2021/2162(INI) The revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework
Lead committee dossier:
Progress: Procedure completed
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joint Responsible Committee | ['BUDG', 'CONT'] |
HOHLMEIER Monika ( EPP),
UŠAKOVS Nils ( S&D)
|
WINZIG Angelika ( EPP),
MANDA Claudiu ( S&D),
DURAND Pascal ( Renew),
ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ Nicolae ( Renew),
ANDRESEN Rasmus ( Verts/ALE),
FREUND Daniel ( Verts/ALE),
LAPORTE Hélène ( ID),
CZARNECKI Ryszard ( ECR),
RZOŃCA Bogdan ( ECR),
OMARJEE Younous ( GUE/NGL)
|
| Committee Opinion | AGRI |
LINS Norbert ( EPP)
|
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 58
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 58Subjects
Events
2022/03/03
EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2021/11/24
EP - Decision by Parliament
Details
The European Parliament adopted by 534 votes to 98, with 57 abstentions, a resolution on the revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF).
The upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation is necessary following the entry into force of the MFF 2021-2027, including the NextGenerationEU instrument. It is also necessary for the proper implementation of the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, cooperation in budgetary matters and sound financial management and on new own resources (IIA).
Members believe that the revision should aim to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest developments and in accordance with budgetary principles and the Union's values, as well as to improve parliamentary scrutiny, democratic accountability, transparency, civic engagement and the ability to respond to citizens' needs quickly and effectively, especially in times of crisis.
According to Members, the main objectives of the revision of the EU's financial rules should include:
- strengthening the protection of the Union's financial interests;
- aligning the regulation with the rule of law conditionality;
- strengthening public procurement rules to avoid potential conflicts of interest and improve transparency;
- reducing administrative burdens for beneficiaries;
- increasing the efficiency of spending to achieve higher European added value and;
-improving access to EU funding for citizens, SMEs and local and regional authorities.
Democratic accountability for a modern budget
Parliament noted that the NextGenerationEU instrument has taken off-budget instruments into a new dimension by significantly increasing, albeit temporarily, the volume of the Union's budget in the form of external assigned revenue by creating liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure.
As a branch of the budgetary authority, Parliament considered that it must be able to scrutinise and, where appropriate, authorise the Commission's use and management of external assigned revenue and its borrowing and lending operations. It proposed that the Financial Regulation be revised to specify that external assigned revenue and the assets and liabilities relating to borrowing and lending operations are included in the EU budget so that they are subject to audit and reporting by the European Court of Auditors and that the budgetary authority and the discharge authority can be duly informed of any suspected cases of misappropriation, corruption, fraud or breach of the rule of law.
Rule of law
Parliament called on the Commission to present a proposal to include the content of the Conditionality Regulation in the Financial Regulation upon its next revision and to examine opportunities to further improve the alignment of all EU instruments that aim to ensure sound financial management and the protection of the Union’s financial interests, including the Commission’s annual rule of law report.
The Commission should ensure that the Union budget is spent on projects or organisations that respect the Union values and to evaluate whether the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation are sufficiently effective in preventing and addressing conflicts of interest in the implementation and control of the EU budget.
Digital tools
In the light of the Pandora Papers, there is an urgent need to ensure transparency for beneficial owners. Members believe that compulsory centralisation of information in a single, interoperable reporting and monitoring system and in a public EU database, including information on direct and final beneficiaries of EU funds, would address the lack of transparency and increase public scrutiny and confidence in EU public spending.
The Financial Regulation should include provisions obliging the responsible actors to establish uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners to allow their identification in all EU programmes, regardless of who implements them and regardless of the management mode (direct, indirect or shared management).
Public procurement
Parliament called on the Commission to provide for a more explicit definition of ‘ professional conflict of interest ’ and to ensure that its implementation rules on public procurement do not permit the awarding of policy-related service contracts to undertakings that are under the economic control of a parent company or a group that owns shares related to activities that are not in line with the EU’s environmental, social and Green Deal objectives.
The Commission is also called on to strengthen the Financial Regulation in order to take account of ‘ professional conflicting interests ’ and to further increase the accuracy and completeness of the voluntary notification thereof by applicants submitting tenders, such as developing adequate sanctions if voluntarily notifications are not complied with, including a temporary ban from public tendering in case of severe breaches.
The upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation should take account of the EU’s autonomous strategic interests and ensure that ambitious awarding criteria are set, taking into account the European added value of projects as well as the principle of ‘the most economically advantageous tender’. Public procurement rules should include safeguards to evaluate the activities of companies that contradict the social and environmental objectives of the Union in the award decision.
Members also insisted that the budget should be gender-sensitive, that climate and biodiversity should be considered and that the Financial Regulation should allow for the proper implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Documents
2021/11/23
EP - Results of vote in Parliament
Documents
2021/11/22
EP - Debate in Parliament
Documents
2021/10/28
EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details
The Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the own-initiative report by Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE) and Nils UŠAKOVS (S&D, LV) on the revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF).
The upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation is necessary following the entry into force of the MFF 2021-2027, including the NextGenerationEU instrument. It is also necessary for the proper implementation of the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, cooperation in budgetary matters and sound financial management and on new own resources (IIA).
Members believe that the revision should aim to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest developments and in accordance with budgetary principles and the Union's values, as well as to improve parliamentary scrutiny, democratic accountability, transparency, civic engagement and the ability to respond to citizens' needs quickly and effectively, especially in times of crisis.
