Committee on Budgetary Control NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN PARLIAMT Committee on Budgetary Control 18/12/2009 NOTICE TO MEMBERS Subject: Hearing with Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner-designate for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud Please find enclosed the written answers sent by Algirdas Šemeta. The Secretariat CM\ doc PE United in diversity

2 ANSWERS TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMT QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COMMISSIONER - DESIGNATE Algirdas ŠEMETA (Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud) General competence, European commitment and personal independence 1. What aspects of your personal qualifications and experience are particularly relevant for becoming Commissioner and promoting the European general interest, particularly in the area you would be responsible for? What motivates you? What guarantees of independence are you able to give the European Parliament, and how would you make sure that any past, current or future activities you carry out could not cast doubt on the performance of your duties within the Commission? During the two decades of my professional life I have been continuously involved, in one way or another, in the economic and financial domain. My experience as a Minister for Finance has enabled me to gain an in-depth knowledge of European financial and fiscal issues. This job has also provided me with the ability to see the broader picture, evaluating the interconnections between different economic and financial questions. This holistic view will be important when dealing with a portfolio that contains such a broad area of responsibilities taxation, customs, the discharge procedure, audit and the fight against fraud which must at the same time support and drive forward European economic progress, serve citizens' needs and protect citizens' interests. Most of my career in the state institutions of the re-established Republic of Lithuania has been connected to the financial and economic reform of the State. I believe that this experience can now be employed at the European level - in particular as the Union, with the new Treaty of Lisbon, is entering into a new stage of development and a time of considerable change. As a Member of Commission since 1 July 2009, I have already acquired an experience of the Commission s internal procedures and the value of inter-institutional cooperation. I believe that the combination of my professional skills, as well as a strong personal commitment to the European idea, will allow me to serve effectively as a Commissioner contributing actively to the European project that has been a major motivation throughout my career. I have actively participated in the process of Lithuania's integration into the European Union (EU), sincerely believing that integration has greatly benefited the citizens of the Union. This has been and will remain a stimulus for my professional life. I strongly believe that the tasks given to the Commission, and in particular its responsibility to promote the general interest of the Union, make independence of the Commissioners PE /7 CM\ doc

3 particularly important. As can be seen from my declaration of interests (which is publicly accessible and will be immediately updated in case of changes), I have no business, financial and political interests or commitments that might be in conflict with the duties of Commissioner. Being fully committed to respect the obligation of independence of Commissioners as set out in the Treaties and in the Code of Conduct for Commissioners I will neither seek, nor take instructions from any government or from any other body. I will carefully avoid any situation which could put into question my impartiality and will inform the President of the Commission of any situation which might involve a conflict of interests. Management of the portfolio and cooperation with the European Parliament and its committees 2. How would you assess your role as a Member of the College of Commissioners? In what respect would you consider yourself responsible and accountable to the Parliament for your actions and for those of your departments? According to the Framework Agreement, as well as to my own understanding of the role of Commissioner, I consider that without prejudice to the principle of Commission collegiality, a Member of the Commission is always politically responsible for the activities in the field of which he or she is in charge. Being fully committed to this principle, I would take full political responsibility for the activities of my services. I would be answerable, not only for my own actions, but also for the activities of departments in the field of my competence. I would consider answers and any other information provided by my services as offered on my behalf, and would be answerable for them accordingly. Contributing to building and maintaining a cooperative relationship with the European Parliament and its Committees is, in my view, an important part of a Commissioner's role and will be always at the top of my working agenda. My previous executive experience has given me a clear understanding of the importance of cooperation between institutions working to reach their common goals. This is why I firmly believe that constructive dialogue based on openness, mutual trust and a clear channel of communication between the Commission and Parliament is so essential. I would also like to stress the importance of the relationship between a Commissioner and his or her services. Professionalism together with loyalty, trust and transparency are the crucial elements of an effective team, as well as an open dialogue and regular exchanges of views. I have already established personal contacts with my services and will continue my efforts to ensure effective internal communication at all levels in order to be informed in a timely manner on all important issues deserving my attention. This will enable me in the same manner to react and responsibly answer before the Parliament for all actions and activities taken in the field of my competence. 3. What specific commitments are you prepared to make in terms of enhanced transparency, increased cooperation and effective follow-up to Parliament's positions and requests for legislative initiatives, also in the light of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon? In relation to planned initiatives or ongoing procedures, are you ready to provide Parliament with information and documents on an equal footing with the Council? CM\ doc 3/7 PE

