natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Notes with concern that the use of blending in energy sector primarily focuses on large projects with less emphasis on local energy solutions; urges the Union to refrain from developing a top-down approach in developing energy infrastructure to ensure universal access to energy for all by 2030, bearing in mind that large scale infrastructures may not suit the economic and social structure of the country and fail to provide energy access to the poor, for whom smaller, decentralised and off-grid energy sources are usually more appropriate and effective;
Norra Ungern
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
Norra slättområdet
Welcomes the Commission's progress in accrediting all CFSP missions in accordance with the ‘six-pillar assessment’ and its prediction that the four largest missions will soon be compliant; underscores the need for the Commission to accredit all missions in line with the Court of Auditors' recommendation;
Södra Transdanubien
Is deeply concerned about the serious allegations of corruption against EULEX Kosovo which, if confirmed, will call into question the integrity of the Union's reputation and the assistance it provides to countries implementing reforms in the field of the rule of law; is also especially concerned about the way that the allegations of corruption were dealt with and at the slow response on the part of the European External Action Service; takes note of the investigation launched to examine EULEX Kosovo; expects to be informed about its results as soon as possible and stresses that there must be a zero tolerance policy on issues of corruption and that lessons learnt will have to be applied;
Mellersta Ungern
Regrets the significant delays in procuring essential equipment and services for missions under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the resulting negative effect on the missions' functioning; recalls that in its Special Report No 18/2012 entitled ‘European Union assistance to Kosovo related to the rule of law’ the Court of Auditors denounced this inefficiency and concluded that the procurement rules laid down in the Financial Regulation ‘are not designed for CSDP missions where fast and flexible responses are sometimes necessary’; urges the Commission to consider a revision of the relevant rules;
Utveckling södra Italien
External Assistance Management Report (EAMR)
Kalabrien
Notes that a majority of Union delegations did not reach the benchmarks set up by the Commission for the key performance indicators (KPIs) [48] included in the 119 External Assistance Monitoring Reports concerning financial planning and resource allocation, financial administration and auditing;
Regional utvecklingspotential
Notes that in light of the KPIs set up by the Commission, the best performing Union delegations are those to Nepal and Namibia since they reached the benchmarks set by the Commission for 23 of the 26 key performance indicators; regrets that the worst performing delegation is the Union's delegation to Libya that reached the benchmarks for only three of 26 KPIs, followed by the similarly poor performing delegation to the Central African Republic that reached only four benchmarks;
Infrastruktur
Regrets that the delegations overseen by DG ENLARGE, namely delegations to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Kosovo and Serbia, provide little fitting data and information within the EAMR;
Konkurrenskraft och ekonomisk tillväxt
Regrets that the results, outputs or impacts of the actions lead by the Union delegations services are not measured adequately in the framework of the existing KPIs, and that the indicators give very limited clarity about the quantity and especially the performance of the delegations as well as the degree of ‘stakeholders’ satisfaction' about the services provided by Union Delegations in these countries;
Hälsa
Asks the Commission to:
Informationssamhället
present to Parliament the measures taken in order to improve the performance of Union delegations as regards financial planning and resource allocation, financial administration and auditing in particular as regards the worst performing delegations;
Forskning och utveckling
better document every year the conclusions it has drawn from the EAMR and from the KPIs and provide these conclusions together with the EAMRs to Parliament;
Miljö
include a balance sheet with the accounting data of the delegation into the EAMR;
Regionala operativa program
improve the quality and the exhaustiveness of the data provided in the EAMR and the relevance of the reports as well, in particular as regards the delegations overseen by DG ENLARGE; and
Lowlands och Uplands – Skottland
make external assistance contingent on efforts being made to combat corruption;
West Wales och the Valleys
International Management Group
Europaparlamentet uppmanar kommissionen att i framtiden rapportera om felprocenten per program utifrån de uppgifter som anmälts av medlemsstaterna och godtagits/korrigerats av kommissionen i den årliga verksamhetsrapporten.
