unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

We are very proud of the achievements of the EU budget in 2020. We have put together, in a mere few weeks, a comprehensive response to the unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic, providing flexibility to the Union’s budget to redirect every single euro available to this effort. And in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, we have also continued to deliver on the goals of our programmes and on the overarching horizontal priorities, such as the green and digital transitions. Lastly, we have continued to protect the EU budget against fraud and misuse, despite the new challenges. Now, on the Court’s report, let me first say that I am pleased that the EU accounts have received a clean opinion. For the 14th year in a row, the Court has concluded that our figures are reliable. Likewise, I am happy that the Court concludes, like last year, that the revenue side of the EU budget and administrative spending are free from material error. For expenditure, the European Court of Auditors’ overall level of error remains at 2.7%, the same level as last year – despite, as we all know, the extremely difficult pandemic circumstances. Some years ago, we were discussing a much higher level of error. Since then, the Commission has made significant improvements, so that now, more than 97% of EU expenditure is estimated to be error free. While the report provides a snapshot at a specific point in time, many of the controls and corrections are still to be made. At the closure of our multiannual programmes, our aim is to be below the materiality threshold. As you have heard from President Lehne, the Court has maintained its adverse opinion on expenditure. While we respect the opinion and methodology of the European Court of Auditors, I would like to underline that the implementation of the European Union budget is not homogeneous across countries, across regions and programmes, or even types of measures. This is why the Commission carries out a very detailed assessment of the functioning of its systems and those of the Member States and implementing partners. We identify where the risks and weaknesses are, and we take tailor—made actions to address these. On this basis, as well as on the basis of the Court’s conclusions – which rightly identify a certain number of remaining challenges – we will continue our efforts: on simplifying rules (this remains the best way to prevent errors); on strengthening our control systems to make them more effective (I do not mean here more controls, I mean better controls); on accompanying, supporting and guiding beneficiaries, national authorities and other partners in the day—to—day management of EU funds. I want to thank you once again for your attention and I look forward to our discussion today.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Tomáš Zdechovský
Political group: PPE
Country: Slovenia
Language: CS

Evropská unie svou solidaritou nabídne fondy, programy, platformy na podporu a posílení našich politik. Členské státy s těmi podmínkami souhlasí a pak je najednou neplní. Je naprosto neakceptovatelné, že tato zpráva popisuje v řadě případů v souvislosti s Evropským rozvojovým fondem a programem Globální Evropa, že některé mezinárodní organizace zpochybňují samotný mandát Evropského účetního dvora a tak se snaží znemožnit spolupráci. Je neakceptovatelné, že některé neziskové organizace poskytují dokumenty pouze s omezeným přístupem a tak, že není možné ani pořizovat kopie dokumentů, nebo prodlužují a natahují lhůty, po kterých tyto dokumenty poskytnou. To je sabotáž této spolupráce. A přitom Smlouva o fungování Evropské unie dává Evropskému účetnímu dvoru právo na přístup k těmto dokumentům a informacím, které potřebuje k realizaci kontrol. Apeluji tedy na Evropskou komisi, aby tuto podmínku řádně artikulovala, konkrétně generálnímu ředitelství, které je zodpovědné za plnění rozpočtu v oblastech Globální Evropy a Evropského rozvojového fondu. V opačném případě by Evropská komise měla zvážit, jaké kroky dále vůči sobě udělá.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Tsvetelina Penkova
Political group: S-D
Country: Croatia
Language: EN

In this context, it is positive to note that the report concludes that the revenues for 2020 are regular, legal and free of material error. Of course, it is good that the estimated error in expenditure remained the same as last year, at 2.7%. I would like to mention that there are certain positive developments in significant areas of EU spending, including cohesion, where we see a decrease in the error rate this year compared to the previous year.  The current crisis is not over. EU support must reach people and small businesses swiftly and without unnecessary bureaucratic burden. Digital and large—scale investments must offer a balanced and effective recovery, and this Parliament needs assurances on the achievements and the milestones of the targets we set so we can achieve the goals we have ahead of us.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Olivier Chastel
Political group: Renew
Country: Poland
Language: FR

