Activities of Bas BELDER related to 2016/2151(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION 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
Amendments (11)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the 2.9% error rate established by the European Court of Auditors for agriculture'Natural Resources' for 2015 - in 2014 it was 3.6% - continues to decline; regrets, however, that the estimated error rate is still above the 2% materiality thresholdpoints out that the corrective capacity from financial corrections and recoveries significantly reduces the real risk to the EU budget; points out that problems are administrative in nature, in many instances, and hence the error rate neither should be taken as a yardstick for fraud, inefficiency or waste nor necessarily means that monies have vanished, have been lost or have been squandered;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Asks the European Court of Auditors to continue to provide separate assessments for the EAGF, the EAFRD and Heading 2, also beyond the next financial year, as separate assessments allow for targeted action for improvement of the considerably different error rates;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that there is a significant difference in types of error, i.e. the distinction between negligence and large errors; notes that most of the quantifiable errors involve overstating of eligible areas and that, overall, they account for 0.7% of the estimated aggregate error rate while there are only isolated instances of shortcomings on the part of national administrations or of infringements by them; points out furthermore that, in many instances, there has not been an investment failure, but, rather, there has been expenditure on projects ineligible for assistance e.g. because the public procurement procedure was not followed;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Encourages the use of simplified cost options such as standard unit costs where appropriate in rural development programmes, in order to further reduce the error rate in rural development spending, decrease the administrative burden and incentivise entrepreneurship;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the reliability of information onthe error rate for CAP direct payments as reported by Member States is often seriously undermined as a result of misreportingcan be further improved by frequent updates of the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) and specific action plans where necessary, among other measures;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to make greater use of the opportunities regarding the performance reserve within the existing legal framework, in order to create a genuine financial stimulus to effectively improve the financial management; requests furthermore a reinforcement of the performance reserve as an instrument, by increasing the performance-dependent component in the following legislative framework;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the updating of the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which makes it possible to record areas more precisely; realises that as a result of using this central control system there will inevitably be an increase in error rates over the first few years,regularly updated control system in the Member States there should be lower error rates because of greater data reliability, as the European Court of Auditors confirms, butand that, in the long term, there will be lowerbetter use of free satellite imagery will further decrease error rates in this area; points out that there are already efforts and initiatives at Member State level for further simplification of the CAP while ensuring complete compatibility with GPS measurements;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that the integrated administrative control system (IACS) is being used properly, since the error ratelarge majority of errors reported by the Court of Auditors hasve been shown to be below 5%.relatively small errors of below 5% per individual declaration of eligible areas.1a __________________ 1a ECA annual report 2015, 7.16-7.18
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)
Paragraph 42 a (new)
42a. Underlines that the control burden for end-users would decrease if a 'Single Audit' approach would be applied, in which a European audit would not be carried out separately, but would build on national audits. Such a continuing line of accountability would however only be possible if national audits are adequate and if Commission and Member States would agree on the principles and interpretations; calls on the Commission to be proactive in this regard by publishing guidelines;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 b (new)
Paragraph 42 b (new)
42b. Believes that granting discharge should depend on the necessary improvement in financial management at Member State level; points at the instrument of national declarations in this context which could help to achieve greater accountability and ownership at national level;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 a (new)
Paragraph 58 a (new)
58a. Reiterates its call for thematic concentration, as expressed in its discharge report on budget year 2014; calls on the Commission to inquire to what extent thematic concentration could contribute to simplification and a decrease of the regulatory burden and control burden;