes that the Hercules programme III was deployed by OLAF to strengthen the operational capacity of national and regional anti-fraud authorities in the domain of training activities and IT support until 2020;notes that the assessment of Hercules III was finalised at the end of 2021 and concluded that the programme was highly relevant and effective in protecting the EU’s financial interests, as it successfully met its general, specific and operational objectives; notes that Hercules III has been replaced by the Union Anti-Fraud Programme for the duration of the multiannual financial framework 2021- 2027;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Welcomes the fact that the EPPO became operational on 1 June 2021; expects its first annual report very soon; deeply regrets that there are still five Member States not participating in the EPPO, including Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland; calls on these Member States to join the EPPO as soon as possible; is concerned that Poland refuses any kind of cooperation with the EPPO, while, from the non-participating countries, it counts the highest number of investigations involving its citizens;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Welcomes the adoption of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget; notes the ruling of the European Court of Justice of 16 February 2022 dismissing he actions by Hungary and Poland against the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, as well as the Court’s conclusions that the regulation is perfectly in line with EU law; reiterates that it entered into force on 1 January 2021 and that it has therefore been applicable since then;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Is of the opinion that it is high time for the Commission to fulfil its duties as ‘guardian of the Treaties’ and to tackle the ongoing violations of the principles of the rule of law in several Member States like Poland and Hungary, which represent a serious danger to the Union’s financial interests; calls on the Commission, therefore, to take urgent action and apply the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism immediately by sending a written notification under Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Considers that the financing of the EU has entered a new era with the adoption of the NextGenerationEU recovery plan and that this provides the EU’s anti-fraud architecture with additional challenges; is therefore strongly of the opinion that the anti-fraud architecture needs to be further strengthened; stresses that OLAF, the EPPO, Europol and Eurojust are understaffed and lacking in financial resources; reminds the Commission and the Council that every euro spent on monitoring and investigation returns to the EU budget;