Activities of Alviina ALAMETSÄ related to 2022/2081(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (11)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the findings of the European Court of Auditors (‘the Court’) that the consolidated accounts of the European Union for 2021 present fairly, in all material respects, the Union’s financial position; regrets that the estimated level of error in expenditure has increased up to 3%, up from 2,7% last year, which was already noted and described as material and pervasive;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls that the European Court of Auditors has once again found the level of error related to EU expenditure to be substantially higher for high risk expenditures, which are usually reimbursement based and subject to complicated rules (estimated level of error 4.7%), as opposed to low-risk expenditures, which are subject to simpler rules (estimated free from material error)1a; notes that both ERDF and CEF expenditures fall under the category of high risk expenditure; encourages clarification of rules and procedures for funding mechanisms, as well as improvement of monitoring mechanisms wherever possible, in order to minimise the risks entailed in high risk expenditure; _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/auditinbrief-2021/auditinbrief- 2021_EN.pdf
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Welcomes the finding by the Commission Annual report on internal audits carried out in 20211a that the Directorate-General of Mobility and Transport has an effective system of internal control in place to help ensure the support, monitoring, and enforcement of EU law in Member States; _________________ 1a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/ 252903/annual_internal_audit_report_we b-10.06.pdf
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes new research and innovation projects launched in 2021 from both Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, including landmark projects on green airportsrail and ports, new partnerships/joint undertakings, as well as the launch of climate-relevant missions, which accounted for 0.5 million DG MOVE spending in Horizon 2020 alone;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses the need to circumscribe EU funding to transport projects that fulfil the requirements of a future-proof, sustainable European transport network, in accordance with the EU taxonomy, and consequently to prioritise projects that significantly contribute to improving climate-friendliness in the transport sector;
Amendment 24 #
4 b. Welcomes the ambition to strive for carbon neutrality in European youth programmes, for instance through extra economic support for travel undertaken with low-carbon means of transport in the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes, as well as advanced carbon footprint tracking1a; _________________ 1a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/ 258050/Detailed%20replies_EP%2027.10. 2022.pdf
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the Court’s Review No 05/2021 on the Union framework for large transport infrastructure projects and regrets their findings related to major cost- overruns and time delays of the projects; requests the Commission, together with the Court, OLAF and EPPO, to further closely monitor the Union transport projects, improve the process and to submit an annual implementation report to the Parliament and national parliaments specifying the measures taken to guarantee the completion of the TEN-T network; highlights that the conclusions of the European Court of Auditors Review 05/2021 on “The EU framework for large transport infrastructure projects: an international comparison” align with its previous concerns; recalls that the Special Report10/2020 on “EU transport infrastructures: more speed needed in megaproject implementation to deliver network effects on time” already raised diverse serious socioeconomic and environmental concerns over different transport flagship mega-infrastructure projects across the Union, such as inaccurate estimations regarding traffic forecasts or the cumulative delays, remarkably impacting the related cost- benefit analysis as well as the life-cycle emissions calculations within the 2030 and 2050 horizons; considers that EU transport funding would be more effectively spent, also in terms of climate neutrality contribution, by considerably supporting smaller-scale regional cross- border rail missing links;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Requests that the Commission, together with the Court and OLAF, closely monitor the EU transport projects, as public investment in infrastructure is particularly sensitive to fraud; considers this essential not only to ensure transparency that prevents corruption and misuse of taxpayers' money, but also to ensure that the highest safety standards for the users are not compromised;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Calls attention to the renewed expression of concern by the European Court of Auditors regarding the climate reporting methodology used in the MFF 2021-2027, which is believed to overestimate the climate contribution of certain EU funding1a; urges the Commission to review this expenditure tracking system in order to obtain more reliable estimates of the climate contribution of EU policies; _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/annualreport-Performance- 2021/annualreport-Performance- 2021_EN.pdf
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)