Debate: The reopening of the prosecution against the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on the misuse of EU funds and potential conflicts of interest
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

What are the facts, and where are we in the audit procedure? The Commission services carried out audits in the Czech Republic in January and February 2019. These audits relate to the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. They are currently at different stages of the procedure. The audits for the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund are now in the follow-up stage. The final audit report provided to the Czech authorities does not represent the final step of the audit process for the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. The contents of the final audit report should therefore remain confidential until the procedure is closed. This means until the Commission has taken a final position as appropriate, in relation to the follow-up that the audit team will give to it. For the rural development investment measures, the Commission has communicated its letter of findings to the Member States, including preliminary conclusions and recommendations to avoid any situation of conflict of interest in the future. The contradictory procedure is ongoing, and the next step is a bilateral meeting with the Czech authorities. For all funds, the whole procedure until adoption of possible financial corrections can take up to 24 months. Confidentiality of the audit is a basic principle and of utmost importance. The Commission must ensure a fair and robust process. Former Commissioner Oettinger and now Commissioner Hahn have shared preliminary information with the Committee on Budgetary Control of this House, in camera. Under the confidentiality rules, I will therefore not comment on the substance of the audit findings today. Let me assure you that, while the audits go on, the EU budget is fully protected. No payments from the EU budget under the European structural and investment funds are being made to projects that could potentially be concerned by alleged conflict of interest. In relation to the Rural Development Fund, the Commission is not reimbursing to Czech authorities the amounts related to projects that could be potentially concerned by the alleged conflict of interest. Let me now say a few words on the Stork’s Nest project. The Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) have reacted promptly to investigate potential fraud with respect to EU funding for the Stork’s Nest project. In December 2017, OLAF finalised its investigation. It recommended to the Commission to recover the full subsidy. OLAF also recommended to the competent Czech judicial authorities to take into account all of the findings in the ongoing national judicial investigation. The Czech authorities withdrew the project from EU financing and recovered the funds from the beneficiary. Consequently, there was no impact on either the EU or the national budget. The ongoing national judicial investigation is the exclusive competence of the Czech authorities. Finally, as regards the situation in other Member States, the Commission will equally follow up on allegations of non-resolved conflicts of interest in other Member States. In addition, the Commission is providing support to all Member States to correctly implement measures aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest.