28 Amendments of Ingeborg GRÄSSLE related to 2012/2167(DEC)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) The Commission shall assist Member States and give guidelines to standardise the language, form and information given in the annual Summaries concerning the implementation of operational programmes under shared management concerning the field of cohesion policy;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
(cb) The Commission shall report how it intends to improve as soon as possible its provision to introduce a pro-active management of potential conflict of interests and 'revolving doors';
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)
(cc) The Commission shall report how it has implemented Article 5(3) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and how it intends to improve and clarify existing rules;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c d (new)
(cd) The Commission should provide Parliament as soon as possible with an overview about all (public and non- public) documents and all persons involved in the negotiations of the four cooperation agreements with the tobacco industry;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Welcomes the fact that the Commission transmits to Parliament the annual summaries submitted by the Member States with an analysis of their content, and calls on the Commission to address to the Member States the necessary recommendations in order to improve the reporting instruments; furthermore, calls on the Commission to provide guidelines to the Member States concerning the form and minimal informational content of the reports in order to enable easy comparability; is of the opinion that the language of the reports should be one of the working languages of the Union;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
Paragraph 67
67. WelcomNotes the entry into force of the European Stability Mechanism but reiterates its warning against the setting-up of that Mechanism outside the Union's institutional framework as this precludes any actual democratic and budgetary control by the institutions of the Union;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 98 a (new)
Paragraph 98 a (new)
98a. Takes note of the current practice in the management of Sapard funds, namely, that funds are only exceptionally recovered in full if the fraudulent behaviour for a part of the project has artificially created the conditions without which the beneficiary would not have obtained support for the project at all; is worried about the current practice, recommended by the Commission to the Sapard agency, that a project of which a part has been affected by fraudulent behaviour can be deemed eligible for funding if the project is not deemed to be of an artificial nature, i.e. the percentage of the costs of all the affected elements does not exceed 50 % of the total costs of the entire project; is especially concerned about the lack of deterrence from fraudulent behaviour this practice exhibits;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 152 (new)
Subheading after paragraph 152 (new)
Bulgaria and Romania
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 152 a (new)
Paragraph 152 a (new)
152a. Notes with concern the interim Commission's report on the progress made by Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, especially in the light of Rumania's capability to protect the financial interest of the Union; notes with concern the report's statement about the Romanian government and Parliament not fully respecting the principle of integrity; welcomes, therefore, the report's suggestion that constitutional requirements such as the suspension from Ministerial office on indictment should be applied; is concerned by the report's assessment that only limited progress has been achieved in the prevention and sanctioning of corruption related to public procurement; stresses, the importance of the reports suggestion that the Government materializes the appointment of a new leadership for the prosecution and the National Anti-corruption Agency (DNA); is concerned to find out that current national legislation does not foresee a possibility of a cancellation on the grounds of conflict of interest of projects that have already been executed; takes note of the report's view, in this respect, that comprehensive statistics with exact amounts of confiscated assets stemming from fight against corruption should be published; deplores the findings highlighted by the report that the decisions of the National Integrity Agency (ANI) still remain under frequent question, that its personnel have been subject to frequent political and media attacks, and that Parliament failed to enforce a ANI's report despite final backing up by Court decisions; calls on the Commission steadfastly and determinedly to insist vis-à-vis the Romanian Government that the Commissions' recommendations are complied with and clarified; expects, finally, a series of measures from the Commission, in cooperation with the Romanian government, aimed at improving the integrity of the Romanian legal system;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 152 c (new)
Paragraph 152 c (new)
152c. Notes with concern the Commission's interim report on the progress made by Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism especially in the light of Bulgaria's capability to protect the financial interest of the Union ; notes with concern the Report's statement that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has not used the new powers given to it accordingly, aimed at effectively managing and leading the judiciary through a comprehensive reform process; welcomes the efforts by the Bulgarian government to renew the SJC with a mandate able of implementing fundamental reform; acknowledges the fact that the new specialised structures put in place illustrate a commitment to adapting the current structures to tackle organised crime more effectively; takes note, however that the Report suggests that these new instruments have not yet delivered the expected results regarding important cases; deplores the poor results pointed out in the Report about uncovering contract killings, since of 33 contract killings monitored by the Commission since 2006, only four court cases have started, even if a number of investigations are still under way; is alarmingly astonished to discover by the Report's findings that systemic failures in law enforcement have been recently demonstrated after two prominent convicts escaped enforcement of their prison sentence; notes with great concern that investigations into alleged corruption and abuse of office by magistrates have received a particular weak response from the judiciary; notes with great concern that, as the report suggests, there are clear cases of serious violations of Union procurement rules; regrets with great concern, furthermore, the fact that a weak implementation of Public Procurement legislation could translate into an important source of corruption as well as a poor delivery of public goods with an European added value and waste of Union public money; calls on the Commission steadfastly and determinedly to insist vis-à-vis the Bulgarian Government that the Commissions' recommendations are complied with and clearer; expects, finally, a series of measures from the Commission, in cooperation with the Bulgarian government, to improve the integrity of the Bulgarian legal system;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 152 c (new)
