2016/2097(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Expresses the need for the Commission to publish its second Anti- Corruption Report, which was due for publication in early 2016, for the sake of the credibility of the European institutions’ work;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Reiterates its call on the Council to resume immediately the negotiations with Parliament on the Directive on the protection of the financial interests of the Union (PIF Directive); recalls that the PIF Directive ishould be an essential instrument in fighting fraud, corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities affecting the EU’s financial interests; considers that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-105/14, Taricco and Others, the inclusion of VAT in the scope of the directive is inevitable;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Reiterates its call on the Council to resume immediately the negotiations with Parliament on the Directive on the protection of the financial and other interests of the Union (PIF Directive); recalls that the PIF Directive is an essential instrument in fighting fraud, corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities affecting the EU’s financial interests; considers that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-105/14, Taricco and Others, the inclusion of VAT in the scope of the directive is inevitable;

Amendment 12 #

Eva JOLY

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Commission to take legislative action with the aim of setting up a European protection framework for whistle-blowers as soon as possible; considers that whistle-blowing plays a central role in the fight against fraud and corruption as it is one of the most effective ways of halting and preventing wrongdoing from occurring, or uncovering it if it already took place;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Recalls that adoption of the PIF Directive is an essential prerequisite for the adoption of the proposed Regulation on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which would establish a Union prosecution office to investigate, prosecute and bring to court the perpetrators of criminal offences affecting the EU’s financial interests;·deleted

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Recalls that adoption of the Directive on the protection of the financial and other interests of the Union (PIF Directive) is an essential prerequisite for the adoption of the proposed Regulation on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which would establish a Union prosecution office to investigate, prosecute and bring to court the perpetrators of criminal offences affecting the EU’s financial and other interests;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Encourages the Council to finalise its position on the EPPO; recalls that Parliament has requested to be kept fully informed throughout the procedure and urges the Council to take Parliament’s views fully into account;deleted

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 17 #

Louis MICHEL

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Encourages~~Calls on the Council to ~~finalise its position on the EPPO; recalls that~~take fully into account the position of Parliament, has ~~requested to be kept fully informed throughout the procedure and urges the Council to take Parliament’s views fully into account~~set out in its resolution of 28 September 2016; recalls that Parliament must give its consent in this matter;

Amendment 18 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Barbara MATERA, Axel VOSS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Reiterates that the EPPO must be independent, endowed with sufficient resources to act effectively, efficiently and swiftly, and required to act at all times in full compliance with the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons; stresses the need to ensure that the division of competences between the EPPO and Member States is clear and consistent with the role of the EPPO as a Union body; points out that establishing the EPPO will require effective coordination with Eurojust, Europol and OLAF.deleted

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Reiterates that the EPPO must be independent, endowed with sufficient resources to act effectively, efficiently and swiftly, and required to act at all times in full compliance with the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons; recalls the Council that in order to avoid any adverse effects from the so-called "national link" adequate safeguards ensuring the independence of the EPPO are needed; therefore asks for a provision allowing to derogate from the national link on grounds related to the proper functioning of the office; stresses the need to ensure that the division of competences between the EPPO and Member States is clear and consistent with the role of the EPPO as a Union body; points out that establishing the EPPO will require effective coordination with Eurojust, Europol and OLAF; stress that the new Eurojust regulation as the third part of the package is of crucial importance for functioning of this structure.

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Expresses its concerns about the significant increase (18% on a yearly basis) in the level of reported fraudulent and about the rising trend displayed over the last three years, which shows a need for further policy action to protect EU financial interests;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Reiterates that the EPPO must be fully independent, endowed with sufficient resources to act effectively, efficiently and swiftly, and required to act at all times in full compliance with the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons; stresses the need to ensure that the division of competences between the EPPO and Member States is clear and consistent with the role of the EPPO as a Union body; points out that establishing the EPPO will require effective coordination with Eurojust, Europol and OLAF.

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Stresses the need for Member States to regularly exchange information in order to effectively close gaps in tackling VAT fraud; urges the same strong ambition for coordination between national authorities and European agencies fighting against fraud;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Expresses the need to entrust the EPPO to help whistle-blowers use the right channels to disclose their information on possible irregularities affecting the financial interests of the Union;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Encourages the European Commission to promote an increased exchange of best practices, to promote legal and operational means to analyse successful antifraud investigation, and to promote harmonised fraud detection practices among the Union;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5c. Encourages Member States' customs authorities to present regularly comprehensive reports to the European Commission about detected fraud and new forms of irregularities.

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Reaffirms that coordination and cooperation at EU level and between EU bodies and Member States' competent authorities can generate a genuine added value in the fight against fraud;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Welcomes positive examples of good cooperation between national authorities, Eurojust and Europol in the fight against fraud and organised crime;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1d. Expresses deep concern about the budgetary cuts and the consequent decrease of customs staff being implemented in some Member States;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1e. Reiterates that effective customs controls are a key element in protecting EU financial interest and that budgetary measures should not prevent Member States' authorities from carrying out their missions;

Amendment 7 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Barbara MATERA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)

1f. Stresses that whistle-blowers play an important role in the protection of EU's financial interests by detecting and reporting possible frauds in respect of EU budget expenditures;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Reiterates its call on the Council to resume immediately the negotiations with Parliament on the Directive on the protection of the financial interests of the Union (PIF Directive); recalls that the PIF Directive is an essential instrument in fighting fraud, corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities affecting the EU’s financial interests; considers that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-105/14, Taricco and Others, the inclusion of VAT in the scope of the directive is inevitable as the VAT fraud within the EU is often linked with organized criminal structures; in this context stress the need for better cooperation with EU Agencies and other offices, especially OLAF;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Reiterates once again its call on the Council to resume immediately the negotiations with Parliament on the Directive on the protection of the financial interests of the Union (PIF Directive); recalls that the PIF Directive is an essential instrument in fighting fraud, corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities affecting the EU’s financial interests; considers that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-105/14, Taricco and Others, the inclusion of VAT in the scope of the directive is inevitable; recalls that VAT fraud contributes to funds leaving the EU;

source: 592.406

2016/11/17 REGI 58 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of the EU’s financial interests; notes that the fight againstPoints out that the increase in the number of fraudulent or non- fraudulent irregularities ~~also increases~~is severely undermining the general effectiveness of ~~EU fund management~~the EU structural funds;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that the high percentage increase (21 % ) in structural and cohesion fund irregularities reported as fraudulent in 2015 is ~~exclusively~~ due to the fact that payments for programming periods before 2007-2013 are almost finalised, but calls on the Member States, the local and regional authorities, and the Commission to enhance their vigilance in this regard;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Recall~~Emphasises that the ~~high percentage increase (21 %) in structural and cohesion fund~~finalisation of payments for programming periods prior to 2007-2013 must not serve to disguise the EU's share of responsibility for the significant increase (21%) in the number of irregularities ~~report~~identified as fraudulent in ~~2015 is exclusively due to the fact that payments for programming periods before 2007-2013 are almost finalised~~the structural and cohesion funds in 2015;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that the high percentage increase (21 % ) in structural and cohesion fund irregularities reported as fraudulent in 2015 is ~~exclusive~~mainly due to the fact that payments for programming periods before 2007-2013 are almost finalised;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Considers that benchmarking the data found in the annual report with comparable data about national spending schemes including on irregularities and fraud could help drawing targeted conclusions on cohesion policy spending including on capacity building needs;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhance the harmonisation of classification, detection and reporting of irregularities between Member States; welcomes, however, the preventive and corrective measures taken by the Commission to avoid fraudulent or not fraudulent irregularities;deleted

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhance the harmonisation of classification, detection and reporting of irregularities between Member States; stresses the importance of having a standard definition of errors in the Member States and of establishing the difference between errors and fraud; welcomes, however, the preventive and corrective measures taken by the Commission to avoid fraudulent or not fraudulent irregularities; stresses the need to step up efforts aimed at the early detection of errors and to set up a working group to correct irregularities;

Amendment 16 #

Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhance the harmonisation of classification, detection and reporting of irregularities between Member States; ~~welcomes, however, the preventive and corrective measures taken by the Commission to avoid fraudulent or not fraudulent irregularities;~~

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhance the harmonisation of classification, detection and reporting of irregularities between Member States; recalls the urgent need to better use available information in the Member States to detect fraud; welcomes, however, the preventive and corrective measures taken by the Commission to avoid fraudulent or not fraudulent irregularities;

Amendment 19 #

Andrew LEWER, Tomasz Piotr PORĘBA, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Sławomir KŁOSOWSKI, Remo SERNAGIOTTO, Branislav ŠKRIPEK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Recalls that Member States have first-line responsibility for managing about 80% of the expenditure budget and for collecting almost all revenue; stresses that, as highlighted by the 2015 Activity Annual Report of DG REGIO, the reason for most interruptions and suspensions of Operational Programmes lies in deficiencies with the organisation of the management and control bodies, with the first-level management verifications, with the audit-trail, and the handling of financial engineering instruments;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of the EU and Member States’s financial interests, thus ensuring that taxpayers’ money is well spent and fully accounted for; notes that the fight against fraudulent or non-fraudulent irregularities also increases the general effectiveness of EU fund management, whilst improving public perceptions of EU-funded projects;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Stresses the need for structured coordination between management authorities and anti-fraud bodies, and the importance of coordination and exchange of best practices between Member States and among various administrations within the same Member State in order to homogenise, as much as possible, the approach to tackling fraud;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Welcomes the Member States’ initiatives to adopt a joint anti-fraud strategy, and calls on the Commission to step up efforts to extend the strategy to all the Member States;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Calls on the Commission to create a mechanism for the exchange of information between the national competent authorities, in order to allow a cross-comparison of the accounting records concerning the transactions among two or more Member States with a view to helping to detect any transnational fraud in the context of the MFF 2014- 2020, with regard to the macro-category of European Structural and Investment Funds (European Social Fund – ESF; European Regional Development Fund – ERDF; Cohesion Fund – CF; European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development – EAFRD; European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries – EMFF), in order to ensure a horizontal approach to protecting the financial interests of the European Union;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

