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Kontrola Państwowa
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2014
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vol. 59
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issue 3(356)
104-118
EN
The principle of sound financial management is set forth in Article 30 of Financial Regulation No 966/2012. It is also referred to in the provisions of the EU primary legislation (Article 287 (2), Article 310 (5) and Article 317 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and the EU secondary legislation, setting out the principles of the EU funds spending. The article attempts to reconstruct the contents of the principle of sound financial management and to present its functioning in the EU law, including the consequences of its breach, as provided for in the EU regulations and the judicature of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
EN
In the article, two cases are discussed considered by the Court of Justice of the European Union, related to the consequences for farmers that use EU funds when they prevent audit bodies to examine whether they meet the requirements of EU funds granting and utilisation. In her article, the author presents those judgements and she comments on the opinions formulated there by the Court of Justice of the EU.
EN
The Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-539/09 Commission versus Federal Republic of Germany ruled that Germany failed to fulfil the obligation set forth in Article 248 paragraph 1-3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by objecting to have an audit carried out by the European Court of Auditors. The audit examined the cooperation of administrative authorities in the field of value added tax in seven EU Member States. The German authorities objected to be audited indicating that the Court of Auditors had no competence to conduct the audit. The article presents the dispute on the case and comments on the ruling by the Court of Justice. The author focuses on those aspects of the case that can be of significant importance to Supreme Audit Institutions which, like the Polish Supreme Audit Office (NIK), act as external auditors in institutional structures of EU Member States.
EN
The mechanisms provided for spending of the EU funds make it clear that interests realised within the European Union vary and are sometimes opposing. Still, the Member States want to provide the most appropriate and compliant with the law spending of the European funds. They are willing to provide, through regulations, rigorous requirements for spending of these funds, and to make the European Commission control their compliance with these regulations. If these regulations are breached, the European Commission is authorised to take supervisory actions, which include imposing financial corrections that ensure that money is returned to the common budget. In her article, the author presents and comments on the new regulations of the European Union adopted for the 2014-2020 programming period that set forth the rules for imposing financial corrections by the Commission on the EU Member States.
EN
According to the bill, the act should enter into force on 1st of July 2017, although without certain articles, which are supposed to enter into force later. In case of a non adoption of the act the European Commission can initiate proceeding under article 258 Treaty on functioning if the European Union, urging to remedy the infringement. If the state does not eliminate the breach, the case may be brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union. If the Court finds that the complaint was justified, a financial penalty may be imposed on the country. The penalty is adopted in the form of a lump sum or a periodic financial penalty.
EN
The draftsman of the bill assumes that provisions of the bill will reduce unnecessary procedural formalism, introduce facilitations for participants in criminal proceedings, prevent obstruction by parties of proceedings and, to a greater extent, protect the public interest in such proceedings. The bill includes regulations covered by the scope of three EP and Council directives. The deadlines for implementing the directives have passed in recent years. Provisions of the bill do not go beyond the minimum standard laid down in the directives in question. It is doubtful, whether the project fully meets the guarantee requirements of the directives. These issues should be further examined.
EN
The Deputies’ Bill on Marital Equality provides for the possibility of marriage between two people regardless of their sex. It introduces the possibility of adopting children by a single-sex couple. It does not regulate matrimonial property relationships. The opinion presents the jurisprudence of the ECtHR and international regulations which indicate that they do not contain a clear and commonly accepted definition of marriage. As a result, it cannot be claimed that the parliamentary draft law breaches, international law.
EN
In the author’s opinion, the EU law excludes the possibility for a Member State, in times of an epidemic crisis, to adopt rules establishing tax preferences for national agri-food products. It would also be in conflict with EU law to oblige sales networks to order the sourcing of some part of agri-food products from local producers. However, there are no contraindications in the EU law preventing the establishment of the Polish Food Distribution Agency.
EN
The question of the need for the installation of meters and heat cost allocators appeared in the course of Sejm work on the government bill concerning energy efficiency (Sejm Paper No. 426). Based on the EU legislation on energy efficiency, the author states that they require that in the buildings supplied with heating or cooling or hot water from external sources, Member States must ensure that a meter is installed (by 5 June 2014) at the heat exchanger or the point of delivery to the building. Member States are required to ensure that individual consumption meters are installed (by 31 December 2016) in multi-apartment and multi-function buildings supplied from a common source within such buildings and buildings supplied from a district heating/cooling network or a central source servicing multiple buildings, unless they consider it not to be technically feasible or costeffective. Otherwise individual heat cost allocators must be installed for each radiator. Member States may waive the requirement for their use, if they can demonstrate that to install them would not be cost-effective. Then, they should consider the use of alternative cost-effective ways to measure the consumption of heat energy.