4 I am fully committed to ensure the closest possible dialogue with the Parliament, which is the only directly elected European institution and so enjoys full democratic legitimacy in representing people. I am convinced that transparency is the first and essential element for a good interinstitutional cooperation. In my opinion it is the only true way towards strengthening accountability, efficiency, legitimacy and good governance of the EU decision-making process. That is why I welcome the progress that has been made through the Framework Agreement and Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Law-making I am ready and willing to do my utmost to develop greater inter-institutional transparency, which means for me a regular reporting, exchange of views and ideas, direct communication with Committee members, as well as the prompt provision of clear and reliable information necessary for Parliament to play the enhanced role that follows the entry into the force of the Treaty of Lisbon. I am ready to give a strong assurance that Parliament would be fully and promptly informed about Commission legislative proposals and policy initiatives in my field of responsibility and regularly provided with updated information at all stages of the procedure. I will take a personal political commitment to ensure that in my area of competence the institutions will be treated on an equal footing. It is crucial that the Commission and its Members listen carefully to the voice of the Parliament and consider its concerns seriously. Therefore, while preserving the institutional role and the right of initiative of the Commission, I would consider it part of my duties to be accessible for Parliamentary Committees and Members whenever possible, answering their questions and carefully listening, reacting and taking their views and concerns seriously into account. I would be ready to implement fully the obligation to ensure effective follow-up to Parliament's positions by providing information on action taken in response to Parliament's specific requests. Policy-related questions 4. What are the three main priorities you intend to pursue as part of your proposed portfolio, taking into account, where relevant, the financial, economic and social crisis and concerns related to sustainable development? I see my portfolio as a strong motor for economic recovery and sustainable progress. It can make an important contribution to the exit strategy from the economic crisis and become an economic lever for ensuring fair competition within the EU and its global competitiveness. Under my responsibility, taxation will focus on promoting the proper functioning of the Internal Market for the benefit of citizens and business, supporting new EU challenges and helping Member States to protect their national tax bases, in particular by fighting tax evasion. Turning these political priorities into concrete policy action means that existing tax obstacles such as double taxation - need to be identified and eliminated. To support global efforts to address climate change, one of the most pressing challenges, I will promote the development of a new "green" taxation framework. The security and safety of the European citizens will be high on my agenda in dealing with customs policy. I will also endeavour to further improve the business environment and reduce administrative burdens for industry and operators. To achieve these goals, I will prepare a strategic framework for the customs up to 2020, including working with colleagues to address PE /7 CM\ doc

5 the question of coordinated border management, and work to ensure in cooperation with Member States that the novelties introduced by the Modernized Customs Code will become operational, enabling the Union to exploit the potential of Information and Communication Technologies to the full (e-customs). My portfolio is also about building confidence in the way taxpayers' money is collected and spent. Strengthening that confidence will be my priority. The reinforcement of the fight against tax and customs fraud and tax evasion within the EU and at international level will be at the centre of my policy. This will help support economic recovery. In parallel, I will work towards ensuring the highest quality of budgetary spending at EU level through greater transparency and less bureaucracy, thorough control, and full accountability and responsibility in case of mismanagement. Further progress towards a positive statement of assurance (DAS, "déclaration d'assurance"), aiming to reduce error rates to a tolerable level and optimising the cost-benefit ratio of controls to ensure sound financial management, will also be of critical importance. In this context, I will further develop the open and constructive dialogue with the Court of Auditors and the Parliament to ensure common understanding on all issues at stake and agree on the best manner to address them. The role of both the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) - as an independent, multi-disciplinary and modern anti-fraud service - and the Commission's Internal Audit Service will continue to be crucial in this respect. These are the major tasks in hand. These are my top priorities. 5. What are the specific legislative and non-legislative initiatives you intend to put forward, and according to what timetable? What specific commitments can you make regarding in particular the committees' priorities and requests attached hereto which would fall within your portfolio? How would you personally ensure the good quality of legislative proposals? My intention is to modernise energy taxation policy so that it more effectively supports the high priority objective of getting climate change under control, notably by proposing to revise the Energy Taxation Directive to complement the Emission Trading System with a CO2-tax element within the broader perspective of a green taxation framework. In order to enable European companies to fully benefit from the single market, reduce their compliance costs and reinforce their competitivity, I believe we need to take a fresh look at the option of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base. In order to improve the efficiency of indirect taxation, I will also propose measures to improve the VAT system and revisit the approaches chosen in the excise duty area. My approach to the fight against fiscal fraud and evasion will be twofold: first I want to further promote good governance within and outside the EU, notably by closing any loopholes in the savings directive and enhancing the EU action towards third countries and tax havens. Secondly, I will push for substantial improvement of tax cooperation between the Member States' administrations through, for instance, the setting up of an operational network "Eurofisc" and the Fiscalis programme, and provide them with better tools to detect and prevent fraud. In addition, I will work with other colleagues to explore the feasibility of an internationally coordinated tax on financial transactions and other possible sources of innovative financing. In order to protect the EU, its citizens and its environment against potential dangers developing with international trade, I will implement the EU anti-counterfeiting Action Plan and review the Intellectual Property Rights customs enforcement legislation. CM\ doc 5/7 PE

