9. sasaukums Clotilde ARMAND

As the shadow rapporteur for EU budget for the financial year 2020, I supported this proposal of the European Commission to amend the budget and to release EUR 115 million for co-financing measures to combat COVID-19 (repatriation of stranded citizens and protective equipment through joint procurement). The package includes other essential measures, such as an additional EUR 3.6 million for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU institution coordinating a common European Roadmap of healthcare measures and contributing to the research of vaccine against COVID-19. Also, EUR 3.3 million are dedicated to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the new EU body that will protect EU finances against corruption and fraud, an issue particularly relevant at the time of the coronavirus, when the health sector is specifically exposed to bribery, counterfeit and other risk factors, such as the concentration of power, derogation of rights and large amounts of money being infused into the economy to alleviate the crisis.

The crisis called upon the EU institutions to mobilise as many unspent resources as possible and channel them into the healthcare sector and into initiatives that support the economy. As the shadow rapporteur for the EU budget 2020, I am glad that we managed to reactivate an additional EUR 3 billion, of which EUR 2.7 billion has been earmarked for emergency aid and EUR 300 million for the RescEU medical equipment reserve. This will enable the Commission to get emergency aid on behalf of the Member States and distribute medical equipment such as masks and respirators. This will finance our urgent needs, for example, with regard to transporting medical equipment and patients in cross-border regions, and it will support the construction of mobile field hospitals. I welcome such measures, as they strengthen our resilience to public health crisis and build a pathway to a permanent crisis-management mechanism so that we can rely on EU coordination in any future shocks.

. ‒ The exceptional needs of our local economies demand exceptional flexibilities in the use of European funds. I voted in favour of the new rules on use of the European Structural and Investments (ESI) Funds which reflect the proposals of the Renew Europe Group to the Commission. After certain flexibilities approved on 26 March 2020 allowing the transfer of money between the priorities of the same fund, now we have achieved flexibility for transfers of resources available in 2020 between the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund. In addition, now the funds can be transferred among the regions and the measures for programming, auditing and reporting are simplified. A 100% EU co-financing rate for the accounting year 2020-2021 is authorised.
Increased flexibility allows each Member State to address more efficiently their specific needs, which requires however specific monitoring of spending. It is essential therefore that the Commission follows the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors on ESI funds and better analyses administrative practices at national level.