MEPs are expected to adopt a joint resolution by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, ECR and GUE/NGL groups in plenary session on Friday 19 June welcoming the reopening in December of the investigation into EU subsidy fraud against Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and calling for the conflict of interest to be resolved as a matter of urgency.
The draft resolution was drawn up following a parliamentary mission to Prague in February this year. It had pointed out potential conflicts of interest for Mr Babiš, who is negotiating the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in Brussels, as well as the way EU funds are used while being a manager of a co-financed company (see EUROPE 12436/20).
If a potential conflict of interest were to be confirmed, Mr Babiš would have to resolve it either by selling his business interests, ceasing to receive any public grants or funding, or resigning from his post as Prime Minister, say MEPs.
Zero tolerance. More generally, the text calls on the Commission to ensure a “zero-tolerance policy” towards conflicts of interest in the EU, as well as to ensure the rapid recovery of potentially irregularly paid EU financial aid while respecting the rule of law.
MEPs call on the Commission to present a proposal setting a maximum amount of EU cohesion and common agricultural policy (CAP) funding for a single legal person. In their view, it should not be possible to receive EU grants to the tune of hundreds of millions of euros over the same period covering a MFF.
They also call for the creation of a public register of the actual final beneficiaries of EU funds, which should contain only fully verified information and be fully public.
The Commission is also invited to present a proposal amending CAP rules “to ensure that the CAP is allocated fairly to active farmers who cultivate the land and does not result in land deals that benefit a select group of political insiders or incentivise abusive practices during auctions privatising state-owned land”.
Finally, the text invites the Commission to do its utmost to finalise the ongoing audit procedures without undue delay and to make its conclusions public as soon as all evidence has been duly assessed.
See the draft resolution: https://bit.ly/3emYOS8 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)