Par ailleurs, je ne peux qu’encourager, tant la Commission que les États membres, à généraliser les outils d’extraction de données et à systématiser le recours aux nouvelles technologies pour améliorer l’ensemble des contrôles. Vu les sommes engagées, notamment pour NextGenerationEU, nous devrons être à la hauteur des attentes de nos concitoyens. L’Union européenne doit permettre aux États membres de redéployer leur économie, mais aussi de mettre en œuvre nos politiques – le pacte vert, Horizon Europe, la transition numérique. Nous ne pourrons le faire pleinement qu’avec une gestion optimale des fonds. À ce titre, je me félicite qu’à l’occasion de la récente négociation du budget 2022, les négociateurs du Parlement soient parvenus à arracher au Conseil des moyens supplémentaires pour la Cour des comptes. Nous devrons en effet veiller à ce que chaque euro dépensé le soit au bénéfice direct des Européens et il appartient à la Commission de tout mettre en œuvre pour répondre à cette exigence.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Ireland
Language: EN

Regarding the CAP proposal, a comprehensive set of reasoned evaluations covering all aspects was not available at the time the impact assessment was prepared. Moreover, the area that is of great concern for us, the CAP’s contribution to climate action, lacks a realistic way of estimating the direct payments made to farmers. In a special report, ECA has stressed the mismatch of EU money spent on biodiversity on farmland and the very poor performance of these measures. Here we see almost no positive effect of the allocated funds. False or incorrect reporting on the true climate-related spending is generally known as greenwashing. It goes against the true goals of the EU Green Deal, NextGenerationEU and all that the EU is doing to improve the way we live and treat the environment. Unfortunately, there is no update on the audit of the former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his holding, Agrofert, for the agriculture funds he has received. His conglomerate was identified as the biggest single recipient of EU agriculture funds in 2018 and 2019, reaching over EUR 30 million each year. We have seen the very concerning conclusion of the regional and structural funds audit that confirms the Babiš conflict of interest, but we are still waiting for the agriculture funds audit, which represents an even larger proportion of Babiš’ fortune. Yesterday’s vote on the new CAP unfortunately just confirms the wrong way in which Europe goes about agriculture and thus calls for even more rigorous, strict and law-proof control of CAP spending.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Ryszard Czarnecki
Political group: ECR
Country: France
Language: PL

Myślę, że warto podkreślić, iż gdy chodzi o wydatki dokonywane w formie zwrotu poniesionych kosztów, w poziomie błędu w dalszym ciągu był istotny spadek, prawie o procent, niespełna 5 % do 4 % w tym roku. Wreszcie trzeba zaznaczyć, że należy to sprawozdanie widzieć w kontekście kilku lat, wieloletniego charakteru interwencji Unii Europejskiej, korekt finansowych netto. I tutaj zgodnie z metodologią Komisji Europejskiej poziom ryzyka przy realizowaniu programów wynosi niespełna 1 %, czyli znacznie poniżej progu istotności. To są generalnie dobre wieści, chociaż trzeba chuchać na zimne. Żyjemy w trudnych czasach. Dziękuję za to sprawozdanie.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Sabrina Pignedoli
Political group: NI
Country: Romania
Language: IT

Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, ringrazio la Corte dei conti europea per il lavoro svolto. In questi anni difficili, segnati dalla pandemia della COVID-19, le istituzioni europee sono state chiamate a un lavoro eccezionale, con un programma di rilancio coraggioso e mai visto prima. Resta però un interrogativo senza risposta: quanto è stato speso dalla Commissione europea per i vaccini e ora per le pillole anti-COVID? Come revisore esterno indipendente dell'Unione europea, riuscirà la Corte dei conti a farci sapere il prezzo pagato dall'UE alle grandi case farmaceutiche per i vaccini? È una cosa a quanto pare segretissima, collegata a clausole contrattuali. Le istituzioni europee dovrebbero avere come priorità la trasparenza nei confronti dei cittadini. Come possiamo sapere se il potere delle case farmaceutiche non abbia influito sui contratti stipulati, soprattutto in un momento difficile come quello della pandemia? Se vogliamo la fiducia dei cittadini è necessario che si lavori con massima trasparenza.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Lefteris Christoforou
Political group: PPE
Country: Romania
Language: EL