According to Members, the main objectives of the revision of the EU's financial rules should include:
- strengthening the protection of the Union's financial interests;
- aligning the regulation with the rule of law conditionality;
- strengthening public procurement rules to avoid potential conflicts of interest and improve transparency;
- reducing administrative burdens for beneficiaries;
- increasing the efficiency of spending to achieve higher European added value and;
-improving access to EU funding for citizens, SMEs and local and regional authorities.
Democratic accountability
The number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown considerably over the last decade. The NextGenerationEU instrument has taken them into a new dimension by significantly increasing the volume of the EU's budget in the form of external assigned revenue and by creating liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure.
As a branch of the budgetary authority, Parliament considers that it must be able to scrutinise and, where appropriate, authorise the Commission's use and management of external assigned revenue and its borrowing and lending operations. It proposes that the Financial Regulation be revised to specify that external assigned revenue and the assets and liabilities relating to borrowing and lending operations are included in the EU budget so that they are subject to audit and reporting by the European Court of Auditors and that the budgetary authority and the discharge authority can be duly informed of any suspected cases of misappropriation, corruption, fraud or breach of the rule of law.
Rule of law
Members recalled that when adopting the Conditionality Regulation , Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to consider including the content of the Conditionality Regulation in the Financial Regulation upon its next revision. Therefore, they called on the Commission therefore to make that proposal. The Commission should ensure that expenditure from the EU budget is allocated to projects or organisations that respect the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.
Digital tools
In the light of the Pandora Papers, there is an urgent need to ensure transparency for beneficial owners. Members believe that compulsory centralisation of information in a single, interoperable reporting and monitoring system and in a public EU database , including information on direct and final beneficiaries of EU funds, would address the lack of transparency and increase public scrutiny and confidence in EU public spending.
The Financial Regulation should include provisions obliging the responsible actors to establish uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners to allow their identification in all EU programmes, regardless of who implements them and regardless of the management mode (direct, indirect or shared management).
Public procurement
Members proposed to amend the financial regulation to include a definition of ‘ professional conflict of interest ’ so that EU institutions can adopt mitigating measures against bidders with a financial interest in a policy-related service contract.
The revision of the Financial Regulation should take into account the EU's autonomous strategic interests , including fair competition, as well as the need to stimulate EU job creation in a range of industries that are key to achieving the Union's future policy goals while ensuring a level playing field.
The Commission is called on to ensure that ambitious awarding criteria are set, particularly taking into account the Union added value of projects and the principle of the ‘most economically advantageous tender’. Safeguards should be included in public procurement rules to evaluate the activities of companies that contradict the social and environmental objectives of the Union in the award decision.
Members also insisted that the budget should be gender-sensitive, that climate and biodiversity should be considered and that the Financial Regulation should allow for the proper implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Documents
2021/10/25
EP - Vote in committee
2021/10/19
EP - Specific opinion
Documents
2021/10/07
EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/10/07
EP - Referral to joint committee announced in Parliament
2021/10/06
EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2021/09/13
EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/09/10
EP - HOHLMEIER Monika (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in ['BUDG', 'CONT']
2021/09/10
EP - UŠAKOVS Nils (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in ['BUDG', 'CONT']
2021/09/02
EP - LINS Norbert (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in AGRI
Documents
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2022)12
- Decision by Parliament: T9-0469/2021
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Committee report tabled for plenary: A9-0295/2021
- Specific opinion: PE699.044
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE697.826
- Committee draft report: PE696.550
- Committee draft report: PE696.550
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE697.826
- Specific opinion: PE699.044
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2022)12
Activities
Votes
Révision du règlement financier en vue de l'entrée en vigueur du cadre financier pluriannuel 2021-2027 - The revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework - Überarbeitung der Haushaltsordnung in Anbetracht des Inkrafttretens des Mehrjährigen Finanzrahmens 2021–2027 - A9-0295/2021 - Nils Ušakovs, Monika Hohlmeier - Proposition de résolution de remplacement - Am 1 #
2021/11/23 Outcome: -: 532, +: 82, 0: 72
NI
The Left
PPERévision du règlement financier en vue de l'entrée en vigueur du cadre financier pluriannuel 2021-2027 - The revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework - Überarbeitung der Haushaltsordnung in Anbetracht des Inkrafttretens des Mehrjährigen Finanzrahmens 2021–2027 - A9-0295/2021 - Nils Ušakovs, Monika Hohlmeier - Proposition de résolution (commissions BUDG/CONT) (ensemble du texte) #
2021/11/24 Outcome: +: 534, -: 98, 0: 57
| Amendments | Dossier |
| 152 |
2021/2162(INI)
2021/10/06
BUDG, CONT
152 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 11 a (new) — having regards to the Commission Notice 2021/C121/01 on Guidance on the avoidance and management of conflict of interest under the Financial Regulation,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas, following the entry into force of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, the Commission published a roadmap and launched a public consultation with a view to aligning the Financial Regulation, where appropriate, with the rules agreed by the legislator as part of the MFF 2021-2027
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. While it is of utmost importance to know who the final beneficiaries of EU funds are in order to ensure the proper use of funds, the accessibility and simplicity of digital tendering platforms for EU funds also plays an important role; recalls that the Commission has adopted the concept of 'digital-by-design' and the 'Think Small First' principle in order to ensure sufficient participation of SMEs; encourages the Commission, in this sense, to also take these principles into account when revising the Financial Regulation in the context of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021- 2027 implementation;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Calls for the inclusion of the obligatory publication of all tenders in the scope of the Financial Regulation in machine readable open formats to improve tracking and delivery of public contracts, adding automated indicators of risks to identify areas where increased control is needed and the publication of comprehensive and standardised information across the public procurement cycle in open data formats by including public procurement information into the list of "High-Value datasets" under the Directive on open data and the re-use of public sector information;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Insists that
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14.
