Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added38. Calls for the reinforcement of technical assistance instruments in the cohesion policy framework, such as those developed in cooperation between the European Investment Bank and the Commission, to support strategic planning capacities for territorial investments, as well as targeted advisory support for the identification, planning and preparation of projects; acknowledges the pivotal role of financial instruments to promote competitiveness in all EU regions and leverage both private and public funds;

Added39. Highlights that the success of cohesion policy depends on forward-looking and inclusive strategies, proper stakeholder and civil society involvement, and sound governance; acknowledges the need to promote results-based management approaches, including the use of measurable indicators and theory-of-change models for programme evaluation; emphasises the importance of allocating specific resources for the capacity building of social partners, and for civil society organisations to strengthen their role in the good governance and implementation of EU funds;

Added40. Asks the Commission to propose, in the new State aid framework, a further simplification of the application of State aid rules in the case of cohesion-related cross-sectoral funding that combines EU and national funds (such as in multi-funding under the European Social Fund Plus and the ERDF), with the aim of reducing errors and administrative burden at national and regional level, while enhancing the effectiveness of cohesion policy investments on the ground and avoiding market distortion; calls on the Commission to explore whether shared management programmes could in some cases benefit from similar exemptions from State aid rules to those under direct management, such as Horizon Europe or the Connecting Europe Facility;

Added41. Urges the Commission, in the context of the forthcoming revision of the European Public Procurement Directive, to further promote the use of the social clause and collective bargaining; underlines that contracting authorities must exclude, from public tenders, economic operators that have engaged in criminal activities; calls for rules governing the cohesion policy to allow public money to be allocated only to those undertakings that respect workers’ rights and the applicable rules on working conditions;

Added42. Considers that the principle of a single audit should be strengthened and recalls that, in practice, the application of the single audit approach depends on the robust and reliable audit work carried out by the audit bodies in the Member States; stresses that a revised, strengthened, unified approach to audits and controls should be introduced in the next cohesion policy, and that this approach should aim to reduce both error and fraud rates by reinforcing preventive (ex ante) controls at the beginning of the budgetary period, to reduce control weaknesses and risks; stresses the importance of aligning this approach with the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors, particularly in strengthening financial management, enhancing the efficiency of expenditure and ensuring that mistakes identified in previous programming periods are not repeated;

Added43. Calls for more consistent interpretation of regulations by audit bodies across the EU and all funds, and advocates a more risk-based audit strategy to avoid unnecessary duplication while ensuring effective financial oversight and fraud prevention; stresses that the programmes run by the Member States falling under the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism, or the Article 7 procedure, or that do not participate in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, must be placed under tighter scrutiny;

Added44. Calls on the Commission to propose the standardisation and broader use of simplified cost options and financing not linked to costs, and stresses their key role in reducing administrative burdens, lowering error rates, and improving delivery; recommends extending these mechanisms, particularly by easing requirements in public procurement, verification and audit thresholds; emphasises their usefulness in contexts where objectives are clearly verifiable, especially for smaller beneficiaries such as local authorities, civil society organisations and local action groups, or in projects involving micro-enterprises and social economy actors, for reducing bureaucracy and accelerating implementation; calls on the Commission to explore options aimed at introducing simplified reporting and auditing procedures for local authorities with fewer than 100 000 inhabitants, and for beneficiaries located in rural areas, islands and the EU’s outermost regions, with the aim of striking a balance between simplification and sound financial management;

Added45. Considers that a change in the approach to audits and controls is necessary by moving away from the use of statistical extrapolation for financial corrections to clearly distinguish between unintentional errors and frauds, in order to ensure that such corrections only target cases of systemic irregularities and acts of deliberate fraud, and to avoid excessive workload or financial strain on beneficiaries and managing authorities; emphasises that the administrative and financial burden related to financial control and audit work, as well as their follow-up, should always be proportionate to the volume of funds and the risks involved;

Added46. Calls on the Commission to explore different options for enhancing complementarities between EU funds, including by reintegrating the community-based and local development interventions of the EAFRD into the CPR;

Added47. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and to the European Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the national and regional parliaments of the Member States.