Takes note that a leaked version of the final report of OLAF on the International Management Group (IMG) has been circulated; asks the Commission and OLAF's supervisory committee to investigate why and how the OLAF report was leaked and by whom, while IMG is still not informed about the content of the report;
Europaparlamentet konstaterar att kommissionen på grundval av sin egen granskning ansåg att 40 nationella revisionsmyndigheter med ansvar för revision av 90 % av anslagen till Eruf/Sammanhållningsfonden för programperioden 2007–2013 i allmänhet hade gjort ett tillförlitligt arbete.
Notes that IMG has received, directly or indirectly under joint management, more than EUR 130 million from the Commission since its creation in 1994; notes that due to the interruption of payments by the Commission, IMG has taken the case to court and that the status of this organisation is subject to legal controversy; urges the Commission to take a clear decision in this regard and asks the Commission to inform Parliament about the follow-up given to the OLAF enquiry opened in 2011; urges the Commission to provide Parliament with a list enumerating all the organisations, companies, other bodies or persons, detailing their legal status, which have received contracts from the Commission without a call for proposals;
Förvaltnings- och kontrollsystem
Ukraine
Europaparlamentet uppmanar kommissionen att ge ytterligare riktlinjer och tekniskt bistånd till medlemsstaterna.
Notes that in 2013 payments of bilateral assistance to Ukraine, funded from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) budget, amounted to EUR 152,8 million; notes that 42,5 % of these payments (EUR 64,9 million) are linked to contracts directly managed by the Union delegation to Ukraine; notes that the remaining 57,5 % (EUR 87,9 million) were disbursed in the form of budget support;
Parlamentet begär att kommissionen och medlemsstaterna särskilt ska inrikta sig på att förenkla förfarandena, även för mottagarna, vilket både kan få positiva effekter för granskningen och minska felfrekvensen, samtidigt som man ökar förvaltnings- och kontrollsystemens ändamålsenlighet.
Emphasises that budget support payments are conditional on the achievement of jointly agreed results and benchmarks; notes that the beneficiary government commits to these results and benchmarks by signing a bilateral financing agreement and if results and benchmarks are not achieved, payments are not disbursed;
Europaparlamentet välkomnar att förvaltningen av fonderna har förbättrats sedan 2011 i Österrike, Tjeckien och Rumänien.
Appreciates that Ukraine currently finds itself in a particularly difficult situation but maintains that this may not be an excuse for not fulfilling the conditions under which budget support is given and, in particular, for not addressing the wide-spread corruption in the country;
Parlamentet är oroat över den försämrade Eruf-förvaltningen i Slovakien, Spanien, Nederländerna och Förenade kungariket [39].
Calls therefore on the Commission and the Union delegation to Ukraine to be particularly vigilant when disbursing funds and to assure themselves that the funds are invested in the projects they were destined for;
Europaparlamentet påpekar att i 50 av 75 fall har reservationer kvarstått i ett år eller mer.
Administrative costs of aid delivery
Kommissionen uppmanas att lämna information som underlag för att bedöma huruvida svagheterna och regionerna förblev desamma och ta reda på varför nationella förvaltningsmyndigheter inte klarade av att korrigera felen effektivt.
Is concerned about the high administration costs of aid delivery to Central Asia calculated by the Court of Auditors; asks the Commission to inform Parliament about the administrative costs of external aid delivery if they exceed 10 % of the forecasted budget;
Europaparlamentet stöder helhjärtat de avbrott av betalningsfrister och inställelser av utbetalningar som kommissionen använder sig av som ett effektivt förebyggande verktyg för att skydda unionens ekonomiska intressen.
Possible embezzlement of Union humanitarian and development aid funds
Europaparlamentet är medvetet om att enligt det nya regelverket för programperioden 2014–2020 kommer allvarliga brister i den mening som avses i kommissionens delegerade förordning (EU) nr 480/2014 [40] som upptäcks av kommissionen eller revisionsrätten efter det att räkenskaperna inlämnats att leda till finansiella nettokorrigeringar för de berörda programmen.
Takes note that OLAF drafted a report on the humanitarian aid granted to the Sahrawi refugee camp of Tindouf in Algeria (OF 2003/526); calls on the Commission to clarify the measures taken in response to the findings of that report; notes that according to a UNHCR inquiry report [49] the non-registration of a refugee population for such a prolonged period (i.e almost 30 years after their arrival) constitutes ‘an abnormal and unique situation in the UNHCR's history’; urges the Commission to ensure that the Algerian or Sahrawi individuals incriminated by the OLAF report no longer have access to aid funded by Union taxpayers; calls on the Commission to re-evaluate and adapt Union aid to the actual needs of the population concerned and to ensure that the interests and needs of the refugees will not be harmed because they are the most vulnerable to any possible irregularity;
Parlamentet uppmanar kommissionen att lämna en förteckning över sådana ärenden i tid inför ansvarsfrihetsförfarandet för kommissionen 2014.
Is worried about the Ghana public payroll fraud case where neither the World Bank nor the United Kingdom as project partners alerted the Commission about the serious concerns they had about weaknesses in controls and the risk of accounting errors and fraud that these presented;
Europaparlamentet välkomnar de förstärkta kontroll- och revisionsförfaranden som ingår i regleringsramarna för programplaneringsperioden 2014–2020, särskilt de verifieringar och kontroller av förvaltningen som ska göras före attesteringen av programmens årsräkenskaper och inlämnandet av förvaltningsförklaringarna från den operativa ledningen till kommissionen.
Research and other internal policies
Kommissionens förmåga att vidta korrigerande åtgärder har förbättrats ytterligare genom att det inte länge är möjligt för medlemsstaterna att återanvända medel, vilket lett till finansiella nettokorrigeringar.
Stresses that the Seventh Framework Programme (7FP) was the main programme financed by the Commission; notes that 809 grant agreements, involving 10345 participants for a total of EUR 3439 million in Union contributions were signed; notes that the 7FP contributes to the Union's efforts to invest in a sustainable competitiveness but points that the Union as a whole is still far from its objective of having at least 3 % of GDP spent on R & D; notes that some progress was made in meeting key performance indicators (gross expenditure on Research and Development (R & D), share of public expenditure on R & D, progress in the implementation of the Innovation Union, share of Union financial contributions to small and medium-sized enterprises, reduction of Time-to-Grant);
Parlamentet välkomnar inrättandet av ett kompetenscentrum för uppbyggnad av administrativ kapacitet i samband med EU:s strukturfonder och investeringsfonder.
Notes that the Court of Auditors audited 150 transactions, namely 89 transactions relating to research (86 for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and three for the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6)), 25 transactions for the Lifelong Learning (LLP) and Youth in Action (YiA) Programmes and 36 transactions for other programmes; regrets that the Court of Auditors estimated the most likely error rate at 4,6 % (2012: 3,9 %);
Parlamentet stöder sammanhållningspolitikens ökande resultatinriktning och tematiska koncentration, vilket bör garantera en omställning från kriterier som avser utnyttjande av medel till fokus på utgifternas kvalitet och ett stort mervärde för de medfinansierade åtgärderna.
Observes that the spending in this policy group covered a wide range of policy objectives, such as research and innovation, education, security, migration and measures to combat the effects of the financial crisis; notes that the Commission spent more than 50 % (EUR 5771 million) of the available amount on research; notes that 45 % of the Commission's research budget was implemented by bodies (i.e. agencies, joint undertakings) outside the Directorate-General; notes that almost 90 % of the spending took the form of grants to beneficiaries participating in projects and that in 2013 the Commission concluded 809 grant agreements;
Europaparlamentet påminner om punkt 165 i sin resolution om ansvarsfrihet för kommissionen 2012, där parlamentet ville att hanteringen av fel vid offentlig upphandling i samband med delad förvaltning skulle göras enhetligare.
Takes note that the principal risk to regularity remained that beneficiaries include ineligible or unsubstantiated costs in their cost statements, which were neither detected nor corrected by the Commission or Member States' control systems;
Parlamentet välkomnar den harmonisering som kommissionen genomför genom sitt beslut C(2013)9527 av den 19 december 2013 om fastställande och godkännande av riktlinjer för fastställande av finansiella korrigeringar som kommissionen ska tillämpa på utgifter som finansieras av unionen genom delad förvaltning, i de fall som bestämmelserna om offentlig upphandling inte har följts.