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Insists that gender mainstreaming be better reflected in the drafting and implementation of the budget, including through targeted incentives; calls for the systematic and comprehensive collection of gender-disaggregated data in the context of all EU policies and programmes in order to measure the impact on gender equality, while avoiding any unnecessary administrative burden; expects the Commission to develop a methodology to measure the relevant expenditure at programme level in the MFF 2021-2027, in line with the IIA; calls on the Commission to integrate gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Believes that gender mainstreaming should be part of a larger Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) mainstreaming that tracks the Unions efforts and progress in reaching these goals; calls on the Commission to integrate such SDG mainstreaming in the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Reiterates the Union’s commitment of spending at least 30 percent of resources available under the 2021-2027 MFF and NextGenerationEU on addressing the climate challenge, as set out in the IIA; expects the Commission to develop a robust methodology for tracking climate spending and its performance, and to consistently apply it across all policy areas; calls on the Commission to integrate climate mainstreaming and tracking in the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation with a view to ensure the Union budget is climate proof;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas the absorption rate under the MFF 2014-2020 was too low and needs improvement, especially from the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by improving and strengthening the decision-making and allocation processes, as well as principles and procedures governing the establishment, implementation and control of the EU Budget;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Suggests that the Financial Regulation be revised to guarantee the appropriate implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which is a fundamental element of the EU. In order to contribute to the development of socially sustainable use of the EU budget through better awareness, on the part of beneficiaries, of the employment and social standards, a new mechanism integrating social dimension/conditionality concerns should be introduced; considers that such a mechanism should link full receipt of payments from the EU budget to the compliance of beneficiaries with basic standards concerning working and employment conditions for workers and occupational safety and health; considers that, for those beneficiaries of the EU Budget who do not comply with those requirements, Member States should ensure that proportionate, effective and dissuasive penalties are applied;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Calls for the inclusion of the implementation of the do no harm principle in the Financial Regulation; stresses that the guidance published for the RRF should be seen as the standard for all other expenditure of the same nature; reminds that the implementation of the principle as regards biodiversity must go beyond the full respect of relevant EU acquis;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Emphasises that the rules of implementation of the budget must reflect a clear methodology for climate mainstreaming that allow for effective and efficient tracking of funds used in tackling climate change for both climate mitigation and adaptation strands; requests the Commission to introduce the necessary provisions in the Financial regulation; the modifications should also be consistent with the modifications made so far to help the tracking of climate spending in the EU budget;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 b (new) 14 b. Underlines the importance of accurate monitoring of expenditure contributing to halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity, on the basis of an effective, transparent and comprehensive methodology to be set out by the Commission, in cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council; calls on the Commission to speed up its work in this regard and introduce provisions related to the biodiversity spending tracking in the Financial regulation;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Suggests that the re-use of decommitted appropriations as a result of full or partial non-implementation of projects pursuant to Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation should be extended beyond research and innovation, to include all appropriations
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas the Commission acknowledged1a the need to reflect on amendments to the Financial Regulation that prevent selecting bidders that can be in a situation of conflict of interests and to improve implementation guidelines (Vademecum on public procurement) on the application of the notion of conflicting professional interests; _________________ 1a Case 853/2020/KR
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 a (new) 15 a. Believes that the Financial Regulation should provide clarification to the interpretation of TEU article 41 which stipulates that expenditure arising from operations having military or defence implications cannot be charged to the Union budget;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 b (new) 15 b. Believes that, due to the budgetary implications of the decision, the Financial Regulation needs to establish a procedure to decide on the location of a decentralised agency; such a procedure should be based on objective criteria, safeguard Parliaments prerogatives as co- legislator, and avoid arbitrary modes of decision-making such as coin-flipping;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16.