4. Appreciates the efforts made by the Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; calls on the Commission also to use technical assistance in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems able to reduce the risks of fraud; encourages the Commission and the Member States to continue moving in this direction by gradually incorporating into their control systems and procedures the systematic use of IT tools to combat fraud and irregularities;

Amendment 25 #

Andrew LEWER, Tomasz Piotr PORĘBA, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Sławomir KŁOSOWSKI, Remo SERNAGIOTTO, Branislav ŠKRIPEK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Appreciates the efforts made by the Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; stresses that action to combat fraud should not be an obstacle to development; calls on the Commission also to use technical assistance in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems able to reduce the risks of fraud; invites the Member States to identify ways of guaranteeing investments with a view to recovering losses caused by fraud;

Amendment 26 #

Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Appreciates the efforts made by the Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; calls on the Commission also to use technical assistance in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems able to reduce the risks of fraud; urges the elaboration and acceptance of special guidelines in order to help the national authorities to detect the irregularities and frauds;

Amendment 27 #

Viorica DĂNCILĂ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Appreciates the efforts made by the Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; calls on the Commission also to use technical assistance in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems ~~able to reduce the risks of frau~~, including by introducing simpler and more transparent applications that are able to reduce the risks of fraud and ensure that any losses can be recovered;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Appreciates the efforts made by the Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; calls on the Commission ~~also to use~~to make better use of existing technical assistance funds in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems able to reduce the risks of fraud;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Appreciates the efforts made by thsome Member States to detect, evaluate and report irregularities and to implement effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures; calls on the Commission also to use technical assistance in order to help strengthen the technical and administrative capacity of managing authorities to ensure effective control systems able to reduce the risks of fraud;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of the EU’s financial interests; stresses that the fight against fraud is a joint responsibility of the Member States and the European Commission; notes that the fight against fraudulent or non-fraudulent irregularities also increases the general effectiveness of EU fund management;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on the Commission to reinforce its preventive action; welcomes, in this connection, the establishment of a system for the early detection of risks, and calls in particular for the technical and administrative capacities of managing authorities to be strengthened so as to ensure more robust control systems that are able to reduce the risks of fraud and increase detection capacity, including in less developed regions, without imposing an undue financial and administrative burden;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Recommends to further promote decentralised approaches for the implementation of cohesion policy programmes and measures in order to increase ownership and responsibility on the ground in proximity to citizens which contributes to avoiding fraud;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Encourages the Commission to further promote the use of the Arachne risk analysis tools in Member States to enhance management verifications;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Stresses that prevention should involve constant training and support for staff responsible for the management and control of funds within the competent authorities, as well as exchanges of information and best practices between Member States; points to the decisive role of local and regional authorities and stakeholders in combating fraud, ensuring transparency and preventing conflicts of interest, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to take preventive measures, for example by drawing up memoranda of understanding between managing authorities and anti- fraud authorities;

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to act in full compliance with the provisions setting out the ex-ante conditionalities in cohesion policy, in particular in the field of public procurement, which are an essential pre- requisite for preventing fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities in this important field of practical implementation of cohesion policy;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Calls on Member States to enhance their efforts in the areas highlighted by the Report from the Commission, and namely on: public procurement, financial crime, conflict of interest, corruption, whistle-blowing, definition of fraud;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Stresses that for the period 2008- 2014, of the total of 816 irregularities notified as being suspected fraud by the Member States, only 87 (10%) were established by OLAF as actual fraud; points out that non-fraudulent irregularities are often due to an insufficient knowledge of complex rules and requirements;

Amendment 38 #

Andrew LEWER, Tomasz Piotr PORĘBA, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Sławomir KŁOSOWSKI, Remo SERNAGIOTTO, Branislav ŠKRIPEK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recommends that steps be taken to improve the uptake of simplification measures for 2014-2020 with a view to the post-2020 regulatory framework for ESI Funds as a tool to reduce the risk of irregularities caused by errors; asks the Member States to remedy the problems linked to the late reporting of irregularities; stresses that the detection of minor errors should not lead to the suspension of funding programmes;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recommends that steps be taken to improve the uptake of simplification measures for 2014-2020 with a view to the post-2020 regulatory framework for ESI Funds as a tool to reduce the risk of irregularities caused by errors; believes that simplification of rules and procedures will aid the reduction of non- fraudulent irregularities; encourages Member States and local and regional authorities to share best practice in this regard;

Amendment 4 #

Marc JOULAUD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of the EU’s financial interests; notes that the fight against fraudulent or non-fraudulent irregularities also increases the general effectiveness of EU fund management; points out that not all irregularities are fraudulent and that a clear distinction must be drawn between errors and fraud;

Amendment 40 #

Marc JOULAUD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Recommends~~Emphasises that non-fraudulent irregularities are often linked to the complexity of procedures and requirements; recommends, therefore, that steps be taken to improve the uptake of simplification measures for 2014-2020 and with a view to the post-2020 regulatory framework for ESI Funds as a tool to reduce the risk of irregularities caused by errors;

Amendment 41 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recommends that steps be taken to improve the uptake of simplification measures for 2014-2020 with a view to the post-2020 regulatory framework for ESI Funds as a tool to reduce the risk of irregularities caused by errors, always taking into account the need for a proper balance between vigilance tools and simplified procedures;

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

Amendment 43 #

Daniel BUDA, Viorica DĂNCILĂ, Iuliu WINKLER, Norica NICOLAI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Recommends to the Commission to analyse the benefits of introducing incentives for increasing the efficiency of spending, also in view of avoiding overpriced, wasteful or meaningless projects that are implemented for the sole purpose of absorbing resources;

Amendment 44 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Points out that the bureaucratic burden and lack of consistency between EU and Member State legislation are contributing to the increase in the number of errors; regrets that strict rules and complex procedures are making financing from EU funds less attractive;

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Stresses that in its mid-term assessment of cohesion policy, due to take place in 2018, the Commission should take account of the need to prevent and reduce the risk of irregularities, including fraudulent ones;

Amendment 46 #

Andrew LEWER, Tomasz Piotr PORĘBA, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Sławomir KŁOSOWSKI, Remo SERNAGIOTTO, Branislav ŠKRIPEK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses the need to conduct communication campaigns and take awareness-raising measures to inform citizens of the effectiveness of the anti- fraud measures put in place so as to avoid misconceptions regarding error rates and the number of frauds committed, also taking into account examples of communication best practices in the Member States; in a broader perspective, considers it necessary, in order to make cohesion policy genuinely more credible again, to highlight sufficiently both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ practices, through databases that go beyond providing a scant description of the project and the expenditure incurred, thus enabling citizens to check effectively both the added value and value of most of the projects implemented and, in certain cases, their lack of usefulness in relation to a given local area.

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses the need to ~~conduct~~re-focus existing communication campaigns and ~~take~~ awareness-raising measures t~~o inform~~argeting citizens ofn the ~~effectiveness of the~~impact of anti- fraud measures put in place, so as to avoid misconceptions regarding error rates and the number of frauds committed, but also t~~aking into~~o offer greater transparency where EU funded projects have shown poor results or been affected by fraud, demonstrating follow-up action taken or lessons learned; campaigns should also take account of examples of communication best practices in the Member States.

Amendment 48 #

Daniel BUDA, Viorica DĂNCILĂ, Iuliu WINKLER, Norica NICOLAI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

Amendment 49 #

Stanislav POLČÁK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses the need to conduct communication campaigns, in all the official languages of the EU if possible, and take awareness-raising measures to inform citizens of the effectiveness of the anti- fraud measures put in place so as to avoid misconceptions regarding error rates and the number of frauds committed, also taking into account examples of communication best practices in the Member States.

Amendment 5 #

Viorica DĂNCILĂ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that joint efforts by the Member States and Commission to achieve the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of the EU’s financial interests; notes that the fight against fraudulent or non-fraudulent irregularities also increases the general absorption and effectiveness of EU fund management;

Amendment 50 #

Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses the need to conduct communication and education campaigns and take awareness-raising measures to inform and educate citizens of the effectiveness of the anti- fraud measures put in place so as to avoid misconceptions regarding error rates and the number of frauds committed, also taking into account examples of communication best practices in the Member States.

Amendment 51 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Stress~~Takes the ~~need to conduct communication campaigns and take awareness-raising measures~~view that the sums spent on communication campaigns designed to inform citizens ~~of the~~about the supposed effectiveness of the anti- fraud measures ~~put in place so as to avoid misconceptions regarding error rates and the number of frauds committed, also taking into account examples of communication best practices in the Member Stat~~taken by the EU could be used to provide the authorities responsible for combating fraud with dedicated human and physical resources.

Amendment 52 #

Marc JOULAUD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Points out that fraud and corruption are becoming increasingly transnational in nature; emphasises, in that context, the advisability of setting up an independent European public prosecutor's office to protect the EU's financial interests, whilst taking steps to ensure that the relationship between that office and the existing EU bodies is clarified and that their respective powers are clearly demarcated, in order to rule any unnecessary overlap.