6 I will work on a progress report to Council and Parliament on the implementation of the far reaching customs reform that has been launched by the Modernised Customs Code and the e- customs Decision. To make sure that we do the right things in the right way, I will enhance the contacts with the business community through the Trade Contact Group and will inform thoroughly the Parliament at an early stage. As regards the execution of the EU Budget, further reducing global error rates and addressing in particular the problems of specific areas like the structural funds is a key priority. Therefore, on my side, I will consider strengthening the role of the annual summaries, if necessary through the upcoming review of the Financial Regulation, and continue to support Member States' voluntary initiatives and assess the assurance we can draw from genuine national management declarations. Together with my colleagues, it will be an early priority to make concrete proposals for the tolerable risk of error in the areas of research, energy, transport, rural development, external aid, development, enlargement and administrative expenditure. Other proposals will be made later on, culminating with Cohesion policy. I believe there is a strong case that eligibility criteria for expenses should be simplified on the top of simplifications already made to regulations for the programming period. Raising ceilings for flat rates or simplifying rules on interest produced by pre-payments are examples of possible simplifications. I believe that this new approach including the definition of a tolerable level of error, a reinforced legal framework for the Member States' accountability in shared management and a simplification of the financial rules, will be instrumental to further progress towards a positive statement of assurance from the Court of Auditors and to follow up effectively the discharge recommendations addressed by the Parliament. I consider transparency indissociable from accountability. The existing on-line system, partly de-centralised, enables anybody to know who benefits from EU funding. However, this system can be made more user-friendly and concrete improvements could already be envisaged through streamlining the Commission's portal query functionalities and, in parallel, standardising the structure and presentation of the national, regional and international sites accessible from the central portal. Whatever form the European External Action Service (EEAS) will take, from the perspective of my portfolio I am clear that the new Service and the relevant changes to the Financial Regulation should in no way diminish the scrutiny right of the Parliament as discharge authority. Concerning OLAF, I am happy to underline that after 10 years of existence, OLAF has consolidated its expertise and reputation. I will be particularly pleased to be responsible, in full respect of its operational independence, for an Office that has gained important successes in matters such as the fight against smuggling and counterfeiting. OLAF's future is important, and the Commission and the European Parliament share the same objective of preserving its independence and consolidating its efficiency. The President of the Commission proposed in his Political Guidelines that OLAF should be given full independence outside the Commission. In order to progress towards a solid and satisfactory reform of OLAF, we will need to examine all the different options thoroughly in order to find the best possible solution, taking also into consideration the proposals currently on the table and the Commission's more general reflection on the possibility introduced by Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFUE) to establish a European Public Prosecutor's office. I will be guided by two key principles throughout this process. Firstly, any reform of OLAF must PE /7 CM\ doc

7 ensure its operational independence, efficiency and accountability, and further strengthen the protection of European taxpayers' money, including by helping effective follow-up at national level. Secondly, any proposal that I will make will involve the full consultation of stakeholders, in particular the Parliament which has already made very important and valuable contributions on this issue. Finally, to ensure the good quality of legislative proposals in the fields that are under my responsibilities, I will make sure that thorough impact assessments and evaluations are carried out whenever necessary. CM\ doc 7/7 PE