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Suggests that the Financial Regulation be revised to guarantee the appropriate role of Parliament in the setting up and scrutiny of any new trust fund, including in the drawing up of the constitutive agreement and the mobilisation of the Union’s contribution, the implementation, continuation and possible liquidation; recalls that the effective scrutiny of existing trust funds by the discharge authority requires complete, detailed and timely provision of information through respective reporting frameworks;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Suggests that the Financial Regulation be revised to guarantee the appropriate role of Parliament in the setting up and scrutiny of any new trust fund, including in the drawing up of the constitutive agreement and the mobilisation of the Union’s contribution, the implementation, continuation and possible liquidation; reminds that the extensive use of trust funds undermines the principle of unity of the EU budget;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Suggests that the Financial Regulation be revised to guarantee the appropriate role of Parliament in the setting up and scrutiny of
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Union trust funds bring clear visibility for the Union and to raise awareness of their results and achievements by reinforcing provisions on efficiency incommunication to citizens and stronger synergies between the communication activities, in a similar vein as on the ESI funds;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020; notes that the current definition of ‘professional conflict of interest’ is limited to a conflicting interest that affects the capacity of an economic operator to perform a contract; calls on the Commission to provide for a more explicit definition and to ensure that its implementation rules on public procurement do not permit the awarding of policy-related service contracts to undertakings that are under the economic control of a parent company or a group that owns shares related to activities that are not in line with the EU’s environmental, social and Green Deal objectives; notes that that the Financial Regulation should take into account the autonomous strategic interest of the EU including the necessity to have fair competition and a level-playing field among bidders, and also to foster EU jobs in a range of industries that are key to achieve Europe’s future policy objectives;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020; notes that the current definition of ‘professional conflict of interest’ is limited to a conflicting interest that affects the capacity of an economic operator to perform a contract; calls on the Commission to provide for a more explicit definition and to ensure that its implementation rules on public procurement do not permit the awarding of policy-related service contracts to undertakings that are under the economic control of a parent company or a group that owns shares related to activities that are not in line with the EU’s environmental, social and Green Deal objectives; calls for including the safeguards in public procurement to reject companies whose activities contradict social and environmental objectives of the European Union;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas due to its overarching nature, the Financial Regulation should be revised in order to take into account the security interests of the EU (such as key infrastructure and telecommunications projects) enlarging the eligibility to participate and to receive EU funding;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the Commission’s Vademecum on public procurement was last updated in January 2020; notes that the current definition of ‘professional conflict of interest’ is limited to a conflicting interest that affects the capacity of an economic operator to perform a contract; calls on the Commission to provide for a
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17 a. Recalls the European Ombudsman’s decision1a in the case of the European Commission's decision to award a contract for a study on integrating environmental, social and governance objectives into EU banking rules to BlackRock Investment Management; stresses the need to ensure that similar conflicts of interest do not arise in the future; encourages the Commission to make proposals to update and strengthen the applicable rules in the EU Financial Regulation in order to address this type of possible conflicts of interest and to further increase the transparency of the tender procedures; _________________ 1a https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/de cision/en/135363
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17 a. Asks the Commission to amend Article 167 – c) of the Financial Regulation to include professional conflict of interests, that is based on a revised definition, to the list of criteria for awarding policy-related service contracts;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 b (new) 17 b. Stresses that the General Conditions of the Commission’s public procurement contracts for services contain standard provisions on professional conflicting interests with requirements from contractors to proactively notify situations that could constitute a conflict of interests; asks the Commission to perform additional checks and thorough verifications before the signature of the contract, in order to avoid relying on voluntary notifications only from the applicants and to better assess possible professional conflict of interests; calls on the Commission to develop adequate sanctions, such as a temporary ban from public tender procedures, for economic operators that would be found in a situation of professional conflict of interests;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 b (new) 17 b. Insists that the Commission follow the suggestion made by the European Ombudsman1b to amend recital 104 and article 167 of the Financial Regulation to provide a definition of ‘professional conflicting interest’ so as to ensure that EU institutions, including the European Commission, exclude bidders with a direct or indirect financial interest in a policy- related service contract. In the same vein, the Commission should provide corresponding and clear guidelines on possible conflicts of interests to assist its staff dealing with public procurement procedures for policy-related service contracts; _________________ 1bIn her decision in joint inquiry 853/2020/KR on the European Commission’s decision to award a contract to BlackRock Investment Management to carry out a study on integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives into EU banking rules
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 c (new) 17 c. Calls for a clear definition of professional conflicting interests that would include a conflict on the ground of a direct or indirect financial interest; stresses the need of assessing indirect financial or economic interests in policy related service contracts; calls for a revision of the Vademecum to reject bidders with a direct or indirect financial stake in the policy area concerned;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Considers that all EU institutions conducting public procurement should publish clear rules on their websites regarding acquisition, expenditure and monitoring, as well as all contracts awarded with the fullest possible transparency; Notes the guidance provided by the Commission on using the public procurement framework in the emergency situation related to the COVID-19 crisis; encourages the Commission to gather and evaluate the experience of contracting authorities with the public procurement framework in this regard and to reflect the lessons learned in the Financial Regulation, by identifying criteria for defining exceptional/unusual circumstances in which temporary/framed/necessary flexibility in the implementation of public procurement rules can be applied;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Notes the guidance provided by the Commission on using the public procurement framework in the emergency situation related to the COVID-19 crisis; encourages the Commission to gather and evaluate the experience of contracting authorities with the public procurement framework in this regard, especially its effect on SMEs, and to reflect the lessons learned in the Financial Regulation, by identifying criteria for defining exceptional/unusual circumstances in which temporary/framed/necessary flexibility in the implementation of public procurement rules can be applied;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 a (new) 18 a. Notes that the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation should take into account the autonomous strategic interests of the EU, including the need to stimulate EU job creation in key industries, while ensuring a level playing field for fair competition; calls on the Commission to ensure that ambitious award criteria are set, taking particularly into account the Union added value of projects, as well as the principle of the “most economically advantageous tender";