Κυρία Πρόεδρε, αγαπητή κυρία Επίτροπε, κύριε Πρόεδρε του Ευρωπαϊκού Ελεγκτικού Συνεδρίου, σήμερα, από αυτό το βήμα του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, οφείλω να εξάρω την πολυσήμαντη προσφορά και το έργο που επιτελεί καθημερινά το Ευρωπαϊκό Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο, και συμβάλλει στη θετική και εύρυθμη λειτουργία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, αλλά πολύ περισσότερο στη διαφύλαξη των συμφερόντων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και των Ευρωπαίων φορολογούμενων πολιτών. Πιστεύω ότι δικαίως οφείλουμε να αποδώσουμε έπαινο προς το Ευρωπαϊκό Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο. Αγαπητέ φίλε, Πρόεδρε του Ευρωπαϊκού Ελεγκτικού Συνεδρίου, διαβιβάστε τα συγχαρητήριά μας για το έργο το οποίο επιτελείτε στα μέλη σας, αλλά και σε ολόκληρο το προσωπικό που με υψηλή επαγγελματική ευσυνειδησία, αλλά και με άοκνες προσπάθειες προσπαθείτε να καταστείτε η ασπίδα προστασίας του ευρωπαϊκού χρήματος. Για εμάς, η αποστολή μας είναι να διαφυλάξουμε και να προστατεύσουμε και το τελευταίο ευρώ των φορολογούμενων πολιτών και αυτή η ευθύνη γίνεται ακόμα τεράστια με τα 672,5 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ από τον NextGeneretionEU. Όμως, συγχρόνως, θέλω να πω προς την Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή και το Ευρωπαϊκό Συμβούλιο ότι οι εποπτικές και ελεγκτικές αρχές δεν είναι κόστος για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Και το Ευρωπαϊκό Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο και η OLAF, οι οποίες επιτελούν σημαντικότατο και αξιολογότατο έργο, όταν ζητούν να ενισχυθούν σε προσωπικό, σε υλικοτεχνική υποδομή, σε ψηφιοποίηση, που ορθά το αναφέρατε κύριε Πρόεδρε, και σε άλλα μέσα για να αντιμετωπίσουν τη διαφθορά, οφείλουμε αυθωρεί και παραχρήμα να τους τα παράσχουμε. Γιατί κάθε ευρώ που επενδύουμε στους ελεγκτικούς μηχανισμούς —στο Ευρωπαϊκό Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο, στην OLAF και στους άλλους ελεγκτικούς μηχανισμούς— δεν είναι κόστος· είναι επένδυση, γιατί αποφέρει πολλαπλάσια οφέλη για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Και το σημαντικότερο, και τελειώνω, ο πιο σημαντικός ρόλος και αποστολή του Ευρωπαϊκού Ελεγκτικού Συνεδρίου είναι ότι, με την αποτελεσματική του δουλειά, αποτρέπει τους επίδοξους διαφθορείς της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και για την κατασπατάληση δημόσιων ευρωπαϊκών πόρων.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Isabel García Muñoz
Political group: S-D
Country: Greece
Language: ES

Señora presidenta, señora comisaria, presidente Lehne, el informe anual del Tribunal de Cuentas es la base para el procedimiento de aprobación de la gestión del presupuesto europeo. Para la Comisión de Control Presupuestario este informe es de máxima importancia, y así debería ser para todo el Parlamento. Así que solo espero que el próximo año podamos tener este debate en  Pero bueno, el año 2020 fue un año complicado para todos, pero me gustaría destacar la resiliencia demostrada por las instituciones europeas durante la pandemia, que han sabido adaptarse rápidamente para seguir cumpliendo su mandato mientras protegían la salud de sus trabajadores e introducían nuevas e innovadoras formas de trabajar, algunas de las cuales han venido para quedarse.  El Tribunal de Cuentas es un ejemplo. Ha podido continuar con su labor de auditoría, en la que ha estimado la misma tasa de error global que en 2019, lo que evidencia que las cosas se han hecho bien a pesar de las dificultades.  Por eso no deberíamos valorar las políticas europeas únicamente con parámetros como la tasa de absorción, porque estas políticas tienen una proyección plurianual y lo verdaderamente importante es su resultado final y su impacto a largo plazo, no la foto fija al final del año y, mucho menos, la comparación con el marco financiero plurianual anterior. El año 2020 es un claro ejemplo.  Simplificar la burocracia, dar reglas claras, digitalizar los sistemas: todo esto mejorará ese dato global de error.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Daniel Freund
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Spain
Language: EN