Regrets that 35 % of the estimated error rate is caused by incorrectly calculated or ineligible personnel costs; notes that this includes declaring budgeted rather than actual personnel costs, as well as charging time that was not spent on the projects;
Parlamentet påpekar att Europaparlamentets och rådets direktiv 2014/24/EU [41] ska genomföras av medlemsstaterna senast den 18 april 2016.
Regrets that 23 % of the estimated error rate is caused by indirect ineligible costs, 25 % by other ineligible direct costs (VAT, travelling, etc.), and 17 % by non-compliance with public procurement rules;
Parlamentet anser att detta kommer att medföra avsevärda förändringar av upphandlingsförfarandena och att ytterligare metodändringar därför kan bli nödvändiga.
Observes that first-time applicants, particularly SMEs, are with a largely unknown risk/error profile; calls on the Commission not to undermine the efforts made to encourage these participants to participate in the programmes, by systematically increasing the level of control or administrative burden on them;
Europaparlamentet konstaterar att revisionsrättens metod måste vara enhetlig och tillämpas på samtliga förvaltningsområden.
Management and Control Systems
Parlamentet inser att ytterligare justeringar kan leda till att revisionsrättens definitioner av olagliga transaktioner och delad förvaltning blir inkonsekventa.
Is astounded that in nine of 32 cost statements certified by independent auditors the Court of Auditors found a significant level of error; considers that such a level of error is not acceptable as auditors work in the area of their professional expertise;
Finansiella korrigeringar
Calls on the Commission to increase the awareness of auditors for fulfilling their role;
Europaparlamentet noterar att kommissionen 2013 fattade beslut om finansiella korrigeringar till ett belopp av 912371222 euro för medlemsstaternas operativa program, varav 239,50 miljoner euro föll på Tjeckien, 147,21 miljoner euro på Ungern och 95,47 miljoner euro på Grekland.
Takes note of the fact that the Commission conducted in 2013 500 ex post audits and the associated recovery and corrective action, and risk based ex ante checks;
Europaparlamentet uppmanar kommissionen att utföra successiva prestationsbedömningar under genomförandet av projekt som föreslagits av medlemsstaterna för strukturfondsfinansiering och efter det att projekten har avslutats, i syfte att öka effektiviteten i projekten och intensifiera kontrollerna av användningen av offentliga medel och därmed göra det möjligt att upptäcka missbruk och bedrägerier som sker under projektgenomförandet.
Supports the Court of Auditors' recommendation, accepted by the Commission, to make controls for this policy group more risk-driven, focusing checks on high-risk beneficiaries (for example entities with less experience of Union funding) and reducing the burden of checks on less risky beneficiaries;
Europaparlamentet uppmanar kommissionen att inrätta ett system för informationsutbyte mellan nationella revisionsmyndigheter så att bokföringsposter för transaktioner mellan två eller flera medlemsstater kan kontrolleras mot varandra, i syfte att bekämpa gränsöverskridande bedrägerier inom strukturfonderna, och med tanke på de nya arrangemangen som gäller för den fleråriga budgetramen 2014–2020, de europeiska struktur- och investeringsfonderna (ESI), Europeiska socialfonden (ESF), Sammanhållningsfonden, Europeiska jordbruksfonden för landsbygdsutveckling (EJFLU), Europeiska havs- och fiskerifonden (EHFF) som helhet, så att skyddet av unionens ekonomiska intressen får en övergripande prägel.
Reiterates the necessity to strike the right balance between fewer administrative burdens and effective financial control;
Europaparlamentet konstaterar dessutom att under programperioden 2007–2013 stod sex medlemsstater (Tjeckien, Grekland, Spanien, Ungern, Polen och Rumänien) för 75 % (vilket motsvarar 1342 miljoner euro) av de bekräftade finansiella korrigeringarna för Eruf/Sammanhållningsfonden och ESF.
Welcomes the fact that in 2014, the time-to-grant time span has dropped from 249 days to 209 days for 94 % of the grant agreements;
Tillbakadragna åtaganden
Welcomes the fact that the Commission continued with its communication campaign based on a document listing the 10 most common causes of error, which was distributed to all programme participants in 2012;
Europaparlamentet beklagar att åtaganden på 397,8 miljoner euro fick dras tillbaka 2013, 296,7 miljoner euro bara från Tjeckien.