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas the revision of the Financial Regulation should take into account the Union’s security interests - such as key infrastructure and telecommunications projects-, with a focus on the eligibility criteria to participate and receive EU funding;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 a (new) 18 a. Notes that there is a strong interest in proposing Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (PPPAs) among the Members of the European Parliament and that the Commission has to apply a rigorous selection procedure to the proposals in order to match the limited financial resources available for the PPPA’s; considers that the available financial resources, and acceptance of proposals, can benefit from more flexibility between the three envelopes for PPs, PAs (first year) and PAs (second and third year);
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 b (new) 18 b. Notes that the Commission proposal for the Regulation on the Foreign Subsidies Instruments addresses potential distortive effects of foreign subsidies in the EU Single Market and is a key element to deliver on the updated EU Industrial Strategy; calls on the Commission to take into account the latter in the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation in order to guarantee fair and competitive conditions in the EU Single Market;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 a (new) 19 a. Criticises the length of the audit and control procedures in shared management, including the length of the consequent contradictory procedures, as foreseen under sectoral legislation; underlines that lengthy procedures increase the risk of leaks of confidential documents; considers it unbearable that the Commission insists on the confidentiality requirements vis-a-vis the EP applicable to the audit and contradictory procedure even in cases of legitimate public interest involving public figures; expects the Commission to strengthen and shorten the length of audit and control procedures in shared management along the lines of the timeline applicable under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 a (new) 19 a. Recalls that the three institutions acknowledge that the existing rules on audits and discharge procedure apply to assigned revenue and calls for this to be properly reflected in the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 b (new) 19 b. Recalls that according to Article 118(9) of the Financial Regulation, reports and findings of the internal auditor shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation; regrets that in practice, this results in (Parliament’s) audit reports only being published several years after their finalisation; calls for the respective provision in the Financial Regulation to be reformulated in a way that would see the institutions publish its internal audit reports without any limitations due to any later validation process that in fact represents a follow-up to the original report;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 c (new) 19 c. Considers it regrettable that audit and contradictory procedures, as well as procedures on the application of financial correction, currently stretch out over several years; urges the Commission to revise the rules of audit and financial correction procedures to allow for more timely conclusions and recovery of unduly paid out EU funds;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes that Article 59 of the Financial Regulation relates to the conferral on ‘other Union institutions’ of the requisite powers for the implementation of the sections of the budget relating to them; welcomes the fact that the concept of ‘conferral’ underlines the autonomy of the other institutions as regards the management of their funds; notes, however, that the Commission has repeatedly and consistently taken the view that it is not in a position to exercise scrutiny over the implementing activities carried out by other institutions; proposes to address this issue by changing Article 260 of the Financial Regulation, to make Parliament explicitly responsible for scrutinising the budget implementation by the other institutions in the discharge procedure; in this regards, reminds that both the Council and EPPO should be considered within the scope of other institutions and submitted as such to the discharge procedure;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 a (new) 20 a. Considers it necessary to amend Article 2 (67) of the Financial Regulation to include the European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO) as “Union institution” so that discharge shall be given to the EPPO;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 b (new) 20 b. Notes that article 262 of the Financial Regulation requires the Union institutions and Union bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of the Financial Regulation shall report on the measures taken in response to the decision on discharge; considers that this requirement would benefit from setting a reasonable deadline for reporting on the measures taken; calls on the Commission to include 30 September of the year following the year under review in the discharge procedure as deadline in Art. 262 of the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas respect for the rule of law is an essential precondition for compliance with the principles of sound financial management;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Notes that management and control systems of Member States’ authorities are regularly assessed by the Commission in accordance with the sector-specific rules; considers that shortcomings found in one Member State are not automatically applicable to other Member States and that corrective measures, in adjustments either to the legal requirements or to the implementation guidelines, should be proportionate and tailored to the Member State where these findings are applicable; and that the results of the assessments carried out by the Commission should be made public;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 22. Considers that EU assessments should strictly adhere to EU standards, including their being carried out transparently; considers that where stricter national standards exist, the use of these must not be to the detriment of the beneficiary; considers that Article 126 of the Financial Regulation on cross-reliance on assessments
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 23. Encourages the Commission and Member States to exploit the opportunities for simplified cost options to their full potential; considers that the focus of checks should be on ex ante verification of the calculations of the simplified cost options, while ex post verifications should be used to improve the system of calculation, except in cases of suspected fraud;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation is needed as a consequence of the entry into force of the MFF 2021-2027 package, including NGEU, as well as to ensure the proper implementation of the Inter-Institutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap for the introduction of new own resources, which not only updates legal provisions but also contains significant innovations within the budgetary system;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, and to strengthen public procurement rules avoiding any potential conflict of interests, including professional conflict of interests, whether immediately apparent or not and to increase parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, and to increase respect of the EU values, protection of the financial interests of the EU, parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs quickly, particularly in times of crises;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, to strengthen the performance of spending with a view to achieving greater European added-value, and to increase parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 12 a (new) — having regard to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015 and in force as from 1 January 2016,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles, and to increase parliamentary oversight, transparency, democratic accountability, civic engagement and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Believes that the revision should seek to modernise the rules applicable to the EU budget in line with its latest evolutions and in line with the budgetary principles without their violation, and to increase parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements; red tape reduction and simplifications, in particular where they increase transparency and democratic scrutiny; increase the accessibility to the EU funding for the citizens, SMEs, local and regional authorities;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they increase transparency and democratic scrutiny as well as provide for a better implementation of the EU budget;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they increase transparency and democratic scrutiny