Madam President, I like it very much when the numbers add up, and I’m grateful that the European Court of Auditors checks that EU money is going where it’s supposed to go and if this money is well spent.  The number that stands out from the annual report is obviously the error rate.  2.7% of the money is not going where it’s supposed to go. It is mismanaged, stolen or somehow lost along the way. That is an awful lot of money for the taxpayer. 2.7% might sound low, but we’re speaking about more than EUR 4 billion every year that is lost. And that doesn’t even cover the real effect for the taxpayer, because what often happens is that the EU recoups the money so the damage to the EU taxpayer may be limited, but then it is, in a way, offloaded on the national taxpayer because too often Member States don’t claim that money back from the companies and from the fraudsters. We have to stop this. We need better oversight, better management and more digital tools. This has all been managed here.  Ideally, all this should be overseen by EPPO. As I said in the earlier debate, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden urgently need to join the EPPO. Worryingly, though – and I think what EPPO is showing us at the moment –  is that the 2.7% error rate is probably in reality even higher because, if I look at the investigations that EPPO has already opened, the amount of money that is concerned, well, that’s larger than the error rate that ECA is giving us so we also need to look into that method and really find all the errors.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Joachim Stanisław Brudziński
Political group: ECR
Country: Germany
Language: PL

Pani Przewodnicząca! Obiecuję, że dołożę wszelkich starań, żeby nie musiała pani używać tego drewnianego młoteczka. Panie przewodniczący Trybunału Obrachunkowego! Pani komisarz! Dziękując Trybunałowi Obrachunkowemu za przedstawienie sprawozdania rocznego za rok 2020, nie sposób nie zauważyć, nie docenić i nie skierować na pana ręce szczególnych słów podziękowań dla wszystkich pracowników Trybunału Obrachunkowego, którym przyszło pracować w wyjątkowym roku, bo pandemia o takiej skali, jaka dotyka dzisiaj Europę, zdarza się raz na 100 lat, a mimo wszystko pańscy pracownicy wywiązali się z tego zadania wręcz wzorowo.  Trybunał nie ma zastrzeżeń co do wiarygodności rozliczeń ani zastrzeżeń co do dochodów budżetu Unii Europejskiej, jakkolwiek wydaje negatywną opinię na temat legalności i prawidłowości wydatków. Istotny poziom błędu wynoszący 2,7% wskazuje, że poziom błędu w porównaniu z 2019 rokiem utrzymał się na takim samym poziomie, również dotyczy to lat 2018, 2017 czy 2016. W kontekście wniosków ETO co do możliwego wzrostu w kolejnych latach poziomu zobowiązań pozostających do spłaty należy zauważyć, że wzrost ten należy znacząco ograniczyć poprzez zapewnienie odpowiedniego poziomu środków na płatności w kolejnych budżetach rocznych Unii Europejskiej. Poziom płatności powinien odzwierciedlać rosnące tempo implementacji, zwłaszcza programów w ramach zarządzania dzielonego, czyli głównie polityki spójności i rozwoju obszarów wiejskich.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Dorien Rookmaker
Political group: NI
Country: Netherlands
Language: NL

Voorzitter, de Rekenkamer van de EU heeft voor de tweede keer op rij de uitgaven van de EU afgekeurd. In 2,7 % van de gevallen bleek het budget aantoonbaar niet goed besteed en dat is meer dan de boekhoudregels toelaten. De gebrekkige beheersing van de uitgaven heeft de EU aan zichzelf te wijten.  De regels omtrent de EU-subsidies zijn te ingewikkeld en een bron van fouten. Aanbevelingen op dit punt worden onvoldoende opgevolgd. Nu staan we op het punt om als EU bijna tweemaal zoveel geld uit te geven, en dat betekent nog meer risico op fouten en fraude, ook omdat een reeks nieuwe voorwaarden aan subsidies wordt gesteld. Dat maakt de zaak alleen nog maar complexer.  We bewegen met het oog op beheersing de verkeerde kant op. Ik verzoek u met klem om vol in te zetten op structurele vereenvoudiging van wet- en regelgeving. Daarbij verzoek ik de Europese Commissie om de groei van het EU-budget vergezeld te laten gaan van een passend budget voor de Rekenkamer. Hou het zo simpel mogelijk!
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Monika Hohlmeier
Political group: PPE
Country: Poland
Language: DE

