Activities of Antonio DE BLASIO related to 2008/2242(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Protection of the Communities' financial interests - Fight against fraud - Annual report 2007 (A6-0180/2009, Antonio De Blasio)
Reports (1)
REPORT Report on the protection of the Communities' financial interests and the fight against fraud - Annual report 2007 PDF (219 KB) DOC (138 KB)
Amendments (12)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Deplores the delay in adopting the proposal for a regulation on mutual administrative assistance for the protection of the financial interests of the European Community against fraud and any other illegal activities (COM(2006)0473) and the proposal for a regulation amending Regulation No 1798/2003 to combat tax evasion connected with intra-Community transactions (COM(2008)0147) 1, which causes serious damage to the efficiency of the fight against VAT fraud;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the fact that, following its Communication concerning the need to develop a co-ordinated strategy to improve the fight against fiscal fraud (COM(2006)0254), the Commission adopted a Communication on a coordinated strategy to improve the fight against VAT fraud (COM(2007)0758), and expects the Commission to submit legislative proposals in this areafollows with special attention both the Commission proposal for a Council directive concerning mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, duties and other measures (COM(2009)0028) and the Commission proposal for a Council directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (COM(2009)0029);
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Points out that the milk, fruit and vegetable, sugar and rural development sectors taken together account for about 77% of the total amount of irregularities and that rural development represents alone about 38% of all irregularities reported; further notes that the highest amount in irregularities within rural development is reported for the support measure "forestry" and the highest number of irregularities is reported for the support measure "agri-environment"; therefore asks OLAF to pay special attention in its next annual report to the irregularities affecting rural development;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points out that the reporting compliance rates, in particular timely reporting, vary greatly between Member States; deplores that for Austria and Sweden the time gap between the detection and the reporting of the irregularities is far beyond the average time gap (1,2 years): 3,4 and 2,3 years respectively;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Has reservation about the fact that according to OLAF there were no suspected fraud cases for ISPA in 2007; 1 F, IRL, SE, ES, LV and LU; since November 2008 the situation has improved, with D and EST using an electronic file and no paper notification. 2 Timely reporting is especially a problem in ES, F and NL. 3 ES, F, IRL and LU.notes that Cyprus and Lithuania did not report any cases in 2007; Or. en
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Welcomes the publication of the above- mentioned second report of OLAF on on- the-spot checks and inspections outlining good practices for each stage of checks, as well as the new version of the OLAF Vademecum (guidelines); requests the Commission to send Parliament's competent committee the updated and comprehensive version of OLAF's manual by September 2009;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47a. Reminds the Commission of Parliament's request to include in the 2008 PIF Report an analysis of the Member States' structures involved in combating irregularities;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Paragraph 48 a (new)
48a. Notes that the national audit authorities have considerable competencies in audits regarding EU- funds and they provide the first source of information for both national prosecution authorities and EU institutions; believes therefore that maximising the cooperation and information flow between audit authorities, national prosecution authorities and OLAF is in our common interest;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 b (new)
Paragraph 48 b (new)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49a. Points out that the Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS) for OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) in the Member States which acceded to the EU after 2004 are very important information/contact points for OLAF; however points out that so long as these offices are not independent from the national administration, their functional added value is minimal (especially concerning reporting of irregularities to the Commission); therefore asks the Commission to make a proposal to the relevant committee about making the work of these offices more valuable;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52a. Underlines that it is essential to have in place expedient and effective mechanisms to freeze and confiscate assets abroad and therefore a recasting of the existing EU legal framework should be considered; stresses that Council Decision 2007/845/JHA should be implemented, as a matter of urgency, in order to ensure that all Member States set up or designate Asset Recovery Offices (AROs);
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 b (new)
Paragraph 52 b (new)
52b. Reiterates its call on the Commission to provide Parliament with a detailed analysis of the system or systems used by organised crime to undermine the Communities' financial interest; finds the yearly Europol Organized Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA) useful, but not sufficient in this respect;