Debate: The revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the - multiannual financial framework
Date: MONDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2021
Speaker: Johannes Hahn
Language: EN

It arrives just in time to be duly considered in the finalisation of the Commission proposal, together with the results of the public consultation that closed on the 1 October.  First, I would like to welcome Parliament’s agreement that the global overhaul of the rules applicable to the budget is not needed now, after the major revision that took place in 2018. The Commission fully shares the need for a targeted revision acknowledged by the report.  That is also supported by several delegations in the Council. Changing financial rules too often indeed creates uncertainty and administrative burden for recipients of EU funds. Changes should thus primarily include alignment to the MFF package. Certain improvements and simplification, in particular focusing on crisis management and enhanced protection of EU financial interests, should also be included. The targeted scope of this revision should also be a key element to ensure rapid negotiation and adoption of the text.  The Commission’s proposal is still work in progress, and I am not in a position to speculate on the final contents. There is no need to comment in detail on all the proposals, but I would like to acknowledge the particular importance of some topics raised by the European Parliament in this report, such as transparency and accountability of EU budget implementation.  I confirm in particular the Commission’s commitment to enhance transparency and public scrutiny on the recipients of EU funding, further improve the protection of the Union budget against irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interests. The Commission fully shares Parliament’s objectives in this area.  I would like to remind that the interinstitutional agreement contains a commitment by the Commission to provide Member States with an integrated and interoperable information and monitoring system, including a single data—mining and risk—scoring tool that they can voluntarily use for control and audit purposes.  However, I think here in this House we almost all regret that the agreed text does not make it its use compulsory. The Commission will keep doing its utmost to encourage Member States to use the system, and will continue to provide training with a view to promoting its generalised application by Member States.  The Commission, furthermore, intends to use the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation as another opportunity to propose further advances on these aspects.  The Commission takes note of the importance for the Parliament to assess opportunities to further clarify the link between the General Conditionality Regulation and the efficient implementation of the Union Budget. The Commission considers that the focus should now be on the implementation of the regulation and that re—opening discussions on its substance at this stage would not be productive.  The Commission shares the importance of ensuring robust protection of the whole EU budget, as well as avoiding conflicts of interest in budget implementation.  The Commission takes note of other important topics covered by the report, such as the protection of the EU’s strategic interests, the need to address climate and biodiversity challenges, and the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.  In some instances, the Financial Regulation may not be the most appropriate tool to address certain challenges and policy choices that belong rather to sector—specific legislation.  Other topics would seem to go beyond the targeted nature of this revision, and the Commission is willing to revisit them at the next general revision. Once again, the Commission, and me personally, are grateful for Parliament’s timely input into this targeted revision.