On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission, executive agencies and the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds

PA_NonLegDec

OPINION

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

1. Welcomes the progress in the implementation of Member States' national programmes in 2023; notes with concern that, despite the requirement to spend all funds for the programming period 2014-2020 by June 2024, 18% of AMIF funds and 25% of ISF funds allocated to Member States for that period remain undeclared;

2. Welcomes the Commission’s timely proposal to increase the ceilings of Headings 4 and 6 as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework mid-term revision with a view to ensuring sufficient funding for the implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum; stresses the need to ensure adequate and timely Union funding for Member States and Union agencies to facilitate the smooth implementation of Union law in the areas of asylum and migration; calls on the Commission to monitor and assist in the timely progress of the administrative, operational and legal steps required by Member States and Union agencies for the full implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum by Summer 2026;

3. Notes with concern that the number of migrants arriving irregularly in the Union increased again in 2023 as compared to previous years; further notes the Commission’s ongoing efforts to assist Member States in addressing irregular arrivals and in successfully integrating legally residing third-country nationals; recalls that, while the Commission should continue to take action on migration and asylum within the framework of external action, the functioning of the ‘Team Europe’ approach must be clarified while safeguarding the role of Parliament; calls on the Commission to increase the transparency and accountability of the programming and implementation of the Union home affairs funds in third countries; renews its call on the Commission to support the Union agencies and the Member States in coordinating effective search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, ensuring that such actions are carried out in accordance with international and Union law;

4. Acknowledges the Commission’s continuous monitoring of rule of law benchmarks through the rule of law toolbox, including the annual rule of law report, while remaining concerned that, by adopting an overly diplomatic approach and failing to distinguish between individual and systemic issues, the annual rule of law report risks trivialising some of the most serious breaches of the rule of law; reiterates its regret and serious concern with respect to the lawfulness of the Commission’s decision concluding that, in Hungary, the horizontal enabling condition of the Charter had been fulfilled in relation to judicial independence which decision enabled the Hungarian authorities to start claiming reimbursements of up to approximately EUR 10,2 billion from Union funds; calls on the Commission to take steps towards the full implementation of Parliament’s recommendations on the establishment of an EU mechanism for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, contained in its resolution of 25 October 2016, and to ensure that assessments of rule of law benchmarks are more precise and qualitative than is presently the case, relying not only on legislative changes, but also on real and independent evidence of their implementation in practice;

5. Reiterates its great concern over the delays in the Commission’s procedures for granting access to documents; urges the Commission to address these deficiencies promptly, in line with Parliament’s recommendations;

6. Continues to strongly regret the Commission’s lack of enforcement measures and legislative follow-up to Parliament’s recommendations regarding the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware; calls urgently on the Commission to respect the principle of sincere cooperation between Union institutions and to present, without undue delay, an action plan to prevent the abuse of spyware in the Union, making full use of all available legislative and non-legislative means provided by the Treaties.