On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021, Section III – Commission

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SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1. Notes that the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) audited spending areas comprising various policies related to migration and border management (heading 4) and security and defence (heading 5);

2. Notes that for the audited spending areas related to migration and border management, security and defence policies, the Court examined a sample of 23 transactions, under MFF headings 4 and 5; notes the Court’s explanation that the audit scope was not designed to be representative for these headings; reiterates the call from the Parliament to carry out the audit in a way that would allow calculating the estimated level of error;

3. Notes with concern that 11 out of the 23 transactions examined by the Court contained quantifiable errors which had a financial impact on the amounts charged to the Union budget; highlights that such cases may have negative reputational impact;

4. Notes that Member States stepped up implementation of their national programmes in 2022; is concerned that significant amounts remain undisbursed for both Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) (26 %) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) (33 %), meanwhile acknowledges that funding for 2014-2020 has to be spent by June 2024; urges the Commission to step up its efforts towards assisting Member States in the effective implementation of their respective national programmes;

5. Welcomes the prompt actions by DG HOME following the Russian aggression, especially the timely drafting of a decision on the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time, the setting up of a Solidarity Platform ‘Ukraine’;

6. Welcomes the actions by DG HOME to support Member States in improving the return process particularly by linking the EU visa policy to cooperation on readmission; welcomes the operational partnerships to fight migrant smuggling with Morocco, Niger, and the Western Balkans; is concerned of particularly low levels of returns of irregular migrants across the EU and associated security risks; calls on the Commission to continue working towards strategy for more effective returns and extend its operational partnerships with third countries;

7. Acknowledges the continuing support of DG JUST to the Commission’s policy on upholding the rule of law in the Union, especially and the yearly edition of the Justice Scoreboard and the third Annual Rule of Law Report, which contained recommendations to the Member States for the first time;