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Is deeply concerned that, as underlined in the 2015 ECA Special Report, failure to comply with public procurement rules has been a perennial and significant source of error in cohesion policy and that serious errors resulted in a lack, or complete absence, of fair competition and/or in the award of contracts to those who were not the best bidders.

Amendment 54 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Expresses its concern regarding the ability of cooperation between all the control structures in Member States; calls on the Commission and Member States to support initiatives to strengthen the capacity of coordination between control structures, especially those that act in the first line of control in relationship with the beneficiaries.

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Recalls the need for better understanding the reasons and possible patterns behind the aggregated data and therefore requests the Commission to name those Member States where accumulation of irregularities and fraud can be recorded.

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6b. Considers disturbing the poor communication between Member States and OLAF; Invites the Commission and Member States to promote initiatives that lead to improved communication between public structures but also of civil society in EU Member States and OLAF; stresses that this is important for combating corruption in the Member States.

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Underlines the need to conduct campaigns to strengthen the public confidence in OLAF. Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote the actions of OLAF; stresses that this is important to strength OLAF capacity to cope with the increased number of investigations in order to combat fraud in the EU.

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6d. Recommends to improve transparency at all levels of management on projects implemented with external funds; highlights that this is important to protect the EU budget.

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)

6e. Expresses its concern regarding the disparity between the information received by OLAF from the Member States, from public sources and private sources; calls on the European Commission to support initiatives aimed to increase the collection of public information and calls on Member States to increase the quality of data provided.

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the Annual Report of the Commission and recalls that the goal of enhancing regional cohesion should always be accompanied by the protection of ~~the EU’s~~EU Member States’ financial interests; notes that the fight against fraudulent or non- fraudulent irregularities also increases the general effectiveness of EU fund management;

Amendment 60 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)

6f. Recalls that the simplification of procedures for the beneficiaries in order to access ESI funds is required; call on the European Commission to support initiatives to simplify these procedures; stresses that this is crucial for preventing irregularities as fraud and corruption.

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Points out that there have been many steps forward in the fight against fraud; welcomes in particular the recent establishment within OLAF of a new investigation unit for the Structural Funds and the establishment in each Member State of the Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS);

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Notes that most of the irregularities in cohesion policy concern the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the 2007-2013 programming period; stresses that the 371 cohesion policy irregularities classified as fraudulent and the 10 322 irregularities classified as non-fraudulent, notified for the year 2015, are infringements that have been identified and for which corrective measures have been taken, or are about to be taken; points out that not all irregularities constitute fraud and welcomes the distinction made in the report between fraudulent and non- fraudulent irregularities;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that the high percentage increase (21 % ) in structural and cohesion fund irregularities reported as fraudulent in 2015 is exclusively due to the fact that payments for programming periods before 2007-2013 are almost finalised;deleted

source: 594.027

2017/03/01 CONT 190 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Nedzhmi ALI, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)

- having regard to Protocol (No 1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on the role of national parliaments in the European Union,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas, having in mind simplification processes, achieving good performance involves inputs, outputs, outcomes/results and impacts regularly assessed through the performance audits;

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. ~~Notes with concern~~Regrets that, despite the numerous calls from Parliament for the establishment of uniform reporting principles in all Member States, the situation remains highly unsatisfactory and there are still significant differences in the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported by each Member State; reiterates its call to the Commission to make serious efforts to ~~resolve the problem of~~unify the differing approaches by Member States to ~~detecting~~preventing, detecting and reporting of irregularities, and non- homogeneous interpretations when applying the EU legal framework;

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes with concern that, despite the numerous calls from Parliament for the establishment of uniform reporting principles in all Member States, the situation remains highly unsatisfactory and there are still s~~ignificant~~triking differences in the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported by each Member State; reiterates its call to the Commission to make serious efforts to ~~resolve the problem of~~coordinate the differ~~ing~~ent approaches by Member States to detecting irregularities, and ~~non-homogeneous~~too divergent interpretations when applying the EU legal framework;

Amendment 102 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes with concern that, despite the numerous calls from Parliament for the establishment of uniform reporting principles in all Member States, the situation remains highly unsatisfactory and there are still significant differences in the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported by each Member State; ~~reiterates its call to~~calls on the Commission to make serious efforts to resolve the problem of differing approaches by Member States to detecting irregularities, and non- homogeneous interpretations when applying the EU legal framework;

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes with concern that, despite the numerous calls from Parliament for the establishment of uniform reporting principles in all Member States, the situation remains highly unsatisfactory and there are still significant differences in the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported by each Member State; reiterates its call to the Commission to make serious efforts to resolve the problem of differing approaches by Member States to detecting irregularities, and non-homogeneous interpretations when applying the EU legal framework; calls for the creation of a uniform reporting system;

Amendment 104 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25a. Repeats its call on the Commission to develop a system whereby competent authorities may exchange information, enabling cross-checking of accounting records for transactions between two or more Member States in order to prevent cross-border fraud in respect of the Structural and Investment Funds, hence ensuring a cross-cutting and complete approach to the protection of Member States’ financial interests;

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25a. Notes with concern also the ECA's own accounting procedure vis-à-vis the EU budget, where its policy of signing off on the various actual financial accounts as opposed to the regularity of those same accounts, gives rise to the impression that the ECA is signing off on the overall EU budget when it is not and cannot, due to the significant margin of error in those accounts;

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25a. Deplores the fact that the European Commission is planning to drop the biannual anti-corruption report throughout EU member states; notes that the 2014 report served as a good basis to further increase transparency and discover irregularities in connection with EU funds;

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)

25b. Draws attention to the conclusions of the cooperation project funded by the Hercule III Programme in the anti-fraud sector, in which the Commission is urged to present a specific legislative proposal on mutual administrative assistance in the Structural and Investment Funds sector, such a legal cooperation instrument being necessary in order to avert the risks of criminal embezzlement, taking as a starting point the ongoing mid-term evaluation of the application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF);

Amendment 108 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)

25c. Points out that in emergency situations, such as the use of funds for refugees, there are often exemptions from normal procurement procedures, involving direct access to funds; calls on the Commission to supervise more effectively the use of such exemptions and the widespread practice of splitting procurement contracts so as not to exceed the thresholds, thereby avoiding regular procurement procedures;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Urges the Commission to maintain its strict policy on interruption and suspension of payments as a preventive measure against irregularities affecting the EU budget, in accordance with the relevant legal basis;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. Whereas the resources assigned to OLAF means that only a tiny fraction of reported suspected fraud cases can be investigated;

Amendment 110 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Urges the Commission to maintain its strict policy on interruption and suspension of payments in accordance with the relevant legal basis in the event that Member States do not respond to the identification of irregularities by the Commission and do not take steps to rectify them;

Amendment 111 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Supports the Commission in its approach to recommend strengthening the work of the Member States, which continue to report a very low number of fraudulent irregularities, in relation to detecting and/or reporting fraud~~, in particular, those which have not reported any case over the last five years: Slovakia and Finland in the area of agriculture and Denmark and Luxembourg in the area of cohesion policy~~;

Amendment 112 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Supports the Commission in its approach to recommend strengthening the work of the Member States, which continue to report a very low number of fraudulent irregularities, in relation to detecting and/or reporting fraud (Austria, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Malta, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), in particular, those which have not reported any case over the last five years: Slovakia and Finland in the area of agriculture and Denmark and Luxembourg in the area of cohesion policy;

Amendment 113 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Supports the Commission in its approach to ~~recommend~~stress the need to strengthen~~ing~~ the work of the Member States, which continue to report a very low number of fraudulent irregularities, in relation to detecting and/or reporting fraud, in particular, those which have not reported any case over the last five years: Slovakia and Finland in the area of agriculture and Denmark and Luxembourg in the area of cohesion policy;

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Takes positive note of the increase of the amount of data published by the Commission on fraudulent and non- fraudulent irregularities and on the quality of statistical evaluation of irregularities reported; urges the Commission to increase the transparency of the OLAF investigations and judicial recommendations;

Amendment 115 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Takes ~~positive~~ note of the increase of the amount of data published by the Commission on fraudulent and non- fraudulent irregularities and on the quality of statistical evaluation of irregularities reported;

Amendment 116 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)

28a. Expresses its concern about the data provided by Eurodad on money- laundering, which ranks Luxembourg top in terms of the risk of money-laundering; calls on the Member States to ratify fully the EU Directive on money-laundering, with the introduction of a public register of beneficial ownership of companies and also trusts;

Amendment 117 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Welcomes the fact that the ex-ante and ex-post '‘Community Controls'’ are detecting more and more cases of irregularities, and considers, therefore, that these controls should be further strengthened; considers however, that prevention is easier than recovery of losses; urges therefore on Member States to better carry out the ex-ante controls with the assistance of the Commission and to use all the information available to prevent errors and irregular payments related to EU funds;

Amendment 118 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Welcomes the fact that the ex-ante and ex-post 'Community Controls' are detecting more and more cases of irregularities; considers however, that prevention is easier than recovery of losses; urges therefore on Member States to better carry out the ex-ante controls with the assistance of the Commission; recalls in this respect that budget constraints cannot be invoked as reasons for reducing the staff attributed to these ex-ante controls, as preventing irregularities pays itself back;

