The head of the budget control commission calls for more “transparency” to know the final recipients of the money and for the government to listen more to the proposals of the communities
The visit that the delegation of the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament paid to Spain this week to examine the use of European funds is coming to an end. And it does so with good news – it has not found any indication of fraud – but with some demands, especially in terms of dexterity and transparency.
The head of the delegation, Monika Hohlmeier, gave a press conference at the European Parliament’s Madrid office, in which she concluded that Spain’s control systems for European funds have “a series of delays” that prevent information from being tracked more fully. “No information on the actual accounting performance of the funds has been communicated to us, we have not seen a chain that would be very useful that starts with disbursement and ends with expenditure to the end user,” explains the German MEP. The aim is for all beneficiaries to be known “in detail”, although Hohlmeier acknowledged that this “isn’t easy” because there are “thousands and thousands of data to cross”.
For this reason, it asks Spain to pour the information it collects on a “more accessible” platform to give “more transparency”. During its visit to Spain, the Delegation met with some representatives of Autonomous Communities, business leaders and civil society, and the Head of Delegation indicated that the administrative burden is “a common complaint”. “We need to ensure that the funds reach the economy and citizens quickly, safely and deliver results. We have been told about very technical and cumbersome procedures that need improvement,” he complained.
Following this analysis, which they must now study with the European Commission and the Court of Auditors to prepare a report to be made public in the coming weeks, the commission is demanding that the central government “deepens” its dialogue with the Autonomous Communities because although the ‘co-governance’ solution is very positive, they have come to the conclusion that many of their proposals are not taken into account.
On the other hand, the commission stressed that the change of the crime of embezzlement by the Sánchez government could harm the process of receiving European funds. Hohlmeier reminded the executive that Brussels has “zero tolerance” with corruption and demands it be similarly applied in Spain. “We are not the body that has to analyze whether these are being met, we will see what the European Commission passes on to us,” said the Commissioner.
“There should be no exceptions. We do not want to interfere in issues of the Spanish penal code, but in case of a serious violation, the issue of the exception can be applied” (which cancels the receipt of European money), Hohlmeier explained out to the media.
And while the delegation found no evidence of fraud in the implementation of the funds, it acknowledged that there is one milestone that has not been met, namely the pension reform, which the government promised to implement in December 2022 and is still pending. Hohlmeier assured that the meeting with Social Security Minister José Luis Escrivá on Tuesday afternoon was “very productive” and that he gave them “much more time than planned” to give them all sorts of explanations and information about the march. this reform.
The commissioner dared not predict when the reform will be ready, but warned that the government must comply yes or yes because “they risk consequences if they fail to meet this target”. His impression is that the government is “very involved” in this issue and will not sit still. “There is no prospect of turning off the tap to Spain for this reason,” Hohlmeier said.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
