12 Amendments of Bas EICKHOUT related to 2023/2129(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is satisfied with the work carried out by the five decentralised agencies which are under its remit, which carry out technical, scientific or managerial tasks that help the Union institutions elaborate and implement policies in the area of environment, climate action, public health and food safety, as well as with the way in which those agencies' budgets are implemented; stresses that, given the scale of current and upcoming challenges, sufficient fundadequate funding and staffing must be guaranteed for the agencies and the Commission Directorates-General ('DG') working in the areas of environment, climate action, public health and food safety;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Highlights that the Commission is responsible for making sure that all EU countries properly apply EU law and thus calls on the Commission to ensure that there is sufficient staff capacity in DG Environment and other environmentally relevant services such as DG Sante and DG Clima, and of the environmental team within the Commission’s Legal Service to ensure the full enforcement of environmental legislation.
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines the importance of proper scrutiny of climate and biodiversity expenditure in the EU budget, and holds the Commission accountable for the implementation of a robust and reliable methodology, in line with the commitments undertaken in the MFF agreement and paragraph 16d of the IIA of 16 December 2020; Calls on the Commission to avoid misleading approximation of the spending contribution to climate and biodiversity objectives, lack of explicit targets, as well as only partial coverage of potential negative or unclear climate and biodiversity impacts; Acknowledges that there are the interventions with common benefits but underlines the need to avoid double counting.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to provide Parliament with an annual report setting out in detail the contribution of each budget item to the climate mainstreaming and the biodiversity targets, in order to facilitate their monitoring; calls further on the Commission to report whether any budget item fails to respect the "do no significant harm" criterion as referred to in the Taxonomy Regulation; Deplores the disastrous signal to investors and the rest of the world given by the EU through the complementary Delegated Act (CDA) adopted in 2022 that recognises fossil gas and nuclear energy as sustainable investments and considers that this will delay the achievements of climate neutrality and will redirect investment from clean renewable energy sources.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that, according to Volume I of the AMPR Volume 1, the total figure dedicated to climate is €119.4 billion from the EU budget and NextGenerationEU reported by the Commission includes €17.6 billion from the common agricultural policy (CAP). Regrets the Court's finding, in its Special Report 16/20212 , that EU agricultural funding destined for climate action has not contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions; shares the Court's view that the new Common Agricultural Policy should have a greater focus on reducing agricultural emissions, and be more accountable and transparent about its contribution to climate mitigation; _________________ Is concerned that, because the Commission used the same methodology to track climate related expenditure for the CAP in 2022 as for 2021, the ECA report 06/20231a, the Commission’s 2022 annual management and performance report for the EU budget, considers the Commission’s calculation of the contributions of the CAP to climate expenditure are overstated. Acknowledges that updated tracking methodology for the new CAP will apply from 2023 and urges the Commission avoid any derogation allowing Member States to derogate from CAP greening measures and produce crops for food and feed on fallow lands that are part of Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) while still receiving the greening payments. Notes that such derogations in 2022 caused a decline in measures that add nutrients to the soil, contribute to the build-up of humus or provide habitats for pollinating insects and calls for an impact assessment on the decision to derogate from environmental measures. _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/ECAPublicatio ns/RV-2023-06/RV-2023-06_EN.pdf 2 Common Agricultural Policy and climate – Half of EU climate spending but farm emissions are not decreasing, 21 June 2021.
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Takes note that several legislative proposals included in the work programme of DG SANTE for 2022 were unduly delayed. Acknowledges the disparity in the frequency of DG SANTE meetings with industry representatives compared to those with patient or consumer organizations, civil society, and NGO representatives. Advocates for ensuring equal, transparent, and balanced access for all stakeholders to facilitate meaningful contributions to policy discussions.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that HERA, following its establishment as an internal Commission service on 1 October 2021, increased its operations throughout 2022 and that its mission is to support the Commission’s priorities for public health, preparedness and crisis management in the sectors of health, research and innovation and industry; Notes with concern the overlap of responsibilities and duplication of efforts between mandates of DG HERA with DG SANTE and the ECDC; calls on the Commission to ensure the added value of HERA as an integral part of the Commission and to prevent duplication of work and resources;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that in 2022, HERA managed expenditures ofhad payments of EUR 438 million and increased its staff from 30 to 80 members; Notes that HERA’s financial management is fully delegated to other entities. Notes that: a) DG INTPA paid EUR 430 million on behalf of HERA under the Emergency Support Instrument through a cross- subdelegation, and that b)100% of HERA EU4Health 2022 budget was implemented by the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) for a total amount of EUR 275 million in commitment appropriation. c) HERA co-delegated EUR 580.5 million in commitment appropriations to DG ECHO under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism for the development of stockpiles of medical countermeasures to respond to large-scale Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies. d) Projects for approximately EUR 438125 million and increased its staff from 30 to 80 members; , contributing to HERA objectives were earmarked for HERA by DG RTD under the Horizon Europe 2022 programme. Remarks that HERA has entrusted partner DGs with the implementation of internal control processes to ensure the adequate management of the risks related to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions they are responsible for, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes and the nature of the payments concerned. Notes that the partner DGs bear the responsibility for the delegated appropriations and report on them in their own AAR
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Notes with strong concern the close collaboration of Commission officials and industry within the activities of HERA; calls for strong transparency and conflict of interest rules to be put in place to ensure public trust in and commercial independence of HERA. Is concerned that by the end of 2022, HERA did not developed and implemented a Procedure for reporting exceptions and non-compliance events, and an Anti- Fraud Strategy.
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16 c. Highlights that the Commission's “lessons learned” report on the COVID- 19 pandemic did not examine the performance of the vaccine procurement process, beyond its overall outcome. Urges the Commission to apply a high degree of transparency to all current and future contracts under the joint procurement and related purchase agreements in the field of health; insists that its relevant DGs should put in place a solid and transparent EU public procurement framework, when funds from the EU budget are fully or partially involved, that would allow for comprehensive scrutiny by the Parliament, especially concerning major health crisis-related spending areas; in line with the overriding public interest stated in Regulation 1049/2001 and the need for ensure public trust; calls on the Commission to make fully available all concluded vaccine and therapeutics (advanced) purchase agreements for COVID-19;