Amendment 119 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Welcomes the fact that the ex-ante and ex-post 'Community Controls' are detecting more and more cases of irregularities; considers, however, that prevention is easier than recovery of losses and that provision should always be made for an ex-ante independent assessment of projects to be funded; urges therefore on Member States to better carry out the ex- ante controls with the assistance of the Commission;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. ~~whereas~~stressing that Article 325 (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, states that Member States shall take the same measures to counter fraud affecting the financial interests of the Union as they take to counter fraud affecting their own financial interests;

Amendment 120 #

29. ~~Welcomes the fact that~~Expects the ex-ante and ex-post 'Community Controls' ~~are~~to detect~~ing~~ more and more cases of irregularities; considers however, that prevention is easier than recovery of losses; urges therefore on Member States to better carry out the ex- ante controls with the assistance of the Commission;

Amendment 121 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)

29a. Welcomes the fact that by the end of 2015 six Member States had adopted a national anti-fraud strategy, and calls on the remaining Member States to complete ongoing adoption processes quickly and develop national anti-fraud strategies of their own;

Amendment 122 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Encourages the Commission to further enhance its supervisory role through audit, control and inspection activities, remedial action plans and early warning letters with a view to reducing irregularities;

Amendment 123 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Supports the Hercule III programme, which is a good example of “best use of every euro” approach; asks the Commission to give an interim evaluation on the results achieved of Hercule III in relation to its objectives;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Supports the Hercule III programme, which is a good example of “best use of every euro” approach; stresses the importance of this programme and its contribution to strengthening the capacities of customs authorities to monitor cross-border crime and to prevent counterfeit and smuggled goods from reaching the EU Member States;

Amendment 125 #

Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Nedzhmi ALI, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Supports the Hercule III programme, which is a good example of “best use of every euro” approach; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the use and effectiveness of grants granted under the Hercule III program;

Amendment 126 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)

31a. Calls the European Commission to explore the possibility of mandatory use of Arachne risk scoring tool by all Member States in order to increase the anti-fraud measures;

Amendment 127 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Looks forward to the Commission’s mid-term assessment in 2018 in order to establish whether the new regulatory architecture for cohesion policy ~~further~~ substantially prevents and reduces the risk of irregularities including fraud, and looks forward to receiving detailed information on the impact of the new rules on management and control systems, both as regards the risk of irregularities and fraud and as regards the general implementation of the policy;

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)

32a. Expresses concern regarding checks relating to financial instruments managed by intermediaries and weaknesses revealed in verification of beneficiaries’ registered offices; stresses the need to make the disbursement of direct and indirect loans conditional on the publication of country-by-country tax and accountancy data, and on the disclosure of information on beneficial ownership by the beneficiaries and financial intermediaries involved in the financing operations;

Amendment 129 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6 a (new)

Protection of EU currency

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. ~~whereas~~stressing that Article 325 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, states that Member States shall organise, together with the Commission, close and regular cooperation between the competent authorities;

Amendment 130 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)

32a. Welcomes the fact that Directive 2014/62/EU came into force in 2014 ordering that acts intentionally committed i.e. counterfeiting or altering money, putting them into circulation but also abetting, aiding and attempting to do so are considered as a crime; deplores the fact that Belgium, France and Ireland did not yet transpose the Directive within the prescribed period, i.e. until 23rd May 2016;

Amendment 131 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 b (new)

32b. Notes that according to the European Central Bank, since the introduction of the euro in 2002 counterfeit currency caused financial losses amounting to at least 500 million euros in the EU economy until 2016;

Amendment 132 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Emphasizes the role of whistle- blowers in fraud detection and the need to protect them; welcomes the fact that in 2015 the European Commission has launched the "Experience Sharing Programme" to coordinate and exchange best practices to prevent corruption in cooperation with Member States;

Amendment 133 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Emphasizes the role of whistle- blowers in fraud ~~detection~~prevention, detection and reporting; welcomes the fact that in 2015 the European Commission has launched the "Experience Sharing Programme" to coordinate and exchange best practices to prevent corruption in cooperation with Member States;

Amendment 134 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Emphasizes the role of whistle- blowers in fraud detection and prevention; welcomes the fact that in 2015 the European Commission has launched the "Experience Sharing Programme" to coordinate and exchange best practices to prevent corruption in cooperation with Member States;

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Emphasizes the role of whistle- blowers in fraud detection and prevention; welcomes the fact that in 2015 the European Commission ~~has~~ launched the "‘Experience Sharing Programme"’ to coordinate and exchange best practices to prevent corruption in cooperation with the Member States;

Amendment 136 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33a. Stresses that corruption and fraud have fundamental negative impact on EU financial interests and even though the EU has a multiple-layer control mechanism in place, the role of an individual is absolutely irreplaceable on the lowest level of the control system; highlights that for that reason the whistleblowers need to have a clear position in the EU and Member States´ legislative frameworks that would clearly define their rights and obligations; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure a minimum level of protection for European whistleblowers;

Amendment 137 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33a. Notes with concern, however, the treatment of whistleblowers in various Member States across various areas of major influence; the treatment of the so- called Luxleaks whistleblowers in Luxembourg, the treatment of Unicredit Irl whistleblower Jonathan Sugarman, of the various police whistleblowers in Ireland, all combine to reduce the chances that whistleblowers will come forward in any area, including within any of the EU spending programmes;

Amendment 138 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Welcomes the fact that the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, the European External Action Service, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor implemented internal rules protecting whistle-blowers, in accordance with Articles 22a, 22b and 22c of the Staff Regulations and expects further improvements regarding whistle-blower protection rules;

Amendment 139 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34a. Considers that people in the EU need to be more involved, through easily accessible information tools, at the programming and control stage, especially where major infrastructure is being financed; calls on the Commission to consider the idea of participatory budgeting in order to involve the public in monitoring the spending of EU funds, and to establish an accessible electronic counter for reporting cases of fraud;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the diversity of legal and administrative systems in the Member States presents a challenging environment in which to overcome irregularities and combat fraud; and whereas the Commission should therefore step up its efforts to ensure that the fight against fraud is implemented effectively and produces more tangible and more satisfactory results;

Amendment 140 #

Julia PITERA, Benedek JÁVOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34a. Welcomes, further, the own- initiative report of 20 January 2017 on the role of whistle-blowers in the protection of the EU’s financial interests (2016/2055(INI)), and calls for timely implementation by the Member States and the Commission of the recommendations made therein;

Amendment 141 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34a. Reiterates its call on the Commission to submit urgently a legislative proposal on the protection of whistle-blowers in order to effectively prevent and combat fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union;

Amendment 142 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34a. Recalls the Resolution of European Parliament on the protection of whistleblowing of 14 February 2017 and calls on the Commission to inform Parliament on the follow up of this Resolution;

Amendment 143 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Notes that in 2015 the fight against corruption remained a priority in the framework of the European Semester and the related process of economic governance; ~~welcom~~notes measures taken in this fight such as organizing meeting with the national contact points of the Member States, launching the "Experience Sharing Programme" for Member States, the participation of OLAF on behalf of the Commission in European and international anti-corruption fora;

Amendment 144 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. ~~Deplores that~~Condemns the Commission ~~did~~'s decision not to keep its word to publish an EU Anti- Corruption rReport~~s biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016;~~ as was promised; regrets, in particular, that this decision was taken without any discussions with the Parliament; note that, notwithstanding the Commission's intention to reflect corruption in the context of the European Semester and in legislative actions, a comprehensive report on anti-corruption in the Member States and within the EU Institutions is still needed; moreover, reminds the Commission of its reporting obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption, to which the EU is a party, and to the offer made by both UNODC and GRECO to help the Commission in this respect; thus calls on the Commission to reconsider its decision and to draw up a report as promised without any further delay;

Amendment 145 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. Deplores th~~at the Commission did not keep its word to publish an EU Anti- Corruption reports biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016~~e fact that the second anti-corruption report has not been published in 2016, which impaired the assessment of the scale of corruption in 2015; finds unconvincing the argument of the Vice President of the European Commission in the letter dated January 25 2017 that operational activities to share experience and best practices among Member States are a more efficient way to combat corruption then reports such as the first anti-corruption report;

Amendment 146 #

36. Deepl~~ores~~y saddened by the fact that the Commission didoes not kfee~~p its word to~~l the need to further publish anthe EU Anti- Ccorruption report~~s biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016~~, is of the opinion, that whatever the Commission's intentions on fighting corruption, this last minute cancellation sends out the wrong signal not only to the Member States but also to the citizens;

Amendment 147 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. Deplores that the Commission did not keep its word to publish anthe EU Anti- Corruption reports biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016; calls on the Commission to deliver on its commitment to regularly report on the state of corruption in the EU;

Amendment 148 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. ~~Deplo~~Regrets that the Commission did not keep its word to publish an EU Anti- Corruption reports biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016;

Amendment 149 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36a. Reiterates its opinion that corruption is an enormous challenge for the EU and the Member States; and without effective anti-corruption measures it undermines the economic performance, the rule of law and the credibility of democratic institutions within the EU;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Ε

Ε. whereas the diversity of legal and administrative systems in the Member States presents a challenging environment in which to overcome irregularities and combat fraud undermining the economic interests of the Union and its citizens;

Amendment 150 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36a. Urges the Commission to publish the second anti-corruption report and present these reports regularly to inform the public about the achievements in the fight against corruption, inter alia in the context of the Anti-corruption Sharing Program;

Amendment 151 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36a. Notes with satisfaction that combating corruption is once again a European Semester priority;

Amendment 152 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 b (new)

