33 Amendments of Michal WIEZIK related to 2021/2234(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the EPPO Annual Report of 2021,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 24 a (new)
Citation 24 a (new)
— having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council and the Vice- President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy concerning corruption and human rights (2021/2066(INI)),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Reminds that 2020 is the final year of the Multiannual Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 despite the fact that programmes need to be finished only in 2023 and at the same time the year of the adoption of the MFF 2021-2027, the NextGenEU and the Rule of Law conditionality mechanism;
Amendment 10 #
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; notes 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 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; notes that proper focus was given to healthcare sector and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the additional risks;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Is of the opinion that the experiences earned during the COVID-19 outbreak require specific consideration in the framework of the post-evaluation of the MFF 2014-2020; asks the Commission to duly integrate in such evaluations the aspects related to risk assessment, risk management and mitigating measures in respect of irregularities and frauds, as components of a comprehensive analysis on effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value and as lessons for future design and conduct; is of the opinion that the post-evaluation of the MFF should be concluded latest before the midterm evaluation of the MFF 2021-2027 in order to learn from the past to better prepare for the future vis a vis allow the drawn conclusions/lessons learned to be channelled into the improvement of the MFF 2021-2027; asks the Commission to in the post evaluation of the MFF 2014-2020 examine how this multiannual framework reached its targets, how the spending of the programmes contributed to the goals of the EU and the Member States and how the EU funds were affected by fraud and corruption in this period;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the total number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported in 2020 amounted to 9 72611 755 cases overall, and involved a value of approximately EUR 1.3346 billion; notes the new approach of the long-term budget 2021–2027, which focuses on the EU added value;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes note of the number of fraudulent irregularities reported in 2020 (9891056 cases) and their related financial value (approximately EUR 361.4274 million);
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Takes into consideration the fact that the number of non-fraudulent irregularities registered in 2020 (8 73710699 cases, of which 5 3716696 cases related to expenditure) was lower than in the previous years, and that the drop in detection and reporting in certain areas of spending cannot easily be explained and is of concern; notes that the total related financial value of these cases is approximately EUR 967.02 m1.09 billion;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Notes from the 2021 VAT Gap Report that in 2019 the EU VAT Gap dropped to EUR 134 billion in nominal terms (a decrease of almost EUR 6.6 billion with respect to 2018); notes moreover that the study provides fast estimates for 2020 only for 18 Member States due to significant changes in the tax regimes and structures of the economies following the outbreak of the pandemic which do not allow yet to judge whether the EU-wide VAT Gap will decline or incline in 2020; notes that the econometric analyses confirmed that the VAT Gap is influenced by a group of factors, of which, within the control of tax administrations, the share of IT expenditure and the application of additional information obligations for taxpayers proved to have the highest statistical significance in explaining the size of the VAT Gap;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that over the past five years, the annual recovery rate has varied between 52 % and 71 % and that the recovery rate for cases reported in 2020 is currently 71 %; notes, however, that recovery rates vary among the Member States owing to factors such as the type of fraud or irregularity, or the type of debtor involved; notes that China remained also in 2020 the most important country of origin of goods affected by fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes that between 2016 and 2020, the number of irregularities reported related to the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Fisheries Funds for the 2014-2020 programming period increased; stresses, however, that for all funds, and in particular the European Regional Development Fund, as regards non- fraudulent irregularities, this increase was limited, highlighting an exceptional fall in the number of detected irregularities (and related financial amounts) in comparison to the previous programming period; notes moreover, that in relation to the 2007- 2013 programming period the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities decreased for the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Fisheries Funds, in line with the implementation cycle; notes that a number of implementation rules changed between the two programming periods;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Is of the opinion that companies and organisations which involve offshore companies and organisations into their ownership structures should be excluded from the use of EU funds;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3 a (new)
Subheading 3 a (new)
External dimension of Protection of the EU’s financial interests
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Is of the opinion that EU institutions and bodies should put more emphasis on the funds spent in non-EU countries in order to verify that those funds are spent in accordance with the rules and without the involvement of fraud or corruption, and to confirm whether they contribute to the goals of the Union’s development and external policy; recommends the suspension of budget support in third countries where corruption is widespread and where authorities manifestly fail to take genuine action, while ensuring that the assistance reaches the civil population through other channels;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Recommends the mainstreaming of an anti-corruption approach into EU external action instruments, including in the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), the Instrument for Pre- Accession Assistance (IPA) and EU trust funds; calls for stronger priority for the fight against corruption in pre-accession negotiations and criteria with a strong conditionality framework and a focus on capacity building, such as specialised anti-corruption bodies;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20 b. Calls for an inclusion in all EU- third country trade and investment agreements a strong and mandatory conditionality framework with transparency provisions and binding and enforceable anti-corruption clauses; recommends that as a last resort, the EU should impose sanctions or suspend agreements in the event of serious acts of corruption;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 c (new)
Paragraph 20 c (new)
