2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2.5.2025 A10-0074/63

Amendment 63

Tamás Deutsch, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Julien Sanchez, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 10 b (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

10 b. Believes that the current system of rule of law conditionality is not primarily intended to protect the financial interests of the Union but to impose the Commission's political objectives, demands that the so-called "Rule of Law Conditionality" mechanism must not be used as a political tool to blackmail Member States and interfere in their democratically elected governments' decisions, the conditionality system in its current form has failed and is beyond repair;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/64

Amendment 64

Tamás Deutsch, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Julien Sanchez, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 10 c (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

10 c. Reminds that the former Commissioner responsible for negotiating anti-corruption framework and the rule of law with Member States during the past five years is now under criminal investigation for money laundering and other corruption-related crimes; condemns the use of rule of law conditionality for politically motivated ideological attacks on Member States; highlights that in these attacks the European Commission used and financed NGOs and leftist media outlets from EU funds; demands therefore that these attacks against national sovereignty misusing the rule of law conditionality must be stopped;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/65

Amendment 65

Tamás Deutsch, Ondřej Knotek, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Julien Sanchez, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

13 a. Finds that the current architecture of the European Union’s institutions does have duplications and overlapping mandates, believes that the Union needs to lead the way to cut administrative costs, simplify, in order to boost competitiveness and to streamline EU public administration, recommends to assess how a DOGE-style (Department of Government Efficiency) reform package could be implemented and how could it could benefit the efficiency of the governance of the European Union and its institutions;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/66

Amendment 66

Virginie Joron, Julien Sanchez, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 16 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

16 a. Deplores, however, the reality of the European Commission's complacency towards Islamist movements and entities; witnesses the European Commission's funding of nearly 10 million euros for the so-called “European Koran” project to rewrite European history, the “EU Action Plan against Racism 2020-2025” and its follow-up, which targets all forms of racism with the exception of anti-white racism, or the funding of Erasmus + or NGOs in Europe (Femyso close to the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Relief Worldwide, etc., as well as extra-European universities close to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as non-European universities close to Islamist movements (Gaza University, close to Hamas); thus demonstrates that the European Commission knowingly contributes to inciting, by financing them, non-European interference in the territory of Member States, with principles that run counter to European values; regrets that the European Commission does not verify the final beneficiaries of its funding, some of whom are close to terrorist or Islamist movements, thus contributing to their direct or indirect support from European funds; condemns these practices and urges the European Commission to put an end to them and initiate procedures to recover these undue funds; regrets the absence of a consensual definition of the rule of law as a fundamental value of the Union, and the biased use of it arbitrarily made by the Commission;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/67

Amendment 67

Tamás Deutsch, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Julien Sanchez, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 17 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

17 a. Recalls, that a bombshell report revealed the European Commission's brazen misuse of taxpayer funds, funnelling billions into a shadowy network of NGOs and think tanks to promote its own political agenda and silence dissenting voices; condemns this enormous EU-NGO propaganda complex, that undermines democracy and constitutes a massive betrayal of European citizens;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/68

Amendment 68

Virginie Joron, Julien Sanchez, Ondřej Knotek, Anders Vistisen

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 18

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

18. Recalls the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSOs), including NGOs, in upholding democratic values to support a vibrant and lively democratic society, ensuring a sound basis for broad coverage of all relevant views in different debates and highlights that CSOs may receive support from Union funds to exercise these functions, as provided in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union;

18. Recalls the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSOs), including NGOs, in upholding democratic values to support a vibrant and lively democratic society, ensuring a sound basis for broad coverage of all relevant views in different debates and highlights that CSOs may receive support from Union funds to exercise these functions, as provided in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union; recalls that subsidies granted to NGOs from the Union budget amount to several billion euros each year (estimated at 7.4 billion euros from 2021 to 2023 by the European Court of Auditors), making the Union one of the main donors to civil society organizations; recalls that the Qatargate scandal revealed that some civil society organizations are catalysts for corruption ; is concerned about alleged cases of fraud and irregularities in situations where EU-funded NGOs are exposed to risks of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering[1]; is concerned about the lack of reliable, publicly available data on NGO activities and cases of fraud involving NGOs[2]; regrets that NGOs and civil society organizations remain exempt from most anti-money laundering transparency and reporting obligations; calls therefore for a definition of NGOs to be established at Union level, and for NGOs to be brought within the scope of the Union's anti-money laundering framework; calls on the Commission to require NGOs to publish on the first page of their website the amount of European and national funds received, and to specify the activity carried out; finally, insists that the Commission cease funding NGOs which contribute to illegal immigration into European countries and facilitate human trafficking; calls for each Member State to have at least the option that its contributions to the European budget are not used to fund such NGOs;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/69

Amendment 69

Virginie Joron, Julien Sanchez, Ondřej Knotek, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 21 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

21 a. Emphasizes the importance of addressing the European Commission’s spending on communication budget; notes that in 2023, commitments under the "Executive and institutional communication services" item amounted to €47,916,000, and under the "Communication services for citizens" item to €32,783,000, resulting in a total exceeding €80 million; requests detailed clarification on the concrete allocation and use of these funds, in light of concerns about potential interference in the European democratic process.

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/70

Amendment 70

Tamás Deutsch, Ondřej Knotek, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 27 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

27 a. Considers that, as long as the Court of Auditors — acting as the external auditor — is unable to issue an unqualified (positive) statement of assurance confirming that the Union budget is properly managed and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, the Parliament, as a matter of principle, should not support the granting of discharge;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/71

Amendment 71

Tamás Deutsch, Nikola Bartůšek, Anders Vistisen, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 38 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

38 a. Finds it outrageous and unacceptable, that a former Commissioner awarded European funds annually to non governmental organisations to lobby on the Commission's own policy agenda;

Or. en

2.5.2025 A10-0074/72

Amendment 72

Tamás Deutsch, Ondřej Knotek, Anders Vistisen, Virginie Joron

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A10-0074/2025

Niclas Herbst

2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds

2024/2019(DEC)

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 49 – point iii a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

(iii a) return to more prudent and responsible fiscal practices within the Union, as it raises concerns over the extended use of the diversified funding strategy, under which joint EU borrowing risks transferring financial liabilities to future generations;

Or. en