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they increase transparency and democratic scrutiny, as well as performance of EU spending;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they improve accountability and increase transparency and democratic scrutiny;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Is of the opinion that, while a global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed at this time, the Financial Regulation must be subject to targeted improvements and simplifications, in particular where they increase rule of law, transparency and democratic scrutiny;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Believes that, as a matter of principle, the same level of protection should be guaranteed for the whole EU budget, regardless if it is under direct, indirect or shared management mode;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 a (new) — having regard to the decision of the European Ombudsman in joint inquiry 853/2020/KR on the European Commission’s decision to award a contract to BlackRock Investment Management to carry out a study on integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives into EU banking rules,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Reminds that performance based budgeting should be a guiding principle;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level,
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level, by greatly, if temporarily, increasing the magnitude of the EU budget in the form of external assigned revenue, and creating liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level, by greatly, if temporarily, increasing the magnitude of the EU budget in the form of external assigned revenue, and creating liabilities until 2058 through borrowing for lending and borrowing for direct EU expenditure; warns that these developments put at risk central budgetary principles such as unity and budgetary accuracy, equilibrium
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the number and scope of off-budget instruments have grown significantly in the past decade, and that NGEU has taken this practice to the next level,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Underlines that the coordinated collection of GNI-based national contributions in the form of external assigned revenue and outside the budgetary procedure is not exclusive to NGEU, but has been the chosen fix for the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, COVID-19 vaccine contracts and perhaps, in the future, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA); recalls that borrowing on capital markets has been a long-standing feature of Union’s budgetary operations to the extent that both the Commission and Parliament already called for its budgetisation in the 1970’s and 1980’s, well before the creation of the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), the temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) or NGEU;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Notes that the RRF is an extraordinary instrument specifically designed to address the effects of the pandemic and while the Financial Regulation needs several adjustments in this context, reminds the Commission that it should remain a temporary single-use instrument; is concerned that absorption is closely connected to outstanding commitments that have continued to grow; recalls the increasing gap between commitments and payments and the increase in the size of the Union budget (the Court of Auditors' rapid case review 05/2019: ‘Outstanding commitments in the EU budget - A closer look’) which poses a serious challenge for the discharge authority too;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Is concerned that the unprecedented amounts made available under the RRF, where Member States will report to the Commission in bulk about progress on milestones, will present the European Court of Auditors with a highly complex challenge to provide assurance on the legality and regularity of the spending;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Notes that the off-budget instruments are often divided between shared-management and direct management; highlights the difficulty for a regular audit process; stresses that the related sectoral legislations should be updated in case of procedural changes to ensure sound financial management;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 a (new) — having regard to the study on the largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds, requested by the CONT Committee, PE 679.107 - May 2021,
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Is concerned that these mechanisms pose a
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Is concerned that these mechanisms pose a serious challenge to the ability of the Parliament to fulfil its decision-making, scrutiny and discharge functions; and more generally to the ability of the general public and any public or private institution to understand the Union budget and hold the Commission to account; strongly believes that EU financial rules must be updated as regards the role of the budgetary authority and the budget structure in relation to these mechanisms, in order to bring them closer to the principles and responsibilities set out in the Treaties;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Is concerned that
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Is concerned that these mechanisms pose a serious challenge to the ability of the Parliament to fulfil its decision-making, scrutiny and discharge functions; strongly believes that EU financial accountability rules must be updated and reinforced, as regards the role of the budgetary authority in relation to these mechanisms, in order to bring them closer to the principles and responsibilities set out in the Treaties;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Considers the decision-making for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers as exemplary in combining a meaningful scrutiny role of proposals for mobilisation for both Council and Parliament, while ensuring timely democratic adoption; believes that such a model of decision-making should be extended to all EU programmes that foresee the confirmation of national implementation plans by EU authorities, including the recently proposed Social Climate Fund;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes that the EU has reacted swiftly and decisively in response to the COVID-19 crisis to support the affected Member States and to curb the socio- economic fall-out of the pandemic; notes that crisis management requires swift actions; reminds that this may never be an excuse to bypass Parliament, undermining democratic accountability; considers that this principle of democratic accountability and oversight in decision making needs to be reflected in the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes with concern the increasing use of the Article 122 TFEU for setting new mechanisms and bodies with budgetary implications to the EU budget under which the Parliament’s role is limited to mere right to information and calls on ensuring an appropriate role of the Parliament in the budgetary scrutiny of such initiatives;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Believes that Parliament, as one arm of the budgetary authority, should be able to scrutinise and authorise as appropriate the Commission’s plans with respect to the management of external assigned revenue and of its borrowing and lending operations; suggests that relevant articles of the Financial Regulation, including Articles 7, 46 and 56, be revised to clarify that assets and liabilities linked to borrowing and lending operations are included in the EU budget; moreover the budget authorities should be informed about all situations when funds from off- budget instruments are not paid out due to allegations of misuse, corruption, fraud or breaches of rule of law and when Member States do not have sufficient anti-fraud systems in place;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Believes that Parliament, as one arm of the budgetary authority, should be
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 b (new) — having regard to the resolution of the European Parliament B9-0318/2021 on the Financial Regulation review and EU Commission’s guidelines on public procurement for policy-related service contracts,
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Believes that Parliament, as one arm of the budgetary authority, should be able to scrutinise and authorise as appropriate the Commission’s plans with respect to the management of external assigned revenue and of its borrowing and lending operations; suggests that relevant articles of the Financial Regulation, including Articles 7, 46 and 56, be revised to clarify that assets and liabilities linked to borrowing and lending operations are included in the EU budget, thus fully under the control and reporting of the European Court of Auditors;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Believes that Parliament, as one
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Believes that Parliament, as one arm of the budgetary authority,
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Believes that external assigned revenue pursuant to current Article 21 of the Financial Regulation, and assets and liabilities deriving from off-budget operations, including borrowing on capital markets, should be allocated to the relevant budget lines
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Notes that different EU-funds have different financing rules for the annual allocation; believes that off- budget instruments address specific needs for a certain period of time; is of the opinion that the applicability of Article 14 of the Financial Regulation should be extended to external assigned revenue as well and that decommitments should be made automatically, in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the respective regulations;
