27 Amendments of Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ related to 2021/2162(INI)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, following the entry into force of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, the Commission published a roadmap and launched a public consultation with a view to aligning the Financial Regulation, where appropriate, with the rules agreed by the legislator as part of the MFF 2021-2027 package, and to proposing limited and targeted improvements required by the evolving situation, for instance following the COVID-19 crisis or in the context of the growing opportunities for digitalisation, as well as improvements regarding crisis management, administrative simplifications for EU funds recipients, and protection of EU financial interests in accordance with the general principles embedded in the Union Treaties, in particular the values laid down in Article 2 TEU, as well as in accordance with the principle of sound financial management enshrined in Article 317 TFEU and in the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas the Commission acknowledged1a the need to reflect on amendments to the Financial Regulation that prevent selecting bidders that can be in a situation of conflict of interests and to improve implementation guidelines (Vademecum on public procurement) on the application of the notion of conflicting professional interests; _________________ 1a Case 853/2020/KR
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, and to strengthen public procurement rules avoiding any potential conflict of interests, including professional conflict of interests, whether immediately apparent or not and to increase parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, and to increase respect of the EU values, protection of the financial interests of the EU, parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs quickly, particularly in times of crises;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements; red tape reduction and simplifications, in particular where they increase transparency and democratic scrutiny; increase the accessibility to the EU funding for the citizens, SMEs, local and regional authorities;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they increase rule of law, transparency and democratic scrutiny;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level, by greatly, if temporarily, increasing the magnitude of the EU budget in the form of external assigned revenue, and creating liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure; warns that these developments put at risk central budgetary principles such as unity and budgetary accuracy, equilibrium and universality; notes that NGEU, financed through the EU budget is the largest amount the EU has ever proposed to redress its economy after the impact of COVID-19 pandemic; expresses its confidence that in crises, innovative instruments like NGEU will be used in order to enable the European Union to act and support its Member States; invites the Commission to propose a more transparent system of governance for the off-budget instruments, that involves both arms of budgetary authority, the European Parliament and the Council; warns that the risks of fraud and misuse of these funds is significant; calls that the modifications of the Financial Regulation should reinforce the link between NGEU- funded recovery measures and the EU's objectives and values;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level, by greatly, if temporarily,Welcomes that NGEU has greatly increasinged the magnitude of the EU budget allowing the form of external assigned revenue, andUnion to face one of its greatest challenges of its existence; notes that it has creatinged liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure; warns that these developments put at risk central budgetary principles such as unity and budgetary accuracy, equilibrium and universality;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is concerned that these mechanisms pose a serious challenge toNotes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade; Believes that off-budget instruments funded by external assigned revenues limit the ability of the Parliament to fulfil its decision-making, scrutiny and discharge functions; strongly believes that EU financial rules must be updated as regards the role of the budgetary authority in relation to these mechanisms, in order to bring them closer to the principles and responsibilities set out in the Treaties;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Notes with concern the increasing use of the Article 122 TFEU for setting new mechanisms and bodies with budgetary implications to the EU budget under which the Parliament’s role is limited to mere right to information and calls on ensuring an appropriate role of the Parliament in the budgetary scrutiny of such initiatives;
Amendment 57 #
8. Calls for the revision of reporting requirements on the Commission’s debt management strategy, including maturity and schedule of payments and including the role of new own resources in the repayment of the debt, to adapt them to the increased complexity and risk of borrowing and lending operations;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the article 2 TEU and the principles of sound financial management: economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as laid down in the Financial Regulation; recalls that, upon adoption of the Conditionality Regulation, Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to consider including the content of the Conditionality Regulation into the Financial Regulation upon its next revision and urges the Commission to make this proposal; calls on the Commission to examine possibilities to strengthen coherence between the two instrumenall EU instruments that allow the protection of the financial interests of the Union, the respect of the EU values and rule of law, including the recommendations from the rule of law reports;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Reiterates that ensuring the respect of all the values enshrined in article 2 of the TEU is a form of ensuring the protection of the EU budget and of the EU’s financial interests; highlights that Regulation 2021/1060 (CPR) equipped the Commission with strong ex-ante control mechanisms to ensure that managing authorities are in full compliance with the respect of EU values, in particular the non-discrimination principle; believes, however, that there is still a strong risk that final beneficiaries of EU funds use them in a way that is not compliant with EU values throughout their execution; calls therefore on the Commission to include in the Financial Regulation provisions setting out ex-post control mechanisms and procedures ensuring that every euro of the EU budget is used for projects or organisations that respect EU values, in addition to existing mechanisms; believes that a mandatory single, inter-operable and transparent database of direct and ultimate beneficiaries of EU funds would facilitate the detection of such breaches of EU values;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Underlines the limited capacity of the Union to sanction breaches of the rule of law by EU Member States; considers that the Union should further strengthen its tools for the protection of the rule of law; believes government entities breaching rule of law principles pose a serious threat to public funds (national and European) as those authorities cannot be fully trusted for their management; calls therefore on the Commission to include in its proposal for a revision of the Financial Regulation new provisions allowing the Commission to suspend or reduce EU funds for EU Member States that do no respect the rule of law, including when no EU funds are directly put at risk, when it implements the Union budget under shared, direct or indirect management;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12 ; considers that the centralisation of the information in a single, interoperable EU database with information on direct and ultimate beneficiaries would overcome the identified fragmentation and lack of transparency; notes that digitalisation of the management of EU funds coupled with a comprehensive definition of conflict of interest at the European level will increase the efficiency for the protection of the financial interests of the EU; _________________ 12Study on the largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds, requested by the CONT Committee, PE 679.107 - May 2021.