36b. is alarmed by the results of research which show that the risk of fraud and corruption is higher when Member States spending European resources, particularly when the share of European funding is significantly over 50% of the total costs, therefore is of the opinion that Member States do not comply completely with Article 325 (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which requires Member States to take the same measures to counter fraud affecting the financial interests of the Union as they take to counter fraud affecting their own financial interests; therefore calls on the Member States to fully apply the principle of Article 325 (2) and the Commission to make sure that Member indeed do so;

Amendment 153 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 c (new)

36c. Is of the opinion that the supporting schemes of the Cohesion Funds need to be revised before the adoption of the new MFF in order to develop and more effective performance based funding system;

Amendment 154 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 d (new)

36d. Reiterates its call on the Commission to develop a system of strict indicators and easily applicable, uniform criteria, based on the requirements set out in the Stockholm Programme, to measure the level of corruption in the Member States and evaluate the Member States' anti-corruption policies; invites the Commission to develop a corruption index in order to categorise the Member States; is of the opinion that Corruption index could provide a sound basis on which the Commission could establish its country specific control mechanism when controlling the spending EU resources;

Amendment 155 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 8 a (new)

Investigative Journalism

Amendment 156 #

Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Julia PITERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 e (new)

36e. Is of the opinion that investigative journalism plays a key role to foster the necessary level of transparency in the EU and the Member States, is of the opinion that investigative journalism should be encouraged and supported both by legal means in the Member States and in the EU and supports the preparatory action, which establish grant scheme for trans- border investigative journalism, which is to be distributed by an intermediary organisation, namely the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig;

Amendment 157 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Welcomes ~~breaking the deadlock in the Council regarding~~the successfully concluded negotiations on the proposal on the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’'s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF Directive) with a VAT fraud included in its scope; ~~expresses hope for a swift conclusion of the PIF directive negotiations and looks forward to obtaining an agreement that will be beneficial for the financial interests of the Un~~notes that the Directive defines the types of fraudulent behaviour to be criminalised and provides a definition of corruption;

Amendment 158 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Welcomes breaking the deadlock in the Council regarding the proposal on the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF Directive) with a VAT fraud included in its scope; expresses hope for ~~a swift conclusion of the PIF directive negotiations and looks forward to~~ obtaining an agreement that will be beneficial for the financial interests of the Union;

Amendment 159 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. ~~Welcomes~~Acknowledges action to break~~ing~~ the deadlock in the Council regarding the proposal on the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF Directive) with a VAT fraud included in its scope; expresses hope for a swift conclusion of the PIF directive negotiations and looks forward to obtaining an agreement that will be beneficial for the financial interests of the Union;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the diversity of legal and administrative systems in the Member States ~~presents a challenging environment in which~~needs to be adequately coordinated to overcome irregularities and combat fraud;

Amendment 160 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)

37a. Deplores the fact that some Member States are reluctant to participate in EPPO, therefore it seems that the European Prosecutor's Office will be established in the framework in enhanced cooperation;

Amendment 161 #

Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Julia PITERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls Parliament’s' resolution o~~n EPPO adopted on 5th of October 2016~~f 5 October 2016 on the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and Eurojust reaffirming Parliament's longstanding support for the establishment of an efficient and independent European Public Prosecutor's Office in order to reduce the current fragmentation of national law enforcement efforts to protect the EU budget; believes that an efficient EPPO will strengthen the fight against fraud in the EU provided that it is given the necessary legal provisions and is able to work efficiently with other existing EU bodies and Member State authorities;

Amendment 162 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls Parliament’s resolution on EPPO adopted on 5th of October 2016; believes that an efficient EPPO will strengthen the fight against fraud in the EU provided that it is given the necessary legal provisions and is able to work efficiently with other existing EU bodies and Member State authorities; notes that the scope of the PIF directive determines directly the scope of the EPPO's mandate; notes with concern the diverging opinions in the Council on the EPPO as it is foreseen in the Treaty of Lisbon; sees its provisions not implemented through enhanced cooperation;

Amendment 163 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls Parliament’'s resolution on EPPO adopted on 5th of October 2016; strongly believes that an efficient EPPO will strengthen the fight against fraud in the EU provided that it is given the necessary legal provisions and is able to work efficiently with other existing EU bodies and Member State authorities; is of the opinion that EPPO can be effective if its scope covers all Member States of the EU; calls on the Member States to revise their position and do their utmost to reach a consensus in the Council;

Amendment 164 #

Julia PITERA, Benedek JÁVOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls Parliament’s resolution on EPPO adopted on 5th of October 2016; ~~believ~~hopes that an efficient EPPO ~~will~~could strengthen the fight against fraud in the EU ~~provide~~and that it is ~~given the necessary legal provisions and is~~ able to work efficiently with other existing EU bodies and to assist Member State authorities;

Amendment 165 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)

38a. Points out the decision of the European Commission not to renew the PMI agreement which expired on July 9th 2016; reminds that on March 9th 2016 the EP asked the Commission not to renew, extend or renegotiate it beyond its date of expiry; believes that the 3 other agreements (BAT, JTI, ITL) should not be renewed;

Amendment 166 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 9 a (new)

Tobacco

Amendment 167 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)

38a. Points out that the decision of the European Commission not to renew the PMI agreement which expired on July 9th 2016; reminds that on March 9th 2016 the EP asked the Commission not to renew, extend or renegotiate it beyond its date of expiry; believes that the 3 other agreements (BAT, JTI, ITL) should not be renewed;

Amendment 168 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 c (new)

38c. Urges the Commission to put in place, at EU level, all the necessary measures to track and trace PMI tobacco products, and to bring legal action for any illegal seizures of this manufacturer's products until all provisions of the Tobacco Products Directive are fully enforceable, so that there is no regulatory gap between the expiry of the PMI agreement and the entry into force of the TPD and FCTC;

Amendment 169 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 d (new)

38d. Reminds that to date 25 parties have ratified it of which only 7 EU member states and the EU as a whole; urges the EU members states to ratify the protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas the use of sensitive data is emerging ever more clearly as a factor contributing to fraud;

Amendment 170 #

Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 10 a (new)

Calls on the Commission to revise Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and submit a proposal on strengthening the investigative powers of OLAF;

Amendment 171 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. ~~Regrets to note~~Welcomes that despite the ~~assurances of OLAF that it is doing its utmost to shorten the length of~~decrease in staff and increase in selections completed the average duration of closed and on-going investigations is remaining the same (21 months); its ~~investigations~~aware that the duration of its investigative phase ~~is growing continuously~~has increased since 20123 from 22.53 to 25.1 months in closed ~~cases and~~investigations and since 2012 from 17.3 to 18.7 months in all ~~case~~investigations due to above mentioned reasons and due to effort undertaken by OLAF to conclude older investigations lasting more than 20 months;

Amendment 172 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Regrets to note that despite the assurances of OLAF that it is doing its utmost to shorten the length of its investigations the duration of its investigative phase is growing continuously since 2012 from 22.5 to 25.1 months in closed cases and from 17.3 to 18.7 months in all cases, which does not help in efforts to combat tax fraud and tax evasion by multinationals;

Amendment 173 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)

39a. Welcomes the analysis of OLAF on the follow up of its recommendations, request further and more detailed and country specific information; is of the opinion that OLAF should add a chapter to its yearly report on the follow up of these recommendations; request OLAF in cooperation with the Commission to provide detailed analysis, including figures on the recovery of EU funds as well;

Amendment 174 #

Julia PITERA, Benedek JÁVOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)

39a. New paragraph 39: Notes OLAF’s role within different JCOs in preventing losses for the EU budget, and asks OLAF to include in its future annual reports more information and concrete figures concerning its contribution to protecting the revenue side of the EU budget;

Amendment 175 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)

39a. Calls on OLAF to compare in its Annual Activities Reports OLAFs recommendations for financial recoveries with the amounts, which were factually recovered;

Amendment 176 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 b (new)

39b. Is of the opinion that the proportion of OLAF recommendations submitted to the national authorities, which lead to indictments (around 50%) is not sufficient; calls on the Member States authorities to improve their level of cooperation with OLAF, calls on Member States, Commission and OLAF to lay down conditions which ensure the admissibility of the evidences provided by OLAF; encourages Member State authorities and OLAF in order to reach the optimal result to carry out joint investigations; calls on the Member States and the Commission to cooperate on the approximation of criminal and criminal procedural laws;

Amendment 177 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reminds that in the light of the principle of mutual sincere cooperation between the institutions, of the principle of good administration and of the requirement of legal certainty, OLAF ~~should~~and its Supervisory Committee shall organise ~~its~~their collaboration ~~with its Supervisory Committee in a jointly agreed framework~~on the basis of their working protocols, fully respecting the applicable legal provisions;

Amendment 178 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reminds that in the light of the principle of mutual sincere cooperation between the institutions, of the principle of good administration and of the requirement of legal certainty, OLAF should organise its collaboration with its Supervisory Committee in a jointly agreed framework, fully respecting the applicable legal provisions, providing practical support for measures to combat tax evasion;

Amendment 179 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. ~~Calls for the Commission to clarify the main reasons that Member States are not following up alleged cases of fraud affecting the EU’s financial interests, as submitted to them by OLAF~~Welcomes OLAF's analysis of Member States' follow up OLAF's judicial recommendations issued between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2015 as an overview of the main reasons concerning non follow-up of OLAF's recommendations; however notes that the data collected in the document concerns only judicial recommendations without taking into consideration administrative, disciplinary and financial recommendations and so is not representative of the overall follow-up of OLAF's recommendations;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. ~~whereas~~deploring the fact that the current VAT system, in particular as applied to cross-border transactions, is vulnerable to fraud and tax avoidance strategies, in which MTIC fraud (Missing Trader Intra- Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud) alone was responsible for VAT revenue losses of approximately 50 billion EUR in 2014;