Amendment 57 #
8. Calls for the revision of reporting requirements on the Commission’s debt management strategy, including maturity and schedule of payments and including the role of new own resources in the repayment of the debt, to adapt them to the increased complexity and risk of borrowing and lending operations;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the revision of reporting requirements on the Commission’s debt management strategy, including maturity and schedule of payments, to adapt them to the increased complexity and risk of borrowing and lending operations, as this is crucial for transparency and accountability;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the revision of reporting requirements on the Commission’s debt management strategy, including maturity and schedule of payments, to adapt them to
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 c (new) — having regard to the Commission communication COM(2020)103 An SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe,
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Underlines that in the new interinstitutional agreement on budgetary matters there is a roadmap for new own ressources including notably a digital levy, a Financial Transaction Tax-based resource and a financial contribution linked to the corporate sector or a Common Corporate Tax Base; calls for no further delays on the implementation of these new own resources, as it is notably the case on the digital tax plan;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Calls on the Commission for further simplification in annual accounts and other financial reporting obligations in the context of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union in order to encourage the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in SME-related programs of the MFF 2021-2027 package, including NGEU;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Emphasises the clear
Amendment 67 #
9. Emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the principles of sound financial management: economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as laid down in the Financial Regulation; underlines that sound financial management is based on the effective pursuit of cases of fraud, including tax fraud, tax evasion, corruption and conflicts of interest, as well as the judicial review of public authorities' decisions by independent courts; recalls that, upon adoption of the Conditionality Regulation, Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to consider including the content of the Conditionality Regulation into the Financial Regulation upon its next revision; calls on the Commission to examine possibilities to strengthen coherence between the two instruments;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the article 2 TEU and the principles of sound financial management: economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as laid down in the Financial Regulation; recalls that, upon adoption of the Conditionality Regulation, Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to consider
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the principles of sound financial management: economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as laid down in the Financial Regulation; recalls that, upon adoption of the Conditionality Regulation, Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 d (new) — having regard to the Commission communication COM(2021)350 Updating the 2020 New Industry Strategy: Building a stronger Single Market for Europe's recovery,
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Emphasises the clear link between respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the principles of sound financial management: economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as laid down in the Financial Regulation; recalls that, upon adoption of the Conditionality Regulation, Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to consider including the content of the Conditionality Regulation into the Financial Regulation upon its next revision; calls on the Commission to examine possibilities to strengthen
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Reiterates that ensuring the respect of all the values enshrined in article 2 of the TEU is a form of ensuring the protection of the EU budget and of the EU’s financial interests; highlights that Regulation 2021/1060 (CPR) equipped the Commission with strong ex-ante control mechanisms to ensure that managing authorities are in full compliance with the respect of EU values, in particular the non-discrimination principle; believes, however, that there is still a strong risk that final beneficiaries of EU funds use them in a way that is not compliant with EU values throughout their execution; calls therefore on the Commission to include in the Financial Regulation provisions setting out ex-post control mechanisms and procedures ensuring that every euro of the EU budget is used for projects or organisations that respect EU values, in addition to existing mechanisms; believes that a mandatory single, inter-operable and transparent database of direct and ultimate beneficiaries of EU funds would facilitate the detection of such breaches of EU values;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Underlines the limited capacity of the Union to sanction breaches of the rule of law by EU Member States; considers that the Union should further strengthen its tools for the protection of the rule of law; believes government entities breaching rule of law principles pose a serious threat to public funds (national and European) as those authorities cannot be fully trusted for their management; calls therefore on the Commission to include in its proposal for a revision of the Financial Regulation new provisions allowing the Commission to suspend or reduce EU funds for EU Member States that do no respect the rule of law, including when no EU funds are directly put at risk, when it implements the Union budget under shared, direct or indirect management;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Stresses the need to protect the EU budget and the EU tax payers' money from any form of conflict of interests; encourages the Commission to further strengthen the conflict of interests provisions under article 61 of the Financial Regulation in particular with regards to the preparation of the budget, e.g. by listing the institutions participating in the preparation of the budget, in order to determine more precisely which public officers can effectively influence financial flows from the EU budget; calls on the Commission to provide for procedural solutions capable of dealing with situations where the public officer does not have a hierarchical superior, in particular by obliging the institution in which the public officer has the possibility of influencing financial flows from the EU budget, to exclude such public person from the activities of the institution relating to the EU budget;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Highlights that the role of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is to investigate and prosecute fraud against the budget of the European Union and other crimes against the EU's financial interests; underlines the importance of cooperation between the EU institutions, the Member States, and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) with the EPPO; calls on the remaining Member States to ensure that their European and Delegated Prosecutors are appointed in a timely and impartial manner; recalls the need to provide the EPPO with adequate resources in order to ensure its proper functioning;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12 ; considers that the centralisation of the information in a single, interoperable EU database with information on direct and ultimate beneficiaries would overcome the identified fragmentation and lack of transparency; notes that digitalisation of the management of EU funds coupled with a comprehensive definition of conflict of interest at the European level will increase the efficiency for the protection of the financial interests of the EU; _________________ 12Study on the largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds, requested by the CONT Committee, PE 679.107 - May 2021.
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that a study commissioned by the CONT committee on the 50 largest beneficiaries of EU funds revealed that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12 ; considers that the centralisation of the information in a single, interoperable EU database with information on direct and ultimate
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 16 e (new) — having regard to the Commission communication COM(2021)219 Better Regulation: Joining forces to make better laws,
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12 ; considers that requiring the centralisation of the information in a single, interoperable EU database with information on direct and ultimate beneficiaries would overcome the identified fragmentation and lack of transparency; _________________ 12Study on the largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds, requested by the CONT Committee, PE 679.107 - May 2021.