20 c. Calls for a monitoring of corruption risks involved in authoritarian third countries’ large-scale construction and investment projects undertaken in Member States, with particular attention to transparency in these projects, which often raises concerns about non- transparent financing or fiscal risks;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for a greater degree of digitalisation, interoperability of data systems and harmonisation of reporting, monitoring and auditing in the EU; calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of using AI in the service of the protection of the EU’s financial interests; Is of the opinion that all EU bodies working in the field of Protection of the EU’s financial interest including Eurojust and Europol should have access to data systems such as ARACHNE and EDES;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. 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 assess, and to report to the Parliament, the reasons preventing the Member states from fully adopting and using ARACHNE; Calls on the Commission to make the use of ARACHNE compulsory for the MFF and the RRF as well;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Urges the Commission to extend the scope of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) to include the funds under shared management in the context of the revision of the Financial Regulation; recalls the observations of Parliament outlined in its resolution of 24 November 2021 on the revision of the Financial Regulation as regards the use of digital tools and the data on the final beneficiaries of EU funds;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that by June 2021, two thirds of the actions of the Commission’s 2019 anti-fraud strategy had been implemented, while implementation of the remaining third was ongoing; calls on the Commission to report on the implementation of the remaining actions; notes, moreover, that good progress was made on a number of actions aimed at increasing coordination and cooperation between Commission departments and equipping the Commission with a more effective system of anti-fraud oversight; notes that the monitoring of the follow up to OLAF recommendations was made more efficient in 2020, taking stock of about 1 400 financial recommendations issued between January 2012 and June 2019;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that by the end of 2020, 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; calls for more Member States to adopt a NAFS and to report it to the Commission; calls on the Commission to provide tangible support and advice to the Member States, by way of guidelines on drafting NAFS, advisory services on the setting and functioning of AFCOS, and reiterates its call for analyses of the adopted NAFS and on the reasons why in some Member States a NAFS is not adopted;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Recognises the principle of confidentiality of OLAF investigations; is of the opinion however that there is an overarching public interest and the EU citizens also have the right to access to those reports and recommendations in which OLAF investigations, and all national follow up procedures are closed as recognised by the CJEU in Case T- 517/19; therefore asks OLAF to set up a mechanism to publish those reports and recommendations for which there is no more legitimate reason to maintain the principle of confidentiality;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Takes note of the working arrangement signed on 3 September 2021 for a framework cooperative relationship between both the EPPO the ECA; notes, moreover, the administrative arrangements signed in 2019 between the OLAF and the European Court of Auditors;
Amendment 67 #
32. Welcomes the fact that the EPPO became operational on 1 June 2021; expectwelcomes its first annual report very soon; deeply regrets that there are still five Member States not participating in the EPPO; calls on these Member States to join the EPPO as soon as possible; welcomes that EPPO opened 576 investigations and that EPPO requested that €154.3 million be seized, of which the seizure of €147 million was granted; is concerned about the estimation of the EPPO on the total damages of EUR 5.4 billion caused by fraud and corruption; deeply regrets that there are still five Member States amongst them Poland and Hungary as biggest beneficiaries of the EU funds are not participating in the EPPO; calls on these Member States to join the EPPO as soon as possible; urges furthermore the non- participating Member States to sign cooperation agreements with EPPO; is of the opinion that the failure of Member States to cooperate with the EPPO has a direct effect on the protection of the EU’s financial interest; calls on the Commission to incentivise participation in EPPO with positive measures;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Welcomes the joint efforts of OLAF and Europol to assess the threats and vulnerabilities of the RRF instrument; welcomes 'Operation Sentinel' launched by Europol which intends to focus on proactive intelligence sharing, information exchange and supporting the coordination of operations to tackle fraud against COVID-19 EU recovery funds; welcomes the involvement of EPPO and OLAF and 19 EU Member States; is concerned about the fact those Member States which are major beneficiary of the Cohesion Funds, amongst others Poland, Hungary or Bulgaria do not participate in the operation; calls on all Member States to join to the operation; furthermore calls on the Member States to cooperate closely with one another and the EU bodies to allow action to be taken against fraud involving several countries;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Notes that in July 2020 the Council appointed the 22 European prosecutors; recalls that the EPPO is to work hand in hand with national law enforcement authorities and that it exercises the function of prosecutor in the competent courts of the participating Member States while at the same time closely cooperating with EU agencies and bodies such as Eurojust, Europol and OLAF; notes that this peculiar position is designed to allow EPPO drawing upon the existing experience and best practices at national and EU level; expects the Commission to duly consider EPPO reassessment of its staff needs based on its workload experience and to implement the needed financial adjustments to guarantee EPPO operational effectiveness and efficiency;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)
Paragraph 38 a (new)
38 a. Welcomes the judgements of the CJEU of 16 February 2022 and its conclusions confirming that the EU indeed has competences regarding the Rule of Law in the Member States that the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism is in line with EU law;
Amendment 83 #
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 ‘gGuardian of the Treaties’ and to tackle the ongoing violations of the principles of the rule of law in several Member States, which represent a serious danger to the Union’s financial interests; calls on the Commission, therefore, to take urgent action andwelcomes the announcement of the Commission to apply the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism immediately by sending a written notification under Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 to Hungary; is of the opinion that the rule of law is a universal concept and the Commission should consider the application of the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism against all Member States which fail to respect the rule of law without discrimination; warns that the delay might already have detrimental impact on the financial interest of the EU and the state of the rule of law in certain Member States;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Recognises the importance of the annual rule of law report and the fact that the fight against corruption is an integral part of the report; is of the opinion, however, that it cannot substitute the anti- corruption report; welcomes the Commission’s intention to equip the rule of law report with specific recommendations to the Member States; is of the opinion that the Commission should consider the establishment of a “Corruption Index” based on a strict and easy to apply criteria should reflect upon the opinion about the performance of the Member states in fighting corruption and add it to the anti- corruption chapter of the Rule of Law report;
Amendment 96 #
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 especially in light of the new mandates adopted to Eurojust and Europol; reminds the Commission and the Council that every euro spent on monitoring and investigation returns to the EU budget;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Reiterates the unsatisfactory level of analysis provided in the annexes to the PIF report regarding cases of conflicts of interest; calls for the Commission to engage in such analysis, following the amendment of the Article 61 of the Financial Regulation and the issue on 7 April 2021 to the benefit of the Member States of the ‘Guidance on the avoidance and management of conflicts of interest under the Financial Regulation’;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission and the Member States.