Amendment 180 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls for the Commission to ~~clarify the main reasons that Member States are not following up alleged cases of fraud affecting the EU’s financial interests, as submitted to them by OLAF~~give a comprehensive reaction on OLAF's recently published analysis on Member States' follow-up to OLAF's judicial recommendations;

Amendment 181 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls for the Commission to clarify the main reasons that Member States are not following up alleged cases of fraud affecting the EU’s financial interests, as submitted to them by OLAF; expects that once the EPPO has been set up it will take over this task, collecting evidence across the Member States and prosecuting these cases;

Amendment 182 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls for the Commission to clarify the main reasons that Member States are not following up alleged cases of fraud affecting the EU’s financial interests, as submitted to them by OLAF, and to provide specific information regarding the information supplied by the Member States on cases of fraud and on the Member States’ follow-up actions;

Amendment 183 #

Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Julia PITERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. Regrets the fact that almost one third (94 out of 317) of OLAF's judicial recommendations issued between 2008 and 2015 addressed to the competent authorities were dismissed on the basis of insufficient evidence; calls on the Commission to assess how administrative investigations could be better used in judicial cases; encourages the competent authorities of Member States to provide detailed information regarding reasons for dismissals, in order for OLAF to better adjust their recommendations to national laws;

Amendment 184 #

Ingeborg GRÄSSLE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. underlines that 55 per cent of the recommendations issued by OLAF which were dismissed by the Member States were dismissed due to insufficient evidence; calls on OLAF to improve their investigative practices and to take effectively into account the Member States' criminal and judicial law;

Amendment 185 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)

41b. urges the Commission in view of the ending mandate of the OLAF Director General to start immediately the procedure for a call of proposals for a new Director General and to start the consultation process with the European Parliament;

Amendment 186 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. Stresses that the mandate of the OLAF Director-General ends in February 2018; calls on the Commission to start the procedure as soon as possible in order to give the time to the candidates to apply properly and to let to 3 institutions the time to appoint someone fit for the post and willing to cooperate with the OLAF supervisory committee amongst other priorities and to establish the conditions of a smooth transition;

Amendment 187 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. Expresses concern over the increase mentioned in OLAF’s most recent annual report in the number of cases of cross-border fraud; calls on the Commission to assess the use of joint operations in line with methods and procedures already successfully employed in the customs sector and the expenditure sector, on the basis of Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013;

Amendment 188 #

Julia PITERA, Petri SARVAMAA, Benedek JÁVOR

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. Supports OLAF’s participation in national and international meetings on combating fraud, such as the European contact-point network against corruption, which in November 2015 adopted the Paris Declaration on stepping up the fight against corruption;

Amendment 189 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)

41b. Deplores the fact that judicial authorities of some of Member States consider OLAF's recommendations related to the misspending of EU money as a low priority; recalls that according to Art. 325 (2) TFEU Member States shall take the same measures to counter fraud affecting the financial interests of the Union as they take to counter fraud affecting their own financial interests;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas ~~the current~~ VAT systems, in particular as applied to cross-border transactions, isare vulnerable to fraud and tax avoidance strategies, in which MTIC fraud (Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud) alone was responsible for VAT revenue losses of approximately 50 billion EUR in 2014;

Amendment 190 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)

42a. Notes that thus far, OLAF’s judicial recommendations have had only limited implementation in the Member States; takes the view that such a situation is intolerable and calls on the Commission to ensure the full implementation of OLAF’s recommendations in the Member States;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)

- having regard to Protocol (No 2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Η

Η. ~~whereas~~deploring the fact that the VAT gap amounts to approximately 159.5 billion EUR in 2014 and varies from less than 5% to over 40% depending on the country considered;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. Wwhereas the VAT gap amounts to approximately 159.5 billion EUR in 2014 and varies from less than 5% to over 40% depending on the country considered;

Amendment 22 #

Julia PITERA, Petri SARVAMAA, Benedek JÁVOR

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas corruption affects all Member States, particularly in form of organised crime and burdens not only the EU economy, but undermines democracy and rule of law all across Europe; however the exact figures are unknown as Commission has decided not to publish data in the report on the EU's anti- corruption policy;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas fraud is an example of purposeful wrongdoing and is a criminal offence, and that an irregularity is a failure to comply with a rule;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

Hb. whereas fluctuation in number of irregularities can be linked to the progression of the multiannual programming cycles (with higher levels of detection at the end of cycles due to the closure of programmes) as well as to late reporting by certain Member States which tend to report most of the irregularities of previous multiannual programmes at once;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. New paragraph 1 Stresses that 1 461 out of a total of 22 349 irregularities reported to the Commission in 2015 were fraudulent, involving an amount of around EUR 2.31 billion, of which about EUR 2.79 billion related to expenditure, representing 1.98% of total payments;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Is alarmed~~Notes that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported ~~(22 349 cases)~~in 2015 increased significantly ~~for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two year~~by 36% amounting to 22 349 cases; notes that even though the number of irregularities ~~doubl~~considerably increased, the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is alarmed that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to ~~doubling the amount~~an increase of the number of registered irregularities by 6570 cases within just two years due to certain specific situations in the cohesion policy area in two Member States; notes that even though the number of irregularities ~~doubled~~increases, the sum involved in them in 2015 (EUR 3.21 billion) ~~remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development~~fell slightly by 1 % compared to 2014 (EUR 3.24 billion);

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Is alarmed~~Notes with concern that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two years; notes that even though the number of irregularities doubled the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is alarmed that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two years; notes that even though the number of irregularities doubled the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development and investigate whether this might be linked to an improved reporting mechanism;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)

- having regard to the own-initiative report of 20 January 2017 on the role of whistle-blowers in the protection of the EU’s financial interests (2016/2055(INI)),

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is alarmed that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two years; notes that even though the number of irregularities doubled the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development; deplores the fact that despite numerous OLAF recommendations and investigations the prosecution rates are only 30% in the Member States;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is alarmed that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two years; notes that even though the number of irregularities doubled, the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development;

Amendment 32 #

Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Nedzhmi ALI, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Is concerned that despite the positive drop of 11% of fraudulent irregularities from 1,649 in 2014 to 1,461 in 2015, the sums involved increased 18% from 538 million EUR in 2014 to 637.6 million EUR in 2015; notes that false or falsified documents and declarations constituted the most common types of fraud amounting to 34%, while the largest proportion of irregularities reported as fraudulent (52 %) was detected in the agricultural sector, and the highest percentage of detection of all fraudulent irregularities (75%) was made by the administrative control systems provided for by sector-specific regulations;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Is concerned that despite the positive drop of 11% of ~~fraudulent~~ irregularities reported as fraudulent from 1,649 in 2014 to 1,461 in 2015, the sums involved increased by 18% from 538 million EUR in 2014 to 637.6 million EUR in 2015;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Is concerned that despite the ~~positive~~ drop of 11% of fraudulent irregularities from 1,649 in 2014 to 1,461 in 2015, the sums involved increased 18 % from 538 million EUR in 2014 to 637.6 million EUR in 2015;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. New paragraph 2 Points out that not all irregularities are fraudulent and that a clear distinction must be drawn between errors and fraud;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Recommends that greater resources should be assigned to OLAF to enable them investigate far more reported suspected cases, thus a) increasing the chances of exposing fraud and reclaiming revenue lost to fraudulent activities and b) making it less attractive for those engaging in fraud to take their chances with the system, where currently the odds of actually getting caught are too slim;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Takes the view that the cooperation between the Commission and the Member States in the area of fraud detection is not effective enough;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Welcomes the Commission package of four delegated and four implementing regulations on the reporting of irregularity provisions in the area of shared management which aims to improve the quality and consistency of the information on irregularities and fraud reported by the Member States; regrets that those regulations do not regulate timelines in which Members States would be obliged to report the irregularities; deplores the fact that in 2015, 537 out of 538 irregularities reported by Ireland were related to the historic reporting program from 2000- 2006 and 5105 out of 5619 irregularities reported by Spain related to irregularities from the cohesion policy sector detected throughout the whole period 2007-2013 and which were all reported together in 2015; stresses that late reporting impairs accurate assessment of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities in the Member States;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Stresses that the situation of Member States not transmitting data in a timely manner or providing inaccurate data has been recurring for many years; emphasizes that it is impossible to make comparisons and an objective assessment of the scale of fraud in the Member States of the European Union;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas de jure the Member States and the Commission have shared responsibility for implementing approximately 80 % of the Union’'s budget, de facto however, Member States spending those resources and the Commission is responsible for having overview of those projects vis-à-vis providing a certain level of control ; whereas Member States are primarily responsible for the collection of own resources, inter alia in the form of VAT and customs duties;

