18 Amendments of Ingeborg GRÄSSLE related to 2017/2136(DEC)
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Is surprised by the divergent views expressed by the Court and the Commission as to financial management of the first pillar of the CAP; expresses doubts as to the assertion made by the Court that in expenditure the error is not “pervasive” (ECA annual report paragraph 1.8) since the director general of Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), in his AAR, issued a reservation in direct payments concerning 18 paying agencies comprising 12 Member StatesTakes note of the Court's assertion that in expenditure the error is not “pervasive” (ECA annual report paragraph 1.8);
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Points out that since errors can be corrected more than 10 years after they have occurred, it is artificial; rejects to base the estimated impact of future corrections upon recorded corrections over the last six years;
Amendment 98 #
42. Endorses the reservations issued by the directors general of DG REGIO, MARE, HOME, DEVCO and AGRI, in their annual activity report; is of the opinion that those reservations demonstrate that the control procedures put in place in the Commission and the Member States cando not give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality and regularity of all thecertain underlying transactions in the corresponding policy areas;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 98 a (new)
Paragraph 98 a (new)
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113 a (new)
Paragraph 113 a (new)
113a. Considers that in research and innovation projects as well as Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs), standards and standardization support the impact of research results on different Technology readiness levels (TRLs) as they enhance the marketability and transferability of innovative products and solutions; notes furthermore that standards and related activities support the dissemination of Horizon 2020 project results by spreading knowledge even after projects are finished by making it publicly available; calls on the Commission to enhance the involvement of standardization in upcoming calls and develop KPIs which take standardization activities into account;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 163 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 163 – point e a (new)
(ea) that the share of awarded contracts that received only a single bid is in Hungary at 36%; notes that the Union average is 17%; calls on the Commission to promote competition in the bidding processes;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 166 a (new)
Paragraph 166 a (new)
166a. Is concerned by the high share (45%) of awarded contracts that received only a single bid in Poland; notes that the Union average is 17%; calls on the Commission to promote competition in the bidding processes;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 22 a (new)
Subheading 22 a (new)
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 166 b (new)
Paragraph 166 b (new)
166b. Welcomes the positive assessment of the 10 years' Cooperation and Verifications Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania1a; is worried about recent step backwards in the fight against high level corruption in Bulgaria and Romania; calls on the Commission to support and encourage the law enforcement and anti-corruption authorities in both Member States; highlights the impressive track record of the anti-corruption agency in Romania in terms of solving medium and high-level corruption cases; underlines that maintaining this effort is of upmost importance to consolidate the fight against corruption; _________________ 1aStudy "Assessment of the 10 years’ Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania; DG IPOL, Policy department D: budgetary affairs
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 166 c (new)
Paragraph 166 c (new)
166c. Condemns the recent crimes against journalists most likely related to their investigations about high-level corruption with Union funds in Slovakia; urges the Commission to inform Parliament about Union agriculture funds in Slovakia targeted by the mafia;
Amendment 293 #
Public Procurement
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 168 a (new)
Paragraph 168 a (new)
168a. Welcomes the study “Stock-taking of administrative capacity, systems and practices across the Union to ensure the compliance and quality of public procurement involving European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds”; notes with concern that the share of awarded contracts that received only a single bid is high in Poland (45%), Croatia (45 %) and Hungary (36%); asks the Commission to give reasons for such an unusual low competition in public procurement processes in the Member States;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 197
Paragraph 197
197. Notes that if 2Recalls its remarks1a of the unsustainable structure of CAP expenditure: 44.7% of all Union farms had an annual income of less than EUR 4000, and in 2016 on average the upper 10% of the CAP beneficiaries receive 80 % of the funds it is because “of CAP direct support received around 60% of the payments1b; notes that the distribution of direct payment largely reflects the concentration of land, 20% of farmers also owning 80% of the land; (reply to written question 17 at the CONT hearing with Mr Hogan on 28 November 2018); _________________ 1aSee paragraph 207 of its resolution of 27 April 2017 with observations forming an integral part of the decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section III – Commission and executive agencies (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0309) 1b See the Indicative figures on the distribution of aid, by size-class of aid, received in the context of direct aid paid to the producers according to Council Regulation (EC) No 1307/2013 (financial year 2016)
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 207
Paragraph 207
207. Points out thatUnderlines the positive trend in the error rates issued by the Court is not corroborated bydespite the evolution of the amounts at risks reported by DG AGRI in its AARs, namely from 1.38% in 2015 to 1.996% in 2016 (the market measures with an error rate of 2.85% being not included) and 4% for both financial years in rural development; understands that this is not reflecting statistically significant deviations;
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 220
Paragraph 220
220. Is particularly concerned that according to the ECA special report 21/2017 entitled “Greening: a more complex income support scheme, not yet environmentally effective”;about the effects codecision had on the effectiveness of greening : “Greening is unlikely to provide significant benefits for the environment and climate (...) because greening requirements are generally undemanding and largely reflect normal farming practice” (pageECA special report 21/2017 entitled “Greening: a more complex income support scheme, not yet environmentally effective”, p. 47);
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 233 – point a
Paragraph 233 – point a
(a) Farmers should only have access to CAP payments if they meet a single set of basic environmental norms including GAECs and greening requirements which are both, the latter being meant to go beyond the requirements of environmental legislation;
Amendment 446 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 283 a (new)
Paragraph 283 a (new)
283a. Was surprised by the Commission decision to second the OLAF Director, Giovanni Kessler, following a request by the government of the Republic of Italy, in the interest of the service to Italy’s Customs and Monopoly Agency; prior to his secondment he was relieved from office, upon his request, and made a temporary hors-class adviser in the Commission, a position created for him after legal proceedings in Belgium concerning professional misconduct as OLAF Director;
Amendment 449 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 283 b (new)
Paragraph 283 b (new)
283b. Has great misgivings about (a) creating posts for the sole purpose of serving as a spring-board for a secondment, (b) the high official not respecting a “cooling-off” period before accepting a position with close links to his prior employment, (c) the high official running the risk of being entangled in a conflict of interest between loyalty to his former and current employer;