Frau Präsidentin! Lieber Präsident des Europäischen Rechnungshofes, lieber Klaus—Heiner Lehne, aber auch ECA-Mitglied Tony Murphy, die gleich beide heute Abend zu uns gekommen sind, liebe Frau Kommissarin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Wir diskutieren hier öfter über die ganzen Fehlerraten und Fehlerquoten. Ich möchte zunächst einmal ein herzliches Dankeschön an den Rechnungshof aussprechen, dass er wieder sehr klar formuliert hat, wo die Kernprobleme liegen, die wir in unserem Haushalt haben.  Wenn ich mir den ersten Bereich des sogenannten  Und wenn es dann, wie zum Beispiel im Donaudelta oder auch in Bulgarien, bei den Gästehäusern oder in ein paar anderen Bereichen zu Fehlerquoten von nicht gerade 4 %, sondern bis zu 80 %, 90 % kommt, dann wird mir schlicht und einfach schlecht. Und wenn das Ganze dann noch perpetuiert stattfindet, dann wird mir noch schlechter.  Andere Bereiche hingegen funktionieren wunderbar und funktionieren gut, und darauf muss man auch ausdrücklich hinweisen. Was mir noch Sorgen macht, ist der Bereich von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen im Bereich der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit, die zum Teil überfordert sind mit den komplexen Regeln und die nachdrückliche Unterstützung brauchen. Gerade Start-ups können sich meistens komplizierte Rechtsfirmen nicht leisten, um die ganzen Konstruktionen zu durchdringen, die sie auszufüllen haben, und damit sie entsprechend das Geld bekommen.  Und letzter Punkt: An die gut funktionierenden Mitgliedstaaten würde ich doch einmal die Empfehlung richten, ob
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Ádám Kósa
Political group: NI
Country: Poland
Language: HU

Tisztelt Elnök Asszony! Magyarország teljesítménye kiemelkedő a 2014-es, 2020-as pénzügyi időszakban. 2020 végéig az európai strukturális és beruházási alapokból közel 15 és fél milliárd eurót használtunk fel. Ezzel lakosságarányosan a legjobb eredményt értük el a V4-országok közül, méghozzá úgy, hogy a forrásvesztés esélye nem áll fenn. Az EU-s források a magyar GDP növekedését évente átlagosan 2,6 százalékponttal emelték meg. Ez régiónkban a legjobb eredmény. A magyar kormány korrupciós zéró toleranciájának és a megerősített közbeszerzési szabályoknak köszönhetően a közbeszerzési jogsértések aránya az összes kohéziós forráshoz kapcsolódó szabálytalanságon belül Magyarországon 20 százalék volt, míg az uniós átlag 29 százalék. Hazám így az uniós középmezőnyben szerepel Németország, Írország vagy a Benelux államok társaságában.
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report
Date: WEDNESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

On Member States’ ability to absorb and correctly implement funds from the NextGenerationEU and the EU budget, the design of the Recovery and Resilience Facility takes into account Member States’ administrative capacity. The Commission has worked hand-in-hand so far with Member States to prepare and ensure a rapid uptake on all funds, and this is true for the recovery and resilience national plans, as well as the shared management funds. As regards the needs to respect sound financial management of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, it is Member States’ primary responsibility to ensure this and recover amounts unduly spent.  On its side, the Commission performs a number of checks, controls and audits throughout the spending cycle. The RRF Regulation contains legal provisions on OLAF’s mandate as well as control and anti-fraud measures. We are particularly grateful for the importance that the European Parliament attached to this issue during the negotiations on the RRF Regulation.  As regards greater use of data and IT tools to fight fraud and organised crime in the implementation of the EU budget, the Commission will strive in the context of the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation to further develop the digitalisation of controls and audits and enhance the quality and interoperability of the data of recipients of EU funding, including with the use of IT tools, such as the early detection and exclusion system and Arachne. As regards the impact of the pandemic on the performance and compliance of the EU budget, the implementation of spending programmes has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, but the pandemic was really no excuse to relax our controls, on the contrary. The COVID-19 crisis has slowed down the implementation of ongoing activities for many programmes. For other spending areas, however, implementation has continued at cruising speed even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, notably due to the measures taken by the Commission to support Member States in facing the crisis, such as the CR2 and CR2+ packages in the case of the cohesion policy. These measures and the other flexibilities introduced at the outbreak of the pandemic were immediately accompanied by a reminder to all the services that the Commission’s internal control framework remained fully applicable.  Allow me to conclude by thanking again President Lehne and the European Court of Auditors for their annual report. It continues to be a key input to the discharge procedure. And thank you also to all the honourable Members of this Parliament for your comments and questions. Our discussions, as many as you have said, contribute to the continuous improvement in the financial management of European Union finances. I look forward to continuing constructive cooperation in the 2020 discharge process with the Court, the European Parliament and the Council.