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Notes that under article 27 (3) of the Council Directive 2010/24/EU concerning mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, duties and other measures, the Commission shall report every 5 years to the European Parliament and to the Council on the operation of the arrangements established by this Directive; ~~deplo~~regrets that the evaluation foreseen for at latest 1st of January 2017 is still unpublished; calls on the Commission to publish the evaluation swiftly;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Encourages~~Calls on the European Commission to ~~continue~~step up its efforts to develop programmes such as REFIT in order to simplify EU legislation; stresses that the simplification of rules and procedures helps to lower irregularities which are often linked to complex rules and requirements; notes that a reduction of administrative burden is a cost saving for public administrations and EU citizens and also encourages beneficiaries to undertake new EU programs; stresses that simplification of rules should go in line with the principle of an EU budget focused on results;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Encourages the Commission to consider setting up a body that will oversee the implementation of EU Directives/Regulations etc. that involve EU spending, as for example in the case of CAP, to ensure all such funding is spent properly and equitably and is targeted at those whom it is most meant to assist; this would have the added advantage of giving the Commission more direct front-line reporting and accountability for that spending;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Deplores the fact that secrecy of OLAF investigations and judicial recommendations often impedes to hold accountable Member States authorities and EU institutions;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Recalls that the Member States manage around 80% of the EU budget; feels, therefore, that the Commission must help them to create national anti-fraud strategies;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Regrets that not all Member States have adopted national anti-fraud strategies;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5c. Calls again on the Commission to establish a uniform system for the collection of comparable data on irregularities and cases of fraud from the Member States in order to standardise the reporting process and ensure the quality and comparability of the data provided;

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Welcomes the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2015/1525 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 which has improved the current framework for detecting and investigating customs fraud at EU and national level;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes ~~with some satisfaction~~ that the spike of the amount of Traditional Own Resources (TOR) affected by fraud in 2014 was a one-year issue and that the 2015 levels (EUR 427 million) have returned to the average of the 2011-2015 years; is displeased however that some of the Member States do not communicate any cases of irregularities linked to TOR;

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Urges the Member States to recover the amounts of TOR due more quickly, especially those Member States which need to recover the largest amounts; urges Greece, Romania, Latvia, Malta and the Netherlands to improve their collection of TOR, as their rate of TOR due remains significantly above the EU average of 1.71 % and is 8.95 %, 5.07 %, 5.04 %, 3.84 % and 3.81 % respectivelyCalls on those Member States whose level of irregularities is well above the EU average to improve their contributions;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Α

Α. ~~whereas~~stressing that the Member States and the Commission have shared responsibility for implementing approximately 80 % of the Union’s budget;

Amendment 50 #

7. Urges the Member States to recover the amounts of TOR due more ~~quick~~efficiently, especially those Member States which need to recover the largest amounts; urges Greece, Romania, Latvia, Malta and the Netherlands to improve their collection of TOR, as their rate of TOR due remains significantly above the EU average of 1.71% and is 8.95%, 5.07%, 5.04%, 3.84% and 3.81% respectively;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Urges~~Calls on the Member States to recover the amounts of TOR due more quickly, especially those Member States which need to recover the largest amounts; urges Greece, Romania, Latvia, Malta and the Netherlands to improve their collection of TOR, as their rate of TOR due remains significantly above the EU average of 1.71% and is 8.95%, 5.07%, 5.04%, 3.84% and 3.81% respectively;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Notes that the number of cases of irregularities being voluntarily reported is rising, and calls on the Member States to adjust their customs inspections strategies accordingly, by taking the results of voluntary reporting into account;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Takes good note of the fact that 75% of all cases reported as fraudulent concern goods as tobacco, electrical machinery, footwear, textiles, iron and steel and that China, the UAE, the US, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are most frequently reported as countries of origin of such goods; stresses that China is the primary originating country (80%) for counterfeit goods, followed by Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and India;

Amendment 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Takes good note of the fact that 75% of all cases reported as fraudulent concern goods as tobacco, electrical machinery, footwear, textiles, iron and steel and that China, the UAE, the US, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are most frequently reported as countries of origin of such goods; asks the Commission to raise these problems during trade negotiations with these countries;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Notes with concern that tobacco smuggling to the EU has intensified in recent years and according to estimates represents a loss of 10 billion EUR annually in public revenue of the EU budgets and is at the same time a major source of organised crime, including terrorism; stresses that illicit tobacco trade causes severe damage to both the legal trade and national economies; further notes that a considerable proportion of smuggled tobacco originates in Belarus; calls on the EU and Member States to put a pressure on Belarus to combat the illicit tobacco trade and organised crime, and to introduce sanctions if necessary; calls on the Member States to intensify their cooperation in this matter;

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Notes that customs controls carried out at the time of clearance of goods and inspections by anti-fraud services were the most successful methods of detecting fraudulent cases in the revenue sector in 2015;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8b. Expresses deep concern that a decrease in customs staff can negatively influence the number of controls and therefore have a negative impact on the detection of fraudulent actions in the revenue sector of the EU;

Amendment 58 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Takes note of the 241 cases of reported smuggled cigarettes involving an estimated TOR loss of EUR 31 million; puts into question the vigilance of the customs services of ~~those Members States (the Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden)~~certain Member States which have not reported any single case of cigarette smuggling in 2015;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Takes note of the 241 cases of reported smuggled cigarettes involving an estimated TOR loss of EUR 31 million; puts into question the vigilance of the customs services of those Members States (the Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden) which have not reported any single case of cigarette smuggling in 2015 and stresses the need to improve customs services in those Member States;

Amendment 6 #

Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Nedzhmi ALI, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. Whereas at the moment there is too much of a disconnect between the Commission and Member States on the actual implementation of Directives/Regulations etc. that involve EU spending, as for example in CAP disbursement;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Takes note of the 241 cases of reported smuggled cigarettes involving an estimated TOR loss of EUR 31 million; puts into question the vigilance of the customs services of those Members States (the Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden) which have not reported any single case of cigarette smuggling in 2015; also notes in this context that there is no available statistical distinction between "within EU" and "to EU" smuggling;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Notes that following the European Parliament Resolution of 9 March 2016 on the PMI Agreement the Commission has to come forward with an action plan for tackling illicit tobacco trade, including the high proportion of non-branded cigarettes ('cheap whites'); urges the Commission to submit to the Parliament a proposal for such an action plan without further delay;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Welcomes the Commission’s support for the timely ratification of the WTO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products as the first multilateral legal instrument to tackle the problem of cigarette smuggling comprehensively and on a worldwide basis, and calls for its timely ratification and implementation;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Is concerned about the losses due to VAT gap and intra-community VAT fraud, which is responsible consecutively for 159,5 billion EUR and 50 billion EUR revenue loss in 2014; notes that only two Member States, the UK and Belgium, collect and disseminate statistics on the issue of revenue losses caused cross-border VAT fraud; notes that because it is a regressive form of taxation, VAT hits the poorest in society disproportionately, thus they become the 'customers' of VAT avoidance, and suggests that consideration should be given to lowering VAT on certain items, or (where applicable) advising Member States to thus lower VAT rates;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. ~~Is concerned about~~Deplores the losses due to VAT gap and intra-community VAT fraud, which is responsible consecutively for 159,5 billion EUR and 50 billion EUR revenue loss in 2014; notes that only two Member States, the UK and Belgium, collect and disseminate statistics on the issue of revenue losses caused cross-border VAT fraud;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Points out that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States with a view to preventing and combating Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud; is of the opinion that the Commission should have access to Eurofisc, in order to better control, assess and improve the exchange of data among Member States; calls on all ~~the~~ Member States to participate in all of Eurofisc’'s fields of activity so as to facilitate the exchange of information; with ~~the aim of helping to combat fraud~~judicial and law enforcement authorities such as Europol and OLAF, as recommended by the Court of Auditors;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Points out that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States with a view to preventing and combating Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud;; calls on all the Member States to participate in all of Eurofisc’s fields of activity so as to facilitate the exchange of information with the aim of helping to combat fraud; calls on the Member States and the Council to grant the European Commission access to these data in order to foster cooperation, strengthen reliability of data and fight against cross border crimes;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Points out that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States with a view to preventing and combating Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud;; calls on all the Member States to participate in all of Eurofisc’s fields of activity so as to facilitate and accelerate the exchange of information with the aim of helping to combat fraud;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Points out that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States with a view to preventing and combating Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud;; calls on all the Member States to participate in all of Eurofisc’s fields of activity so as to facilitate the exchange of information with the aim of helping to combat fraud effectively;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

~~12. Calls on Member States to facilitate the exchange of information with judicial and law enforcement authorities such as Europol and OLAF, as recommended by the Court of Auditors;~~deleted

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Β

Β. whereas the protection of the EU’s financial interests should be a key element of the EU’s policy to prevent them being harmed by any form of illegal activity and increase the confidence of citizens by ensuring that their money is used properly and according to the ‘best use of every euro’ approach;

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes that the VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) has proven to be a helpful tool in fighting fraud by enabling tax authorities to reconcile data on traders across countries; calls on the Member States to improve immediately response times for providing information, replying to queries and reacting to errors signalled, as recommended by the European Court of Auditors;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Welcomes the Commission action plan on ‘’VAT-Towards a single EU VAT area’’ published on 7 April 2016; deeply regrets that the publication of the “Measures to improve cooperation between tax administrations and with customs and law enforcement bodies and to strengthen tax administrations' capacity” foreseen in the action plan for 2016 will be delayed by one year;deleted

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Welcomes the Commission action plan on ‘’VAT-Towards a single EU VAT area’’ published on 7 April 2016; deeply r~~Regrets that the publication of the “Measures to improve cooperation between tax administrations and with customs and law enforcement bodies and to strengthen tax administrations' capacity” foreseen in the action plan for 2016 will be delayed by one year;

