11 Amendments of Hannes HEIDE related to 2023/2183(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes that the Council Decision 2022/1223 for the reuse of EUR 600 million was taken to address the food security crisis and economic shock in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; believes that in view of the exceptionally dire food security situation in ACP countries, those funds need to be complemented with appropriate measures to enhance food autonomy of local communities;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Notes that in 2022, the implementation of the EDF contributed to improvements in water and sanitation, access to electricity, access to legal aid, food security and nutrition, environmental protection, climate change mitigation strategies and natural ecosystems, health, education, and entrepreneurship/employability;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Welcomes the consolidation in 2022 of the Team Europe approach resulting in increased information flow and exchange with Member States and European financial institutions for a better coordination and more effective management of the EDF with other national, EU or partners resources; takes note of the regional Team Europe Initiatives (TEI) on the Western Mediterranean migration route, where its management group includes representatives from both DG NEAR and DG INTPA ensuring coherence of action and optimal use of financial resources;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets however that according to the Court’s report the DG INTPA’s KPI on reducing old pre-financing does not take into consideration the number of years for which each pre-financing transaction has remained open, therefore the Court considers that achievement of this KPI did not reflect the difficulties it had encountered in clearing older pre-financing transactions, some of which had been open for up to 12 years; notes the Commission’s reply that as to the ageing of open invoices and pre-financings that have remained uncleared for up to 12 years, the majority of these old pre-financings are linked to litigation cases, and that the Commission has already put in place annual controls and is using a Portfolio Dashboard allowing staff to monitor these open transactions, which was updated in October 2023; calls on the Commission to provide a detailed report to the European Parliament and the Court specifically addressing these litigation cases, including an explanation concerning their origins and context, as well as a plan how to reduce and minimise litigation cases in the future; regrets that the Court did not probe the litigation cases and calls upon the Court to do so in its next audit report;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes with concern that by typology of errors the estimated level of errors in the financial year 2022 related to expenditure not incurred was 51 % (14,9% in 2021), to ineligible expenditure was 24 % (38,6% in 2021), to serious failure to respect public procurement rules was 16 % (14,6% in 2021), to absence of essential supporting documents was 7% (23,3% in 2021) and related to other types of errors was 2% (8,6 % in 2021); highlightsnotes the Commission’s reply that most errors such as that could have been avoided are relevant to excess clearing (expenditure not incurred is mostly), which is due to deinsufficiencies in the EU delegations’ control systemt financial reporting provided by implementing partners in indirect management and does not affect the implementation of the projects;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Is concerned that Benin´s EDF national authorising officer awarded a contract to a consultancy company to strengthen civil society involvement in the country, in serious breach of the public procurement rules; notes with concern that according to the Commission, the Evaluation Committee used its “discretionary power” to apply a calculation method which was not sufficiently documented in the procedure; recalls that the Qatargate scandal has revealed the role of non-profit organisations and civil society in corruption; recalls that European Court of Auditors Special Report No 35/2018 warns that the Commission does not have sufficiently detailed information on how the money is spent on civil society organisations, recalls the report of the Budgetary Control Committee A9- 0446/2023 on the transparency and accountability of non-governmental organisatnotes the remedial actions taken by the Commission concerning the internal control systems of the concerned EU delegation, such as clarification of the relevant rules, a review of similar clearings and a supervision missions; calls on the Court to produce a special report on EU funds being funnelled into civil society organisations, and to propel the Evaluation Committee and its discretionary powers concerning public procurement procedures, as well as any contacts and ties between the Evaluation Committee, including its members, and civil society organisations and other non- governmental organisationsnotes that the level of error in the EU delegation in Benin accounted for approximately 30 % of the total error and that if it were not included, the total error would have been approximately 4,7 % instead of 7,1 %;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Notes that, in 2022, 333 Recovery Orders were issued by the Commission on 293 contracts for a total amount of EUR 62.92 million;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes with concern thatthe Court’s observation that in 2022 the Commission and its implementing partners committed more errors in transactions relating to programme estimates and grants and to contribution and delegation agreements with beneficiary countries, international organisations and member state agencies than they did with other forms of support (such as those covering works, supply and service contracts); notes, in addition, that out of the 99 transactions of this type examined by the Court, 46 contained quantifiable errors, which accounted for 86 % of the estimated level of error; takes note that DG INTPA is currently reviewing its control strategy, including reporting requirements, and exploring potential remedial measures; asks the Commission to inform the discharge authority about its revised control strategy;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Stresses that, according to Court’s assessment, the RER study does not constitute an assurance engagement or an audit and is based on the RER methodology and manual provided by DG INTPA; stresses, furthermore,notes that DG INTPA clarifies that the RER study is meant to be a key indicator for the estimated financial impact of residual errors, i.e. it measures the good functioning of the internal control system and thus, demonstrates the Commission’s corrective capacity; stresses that, as in previous years, the Court has found limitations in the study; notes that the Court, by reviewing the calculation method used in the 2022 RER study, considered that the RER was underestimated and that the Court’s calculation yielded an RER of 1,35 % ; notes, furthermore, the Court’s opinion, as in previous years, that the RER methodology allows the contractor to rely entirely on the results of DG INTPA´s management checks, and that placing reliance on the work of other auditors is contrary to the purpose of an RER study;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Notes that in 2022, the two largest budget support recipients were Morocco and Tunisia; recalls that Tunisia denied entry to an official delegation of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in September 2023 and has been the first country torecipients of EDF payments were Mozambique, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, while the sectors with the highest funding were government and civil society, agriculture, evner do so; recalls that Morocco is at the centre of the Qatargate scandal and that a senior member of the Moroccan royal family features prominently in the Pandora Papers; urges therefore for the EDF support to these countries to be substantially lowered until all concerns regarding human rights abuses, corruption and tax evasion have been properly addressedgy and social infrastructures and services; notes that the implementation of the EDF concerns countries that are facing aggravating impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity and are weakened by rising debt, new and forgotten humanitarian crises and conflicts, generating growing inequality and poverty;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 a (new)
Paragraph 46 a (new)
46 a. Recalls that global crises have generated and expanded inequalities both within and between countries, undermining social cohesion and, in this context, welcomes the development of an Inequality Marker (I-Marker) to create a sound reporting and benchmarking system on the contribution of all interventions to reducing inequalities;