This report summarises the Commission's response to the main requests made by the European Parliament and the Council in the context of the 2016 discharge and forms part of the integrated financial reporting package for the 2017 financial year.
The priorities set out by the European Parliament are to a quite large extent reflected in the Commission's proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 which is based on the following principles:
The monitoring report focuses in particular on the following aspects:
Political priorities: the new proposals bring the structure and the programmes of the EU budget fully into line with the positive agenda of the Union post-2020 as agreed by the Leaders of the 27 Member States in Bratislava and Rome. In this context performance is put at the core of the EU budget:
Budgetary and financial management: the proposed Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027:
On the call to assist Member States, which encounter difficulties with timely and smooth absorption of available EU funding, the Commission has already taken a number of initiatives to assist Member States with timely absorption.
Performance: in the Commission's proposals, the performance framework for future programmes is significantly streamlined. The Commission's proposals include provisions to set-up monitoring and evaluation frameworks, including indicators for the purpose of evaluations.
Under the EU budget focused on results initiative, a specific EU results website has been developed. The aim is to communicate concrete results of projects financed from the EU budget as well as their geographic location.
Revenue: the Commission is closely monitoring the recovery of EU own resources not collected by the UK authorities on textile and footwear products imported from China.
The European Parliament invited the Commission to analyse, in cooperation with the Member States, all the potential implications of multiannual activities on the estimation of GNI and to confirm, during the GNI verification cycle, that research and development assets have been correctly recorded in the Member States national accounts. This issue is currently being addressed by the Commission.
Inclusion of the European Development Fund in the general budget: following the reiterated European Parliament request to include the European Development Fund in the general EU budget, the Commission is proposing in the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 a strategic simplification of the financing instruments in EU external action, including the integration of the European Development Fund in the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument.
Speeding up the discharge procedure: the objective is to adopt a discharge decision for financial year N in year N+1 while ensuring high data quality and sound financial management. The Commission is committed to do its utmost to find the best way forward towards a shorter discharge procedure.