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Welcom~~Notes the Commission action plan on ‘’''VAT-Towards a single EU VAT area’’'' published on 7 April 2016; deeply regrets that the publication of the “"Measures to improve cooperation between tax administrations and with customs and law enforcement bodies and to strengthen tax administrations' capacity”" foreseen in the action plan for 2016 will be delayed by one year; emphasizes that the problems related to cross border VAT fraud need strong, coordinated and speedy measures, urges therefore the Commission to speed up its procedures and come up with solutions in order to avoid the loss of tax revenue in the EU and in the Member States;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Welcom~~Notes the Commission action plan on “VAT-Towards a single EU VAT area’’ published on 7 April 2016; deeply regrets that the publication of the “Measures to improve cooperation between tax administrations and with customs and law enforcement bodies and to strengthen tax administrations' capacity” foreseen in the action plan for 2016 will be delayed by one year;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

~~15. Stresses that the implementation of short-term measures to tackle losses on VAT should not delay Commission’s proposal for a definitive VAT system as foreseen in the action plan;~~deleted

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Takes ~~positive~~ note of the successful outcomes of numerous joint customs operations (JCOs) involving the cooperation of OLAF and Member States with various third-country services, which have resulted in the seizure of, inter alia, 16 million sticks of cigarettes and 2 tonnes of cannabis;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Takes positive note of the successful outcomes of numerous joint customs operations (JCOs) involving the cooperation of OLAF and Member States with various third-country services, which have resulted in the seizure of, inter alia, 16 million sticks of cigarettes and 2 tonnes of cannabis; notes that operation Baltica, led by Polish customs authorities in cooperation with OLAF, Europol and five Member States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden), seized 13 million sticks of cigarettes coming from third countries such as Belarus and Russia;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Expresses concern with regard to customs inspections and the related collection of customs duties, which are an own resource for the EU budget; points out that inspections to verify that importers are complying with the rules on tariffs and imports are carried out by Member States’ own customs authorities, and calls on the Commission to ensure inspections at the EU’s borders are appropriate and harmonised, guaranteeing thereby the EU’s security, safety and economic interests, and to commit itself to fighting trade in illegal and counterfeit goods in particular;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Welcomes the Commission's recommendation that Member States should strike the right balance between trade facilitation and the protection of the EU's financial interests; points in this respect to the fast-lane procedures of customs authorities for companies that are considered low-risk, which in itself can be a good system for quick clearance of goods, but has proven vulnerable to corruptive practices by customs officers;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the protection of the EU’s financial interests should be a key element of the EU’s policy to increase the confidence of citizens by ensuring that their money is used properly and according to the ‘best use of every euro’ approach; whereas in some Member States the main source of public investments is EU funds;

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Underlines the fact that the smuggling of heavily taxed goods causes significant losses of revenue to the budgets of the EU and the Member States, and that direct losses in customs revenue as a result of cigarette smuggling alone are estimated at more than EUR 10 billion a year;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Notes that detected fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities on the expenditure side represent 1.98 % of payments from the EU budget in 2015;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17 b. Notes the number of reported fraudulent irregularities in 2015 for budget sector National resources decreased by 14% compared to 2014 and that the amount involved increased by 8%; is concerned that in this sector the number of non-fraudulent irregularities in 2015 increased by 28% and amount affecter by 44%;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Deplores that the ~~amount of~~number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported in the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) is growing annually for at least 5 consecutive years with the ~~amount~~number of reported cases growing up from 1970 in 2011 to 4612 cases in 2015 ~~with the sums involved growing from EUR 119 million in 2012~~; notes, however, that the irregularities affecting EAGF have remained stable over time (+6% in comparison with 2014 and 10% with 2011), and that those related to the EAFRD have been constantly increasing; observes that the financial amount involved in 2011 decreased from EUR 211 million to EUR 119 million in 2012 but constantly increased to EUR 394 million in 2015 with the level of reported irregularities of the EAFRD coming close to 2% of the entire fund; urges the Member States with the highest amount of irregularities reported – Romania, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Lithuania – to do their utmost in order to regulate the situation;

Amendment 84 #

Petri SARVAMAA, Julia PITERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Deplores that the amount of irregularities reported in the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) is growing annually for at least 5 consecutive years with the amount of reported cases growing up from 1,970 in 2011 to 4,612 cases in 2015 with the sums involved growing from EUR 119 million in 2012 to EUR 394 million in 2015 with the level or reported irregularities of the EAFRD coming close to 2 % of the entire fund; urges the Member States with the highest amount of irregularities reported ~~– Romania, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Lithuania –~~ to do their utmost in order to regulate the situation;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. ~~Deplores~~Is deeply concerned that the amount of irregularities reported in the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) is growing annually for at least 5 consecutive years with the amount of reported cases growing up from 1970 cases in 2011 to 4612 cases in 2015 with the sums involved growing from EUR 119 million in 2012 to EUR 394 million in 2015 with the level of reported irregularities of the EAFRD coming close to 2% of the entire fund; urges the Member States with the highest amount of irregularities reported – Romania, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Lithuania – to ~~do their utmost in order to regulate the situation~~urgently and efficiently regulate the situation in order to reverse this trend;

Amendment 86 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. ~~Deplore~~Greatly regrets that the amount of irregularities reported in the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) is growing annually for at least 5 consecutive years with the amount of reported cases growing up from 1970 in 2011 to 4612 cases in 2015 with the sums involved growing from EUR 119 million in 2012 to EUR 394 million in 2015 with the level of reported irregularities of the EAFRD coming close to 2% of the entire fund; urges the Member States with the highest amount of irregularities reported – Romania, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Lithuania – to do their utmost in order to regulate the situation;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Expresses concern over the difference in the number of irregularities reported by the various Member States; points out that a high number of reported irregularities may also be due to the national inspection system having a greater capacity to intercept and detect irregularities; urges the Commission to continue to make every effort to support Member States in stepping up the level and quality of inspections, including via the Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS), and completion of the establishment of a national anti-fraud strategy (NAF) in all Member States;

Amendment 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Is deeply worried that the fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities linked to the Common Fisheries Policy in 2015 have doubled compared to 2014 and are the highest reported ever with 202 cases ~~involving the sum of EUR 22.7 million~~(19 fraudulent and 183 non fraudulent) involving the sum of EUR 22.7 million (EUR 3.2 million for fraudulent cases);

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19a. Underlines that the simplification of administrative rules will decrease the number of non-fraudulent irregularities, help identify fraudulent cases, and make EU funds more accessible to the beneficiaries;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the protection of the EU’s financial interests should be a key element of the EU’s policy to increase the confidence of citizens by ensuring that their money is usmanaged properly and according to the ‘best use of every euro’ approach;

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. De~~eply de~~plores that the Cohesion policy reported a sharp increase in the number of ~~reported~~non-fraudulent irregularities, which have gone up between 2014 and 2015 by 8104% for the ~~2000-06~~ programming periods before 2007- 13 and by 1098% for the 2007-13 programming period; notes, however, that the financial amounts involved for non- fraudulent irregularities increased by no more that 9% in 2015 compared to 2014; deplores as well that the number of fraudulent irregularities in 2015 increases by 21% and the amount involved – by 74%;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Regrets that more than two-thirds of the estimated level of errors in 2015 EDF expenditure were caused by the absence of supporting documents to justify the expenditure and non-compliance with public procurement rules; calls on the Commission and Member States to address these shortcomings; calls on the Commission to monitor and evaluate the transposition of the 2014/24/EC and 2014/25/EC Directives on public procurement into national rules as soon as possible;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Regrets that more than two-thirds of the estimated level of errors in 2015 EDF expenditure were caused by the absence of supporting documents to justify the expenditure and non-compliance with public procurement rules; points out that for monitoring to be effective, there has to be complete transparency, including with regard to subcontractors; calls on the Commission and Member States to address these shortcomings;

Amendment 93 #

Amendment 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21a. Refers in this regard to the Special Report No. l0/2015 of the European Court of Auditors recommending, inter alia, that the Commission and Member States invest in systematic analysis of public procurement errors and requests the Commission to submit to Parliament such a detailed analysis; invites the Commission, in particular, to express its views in regard of recurrent errors and to explain why such errors would not be considered as indications of potentially fraudulent activities; calls upon the Commission to swiftly finalise the Guidelines on public procurement in line with the newly adopted Directive on Public Procurement;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21a. Points out that many Member States do not have specific laws against organised crime, while its involvement in cross-border activities and sectors affecting the EU’s financial interests, such as smuggling or counterfeiting of currency, is constantly growing; considers it essential that Member States adopt the measures set out in resolutions on combating organised crime 1a; _________________ 1aEuropean Parliament resolution of 25 October 2016 on the fight against corruption and follow-up of the CRIM resolution P8_TA(2016)0403; European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2013 on organised crime, corruption and money laundering: recommendations on action and initiatives to be taken P7_TA (2013)0444

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)

21b. Points out that complete transparency in accounting for expenditure is fundamental, especially as regards infrastructure works financed directly via EU funds or financial instruments; calls on the Commission to provide for EU citizens to have full access to information on co-financed projects;

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Asks for ~~further~~detailed explanations from the Commission regarding the reasons behind the high level of fraudulent cases in research and technological development (R&TD), innovation and entrepreneurship which has grown from 6 to 91 reported cases annually in the 2007-13 programming period, representing a sum of EUR 263 million, which constitutes over 20% of all reported fraud cases in the cohesion policy;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. ~~Welcom~~Notes the overall drop in reported irregularities in the Pre-Accession Assistance (PAA); notes however that the number of irregularities in the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA I) is steadily growing with Turkey being the contributor of 46% of cases representing 83% of the sums of reported irregularities; invites the Commission to consider applying the “more for more” principle in its negative aspect (“less for less”), given the current political situation in Turkey which poses direct threat to the absorption capacities of the country;

Amendment 99 #