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3 a (new)
Subheading 3 a (new)
Impact assessment
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Regrets that the Commission did not plan to conduct an impact assessment for the modification of the Financial Regulation, despite that while the proposal will only target specific modifications, there is no clear evidence that the final text of this revision or future modifications cannot have any direct economic, environmental and social impacts; recalls that according to the European Court of Auditors, an impact assessment could have provided clear information on the accessibility of EU funds for EU citizens, which the revision of the Financial Regulation needs to improve;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4 a (new)
Subheading 4 a (new)
Climate mainstreaming
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Emphasises that the rules of implementation of the budget must reflect a clear methodology for climate mainstreaming that allow for effective and efficient tracking of funds used in tackling climate change for both climate mitigation and adaptation strands; requests the Commission to introduce the necessary provisions in the Financial regulation; the modifications should also be consistent with the modifications made so far to help the tracking of climate spending in the EU budget;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4 b (new)
Subheading 4 b (new)
Tracking of biodiversity spending
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Underlines the importance of accurate monitoring of expenditure contributing to halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity, on the basis of an effective, transparent and comprehensive methodology to be set out by the Commission, in cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council; calls on the Commission to speed up its work in this regard and introduce provisions related to the biodiversity spending tracking in the Financial regulation;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. SuggeInsists that the Financial Regulation be revised to guarantee the appropriate role of Parliament in the setting up, supervision and scrutiny of any new trust fund, including in the drawing up of the constitutive agreement and the mobilisation of the Union’s contribution, the implementation, continuation and possible liquidation; reiterates that Parliament should be involved as observer, and able to monitor the activities of the governing bodies of a trust fund; stresses that timely, regular and figure- based information on the implementation of a trust fund is essential to allow Parliament to exercise its democratic oversight and scrutiny role;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Union trust funds bring clear visibility for the Union and to raise awareness of their results and achievements by reinforcing provisions on efficiency incommunication to citizens and stronger synergies between the communication activities, in a similar vein as on the ESI funds;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020; notes that the current definition of ‘professional conflict of interest’ is limited to a conflicting interest that affects the capacity of an economic operator to perform a contract; calls on the Commission to provide for a more explicit definition and to ensure that its implementation rules on public procurement do not permit the awarding of policy-related service contracts to undertakings that are under the economic control of a parent company or a group that owns shares related to activities that are not in line with the EU’s environmental, social and Green Deal objectives; believes that such a revised definition should take into account the risk of conflict of interests of a performer that is developing sectoral guidelines it will have to comply with, with particular scrutiny when it comes to policy-related projects and studies;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020; notes that the current definition of ‘professional conflict of interest’ is limited to a conflicting inter but has not been made public nor shared with the European Parliament for opinion; requests that affects the capacity of an economic operatorthe Parliament should be able to perform a contract; calls on the Commission to provide for a more explicit definition and to ensure that its implementation rules on public procurement do not permit the awarding of policy-related service contracts to undertakings that are under the economic control of a parent company or a group that owns shares related to activities that are not in line with the EU’s environmental, social and Green Deal objectiveulate an opinion on future revision of the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement; calls on the Commission to share regular updates with the Parliament’s relevant committees on the revision of its Vademecum before it is finalised either through the discharge procedure of the European Commission or during dedicated hearings;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Asks the Commission to amend Article 167 – c) of the Financial Regulation to include professional conflict of interests, that is based on a revised definition, to the list of criteria for awarding policy-related service contracts;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Stresses that the General Conditions of the Commission’s public procurement contracts for services contain standard provisions on professional conflicting interests with requirements from contractors to proactively notify situations that could constitute a conflict of interests; asks the Commission to perform additional checks and thorough verifications before the signature of the contract, in order to avoid relying on voluntary notifications only from the applicants and to better assess possible professional conflict of interests; calls on the Commission to develop adequate sanctions, such as a temporary ban from public tender procedures, for economic operators that would be found in a situation of professional conflict of interests;