Subheading after paragraph 152 c (new)
Control of Structural Funds in the Czech Republic
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 152 d (new)
Paragraph 152 d (new)
152d. Takes note that the Action plan has been fulfilled by the Czech government in 2012; takes note with concern of the centralization of the audit activities under the main audit authority in the Czech Ministry of Finance since the Court of Auditors reported this audit authority has been ineffective; is also worried since the Action Plan did not ask any changes in staff in the management of the main audit authority;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 152 e (new)
Paragraph 152 e (new)
152e. Takes also note that the Commission has not applied any corrections due to the failure of the audit system in the Czech Republic, however, the Commission applied corrections for shortcomings in the public procurement and the selection of operations; notes that the corrections applied can be allocated to other projects; is worried about information reported by the Court of Auditors that suggest that the Czech Ministry of Finance used its role as an audit authority and certification authority to influence the final error rate; requests the Commission to report back to Parliament in detail on the matter; calls on the Commission to elaborate in cooperation with the Czech Government an Action plan that tackles the shortcomings in the Audit system at the core;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 156 a (new)
Paragraph 156 a (new)
156a. Calls for a detailed summary of the allocation of funding in Libya; also calls for clarification of whether the subdelegation of the EU ambassador in Libya has been revoked;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 156 b (new)
Paragraph 156 b (new)
156b. Calls on the Commission to use a ‘traffic light’ system in the progress reports, for ease of reference, in order to show what has improved or deteriorated from one year to the next;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 159 a (new)
Paragraph 159 a (new)
159a. Notes that the EBRD commissioned expert reports from the Swedish Approval Authority (SKB), among others, which confirmed that GNS fuel elements are safe; notes with concern that this documentation for the fuel element containers, which has long been available, was not forwarded to the Lithuanian Approval Authority; notes that, as long as the fuel elements are not stored in the containers, the Ignalina power station must be administered as if it were in operation, which means that the 2 000 or so employees must continue to be financed by the EU; calls on the Commission to accept no excuses from the Lithuanian Government which would cause the authorisation and the project to be further delayed; also asks that the Commission set down a rigid timetable and threaten to impose sanctions if it is not adhered to;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 174 (new)
Subheading after paragraph 174 (new)
OLAF
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 a (new)
Paragraph 174 a (new)
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 b (new)
Paragraph 174 b (new)
174b. Is worried about several cases in 2011 for which the OLAF Director- General has denied the Supervisory Committee sufficient access to case files; emphasizes the importance of full information of the Supervisory Committee, since it endangers the fundamental rights of persons concerned by OLAF investigations and opens the possibility of indemnity claims; urges the Director-General to take the necessary measures to ensure the full and timely information of the Supervisory Committee, so that it can fulfil the role foreseen in the Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 to its full extent; welcomes the principal idea of a working arrangement between the Director-General and the OLAF Supervisory Committee; invites the Director-General and the supervisory board to explain the details of the working arrangement in a meeting of Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 c (new)
Paragraph 174 c (new)
174c. Has noticed the signature of the memorandum of understanding between OLAF and the European Communities Trade Mark Association by the OLAF Director-General; is worried about a possible extension of OLAF's mandate beyond its core competences that might lead to a weakening of OLAF's investigational capacity;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 d (new)
Paragraph 174 d (new)
174d. Has taken note of several cases where the proper treatment of persons concerned by OLAF in respect to their fundamental rights has been successfully challenged in court; is of the opinion that the supervision of OLAF's investigational activities by the Supervisory Committee needs to be strengthened but a sufficient number staff, to be nominated by them, would be made available; underlines the need of a separate budget line and separate establishment plan;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 e (new)
Paragraph 174 e (new)
174e. Is worried about the functionality of OLAF's Supervisory Committee, since one of its Members has withdrawn temporarily from her position in the Committee, being subject to investigations in her home country; calls on the Supervisory Committee to remedy the situation, so that the Committee is again fully manned and functional as soon as possible and functional without delay;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 174 f (new)
Subheading after paragraph 174 f (new)
Secretary General
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174 g (new)
Paragraph 174 g (new)
174g. Recalls that the Secretary General assured the Budgetary Control Committee in her hearing in January 2013 that her work regarding the drafting of the tobacco directive considered only horizontal issues; takes note of the correspondence of the Secretary General with DG SANCO, which goes well beyond horizontal issues, referring to an agreement between the Secretary General and DG SANCO before inter-service consultation has been launched; calls on the Commission to inform Parliament in detail about the content of the agreement and the reasoning behind the intervention of the Secretary General in that matter;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 180 a (new)
Paragraph 180 a (new)
180a. Notes that the Union is a under signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC); deems the implementation of Article 5(3) as a legally binding obligation to the Union; calls on the Commission to report on how the provisions of Article 5(3) have been implemented in the Union and its institutions, especially considering the following question: how far does implementation follow guidelines set by the WHO to Article 5(3); questions where and why the Commission has deviated from those guidelines?;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 180 b (new)
Paragraph 180 b (new)
180b. Draws the Commission's attention to the fact that the amount of EUR 85,9 million repaid by Belgium to Parliament at the beginning of 2010 and earmarked for building projects is to be considered as external assigned revenue under Article 21 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 180 c (new)
Paragraph 180 c (new)
180c. Calls on the Commission to inform the Budgetary Authority on an annual bases about the development of accounts outside the Union budget including their cash-flow development as well as the purpose of each account;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D