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Stresses that it is important to know who benefits from EU funds in order to protect the financial interests of the EU and to detect fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest in particular; notes that data for identifying economic operators and their beneficial owners is not easily, or not at all, accessible12 ; considers that the
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure greater interoperability of IT systems, of existing European and national databases and data-mining tools for the purposes of risk analysis and detection of fraud;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Regrets that the Commission did not plan to conduct an impact assessment for the modification of the Financial Regulation, despite that while the proposal will only target specific modifications, there is no clear evidence that the final text of this revision or future modifications cannot have any direct economic, environmental and social impacts; recalls that according to the European Court of Auditors, an impact assessment could have provided clear information on the accessibility of EU funds for EU citizens, which the revision of the Financial Regulation needs to improve;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Emphasises that the Financial Regulation should include provisions that require the responsible actors to gather and keep uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners in order to allow identification across EU programmes, regardless of who implements these programmes and of management mode; considers that these requirements should
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Emphasises that the Financial Regulation should include provisions that require the responsible actors to gather and keep uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners in order to allow identification across EU programmes, regardless of who implements these programmes and of management mode;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Emphasises that the Financial Regulation should include provisions that require the responsible actors to gather and keep uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners in order to allow identification across EU programmes, regardless of who implements these programmes and of management mode; considers that these
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Emphasises that the Financial Regulation should include provisions that require the responsible actors to gather and keep uniform records of economic operators and beneficial owners in order to allow identification across EU programmes, regardless of who implements these programmes and of management mode (direct, indirect or shared management); considers that these requirements should be balanced to reflect strictly relevant information items; underlines that data may only be published in line with data protection requirements
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Underlines that data should be published openly as a general principle, while respecting data protection requirements and the standing jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union; considers that compulsory information items collected for audit and control purposes need to include as a minimum the registration number of legal entities, national identification number for natural persons, the relevant code or uniquely identifying specific EU funding program, an indication of the type of beneficiary, sub- contractors, beneficial owners, whether the beneficiary also receives State aid and contact information; stresses that the database should not be exclusively self- regulated but datasets should be created by the Commission or an external authority in order to ensure coherent and high-quality data;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas, following the entry into force of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, the Commission published a roadmap and launched a public consultation with a view to aligning the Financial Regulation, where appropriate, with the rules agreed by the legislator as part of the MFF 2021-2027 package, and to proposing limited and targeted improvements required by the evolving situation, for instance following the COVID-19 crisis or in the context of the growing opportunities for digitalisation, as well as improvements regarding crisis management, administrative simplifications for EU funds recipients, and protection of EU financial interests in accordance with the general principles embedded in the Union Treaties, in particular the values laid down in Article 2 TEU, as well as in accordance with the principle of sound financial management enshrined in Article 317 TFEU and in the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Asks that information about recipients of EU funds is made publicly accessible for a minimum period of five years;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 b (new) 11 b. Underlines that the system needs to facilitate the aggregation of individual amounts concerning the same direct or ultimate beneficiary; considers that publicly accessible systems should facilitate both individual searches through a web-based tool and systemic analysis through bulk downloads in machine readable and interoperable format; Stresses that standardised, open data across the full cycle of all procurements including the ultimate beneficiaries of contracted companies, will provide civil society and nongovernmental actors with the complement of tools and required information to monitor the integrity, fairness and efficiency of public procurement markets;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Considers that Article 63 of the Financial Regulation should be modified to include ARACHNE as a compulsory risk scoring tool made available by the Commission to Member States and other implementing partners; considers that the Financial Regulation should also indicate which indicators ARACHNE uses to determine the risk score of economic operators; emphasises that ARACHNE enriches data provided by managing authorities with publicly available information in order to identify the projects, beneficiaries, contracts and contractors that might be susceptible not only to risk of fraud but conflicts of interest as well; considers that any additional administrative burden, from inserting information multiple times in various IT systems, including ARACHNE, must be avoided;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Considers that Article 63 of the Financial Regulation should be modified to include ARACHNE as a compulsory risk scoring tool made available by the Commission to Member States and other implementing partners; considers that the Financial Regulation should also
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Considers that Article 63 of the Financial Regulation should be modified to include ARACHNE as a compulsory risk scoring tool made available by the Commission to Member States and other implementing partners and to oblige implementing partners to feed information into it; considers that the Financial Regulation should also indicate which indicators ARACHNE uses to determine the risk score of economic operators; c
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13.
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13.
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Calls for the use of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) to be made compulsory under shared management; further notes that EDES does
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Calls for the use of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) to be made compulsory under shared management; further notes that EDES does not distinguish between subsidiaries of larger corporations; calls on the Commission to make this distinction and to specify in the rules for early detection and for exclusion which entity of a multi- national or multi-company corporation is registered for early detection or exclusion; highlights that in 2020, the EDES panel handled 20 cases while 28 cases were in the pipeline; stresses the importance of allocating sufficient resources to the panel in line with any extension of responsibilities;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Calls for the use of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) to be made compulsory under shared management; further notes that EDES does not distinguish between subsidiaries of larger corporations; calls on the Commission to make this distinction and to specify in the rules for early detection and for exclusion which entity of a multi- national or multi-company corporation is registered for early detection or exclusion; furthermore, calls on the Commission to review the criteria with a view to decreasing complexity and increase applicability of EDES in practice;
source: 697.826
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