Observes that by the end of 2013, the undue claimed amounts recovered had reached EUR 29,6 million, while outstanding recoverable amounts had increased from EUR 12 million at the end of 2012 to almost EUR 17 million;
Parlamentet anser att tillbakadragande av åtaganden strider mot sund finansiell förvaltning.
Notes that project stakeholders (ITER organisation and the domestic agencies — including Fusion for Europe) have recognised that the current schedule and budget is not realistic, as confirmed by several independent assessments in the last two years (2013-2014); requests to receive a copy of the revised schedule and budget which will be submitted to the ITER Council in June 2015; is concerned by the regular delays in the ITER programme which questions its efficiency and effectiveness; is deeply concerned by the overcosts, which have impacted upon the cost-effectiveness of the programme and put other Union programmes in jeopardy, mainly in the research policy area;
Parlamentet är bekymrat över vissa regioners fortsatta oförmåga att utnyttja den tillgängliga finansieringen och uppmanar kommissionen att identifiera problemen som ligger till grund för denna situation i dessa regioner.
Welcomes the fact that the External Borders Fund has helped to foster financial solidarity; criticises the fact, despite this, that further Union added value was limited and that the overall result could not be measured due to weaknesses in the responsible authorities' monitoring and serious deficiencies in the ex post evaluations conducted by the Commission and the Member States;
Kommissionen uppmanas att upprätta och överlämna en detaljerad plan för att förbättra utnyttjandeförmågan i regioner med en mycket låg utnyttjandegrad.
Galileo
Europaparlamentet påpekar att en stödperiod infördes i den nya förordningen för programplaneringsperioden 2014–2020 för att inrätta en tidsram för att göra investeringar och ska incitament för programmyndigheterna att göra investeringar för jobb och tillväxt i unionen i god tid, vilket skulle minska risken för att anslagen inte utnyttjas under den givna stödperioden och därmed riskerar att dras tillbaka.
Notes the Commission replies on the progress made in implementing the Galileo project: four Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites were successfully launched in 2011 and 2012, the Galileo In-Orbit Validation phase was successfully concluded in 2014, the system design, the performance targets and the baseline for system operation were successfully confirmed, the ground infrastructure, with many ground stations worldwide, has been completed for the initial operations, the Galileo Search-and-Rescue capability of the IOV-satellites was successfully demonstrated, the launch of two satellites (no.
Finansieringstekniska instrument
5 and 6) on 22 August 2014 resulted in an injection of these satellites into incorrect orbit, and since December 2014 the satellites have been gradually moved to a more favourable orbit to allow their best possible use, and the testing of the satellites' navigation payload is on-going; expects to be informed about additional costs for these unforeseen measures;
Europaparlamentet konstaterar att medlemsstaternas förvaltningsmyndigheter rapporterade totalt 941 operativa finansieringstekniska instrument i slutet av 2013 i 25 medlemsstater: 91 % utgörs av finansieringstekniska instrument för företag, 6 % för stadsutvecklingsprojekt och 3 % för fonder för energieffektivitet/förnybar energi.
Notes that in 2013, the Court of Auditors audited eight transactions in the transport sector and found that five of them were affected by one or more errors; draws attention to the increase of the percentage of affected transactions in 2013 (62 %) compared to 2012 (49 %) and is concerned that, as in previous years, the Court of Auditors has found several errors in relation to non-compliance with Union and national procurement rules for the TEN-T projects examined; takes note that as in the preceding year of 2012, once more in 2013, DG MOVE did not issue a reservation related to public procurement errors; insists, therefore, that the Commission undertake the necessary measures in order to exclude such errors in the future; notes that it is of the utmost importance to extend the ex ante and ex post control of the beneficiaries of Commission grants, funding and financing in order to avoid the misuse of the Community allocation of resources and to ensure a verification of performance; emphasises that even if the funding period 2007-2013 is formally over, there is a N + 2 principle for cohesion funding, meaning that many projects are still under construction until the end of this year;
Parlamentet noterar att det totala värdet på de bidrag som utbetalats från de operativa programmen till finansieringstekniska instrument uppgick till 14278,20 miljoner euro, inklusive 9597,62 miljoner euro i strukturmedel.