EN
The opinion analyses the European Commission’s report on the situation regarding the respect for the principle of the rule of law by the EU Member States, with a special focus on Poland. The Commission formulated therein critical remarks concerning the solutions related to the Polish system of justice. Reservations are raised, inter alia, as to the lack of independence of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, which makes decisions in cases directly affecting judges and their judicial functions, and as to the issue of the independence and legitimacy of the Constitutional Tribunal. The European Commission also has reservations about the widespread use of fast-track legislative procedures in Poland. However, it praised Polish anti-corruption measures and legislative work aimed at implementing the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
EN
“Smart village” is defined as a region or local community that uses digital technologies and innovations in everyday life, thus improving its quality, the standard of public services and the use of local resources. The European Union supports projects implementing this concept – they are implemented as part of the EU’s rural development policy (Common Agricultural Policy) and financed from the EU budget, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. At national level, the objectives and rules for the implementation of the “intelligent rural areas” concept are defined by Member States in their strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy. The Polish Strategic Plan provides for the implementation of such projects, defines the objectives that they are to achieve and the principles of their implementation and financing.
EN
The assessed document launches the debate on the future of EU finances. It is the last (5th) document concerning the issues raised in the White Paper on the Future of Europe [COM(2017)2025]. The authors evaluate the prior document rather positively due to challenges presented in it by the Commission and the five scenarios concerning the future of the Union and the reform of EU policies. An analysis of these scenarios indicates that the scenario no. 3 “Some do more” and the scenario no. 5 “Doing much more together” do not seem realistic, because the scenario no. 3 would lead to weakening of the EU and increase of bureaucracy, while Member States are not yet for ready for the scenario no. 5. With regard to Poland, the scenarios no. 2 “Doing less together” and no. 4 “Radical redesign” could be beneficial, but the advantages of the scenario no. 1 “Carrying on” should also be noticed.
EN
The European Commission expresses doubts as to the authenticity of the general government deficit and debt data provided to Eurostat by of Austria. The proceedings launched on its basis may result in improving the quality of statistical data on budget indicators in Member States. The document can also provide the basis for reflection for the Polish authorities regarding the need for strengthened control over local finance.
EN
The opinion comments on the draft position of Poland concerning a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing for the period 2014 to 2020 the Rights and Citizenship Programme (COM (2011) 758 final). It also clarifies the legal relationship between a regulation (Article 288 (2) Treaty on functioning of the European Union) and the Charter as explained in the latest case-law of the European Court of Justice.
EN
The authors, pointing out the aim of the proposal and reasons for its adoption, are critical, in particular, of the imprecise language of its provisions. In conclusion, they opt for a change in the form of the proposed legislation – from a regulation to a directive.
EN
The aim of the opinion is to answer the question whether the criteria of economic convergence relating to the condition of public finances in the member states, specified in both the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the Fiscal Compact (formally, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) are identical or not. The EU member states participating in the European Monetary Union (EMU), and using the euro as their currency, as well as those member states which intend to join the EMU need to meet the convergence criteria (also known as Maastricht criteria). These include legal criteria related to independence of their national central banks, and economic criteria related to stability of prices, situation of public finances, currency exchange rates and long-term inter‑ est rates. The authors conclude that the reference values specified in the Stability and Growth Pact and in the Fiscal Compact are identical.
EN
The article deals with the proposal for a Council regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Offi ce (COM(2013) 534 fi nal). The European Public Prosecutor’s Offi ce is to be set up as a new Union law enforcement authority responsible for prosecution of offences affecting the Union’s fi nancial interests. Particular attention was paid to the issue of the compatibility of the proposal with the principle of subsidiarity (Article 5 (3) TUE). The Treaty of Lisbon has made national parliaments of the Member State responsible for the observance of that principle. More than a dozen parliamentary chambers have submitted reasoned opinions through which they addressed their concerns about violation of that principle by the proposed regulation. Despite the strong reaction from the national parliaments the European Commission has decided to continue work on the proposal. From analysis of the arguments contained in the reasoned opinions submitted by the national parliaments on the proposed regulation about the European Public Prosecutor’s Offi ce it follows that the rules of the operation of the principle of subsidiarity, and the assessment criteria applied in this respect, are unclear. Most of the reasoned opinions from the national parliaments contains, apart from the allegations related strictly to the principle of subsidiarity, other objections of a legal or political nature, which do not concern that principle. The practice of national parliaments in this area is not uniform. Lack of uniformity may be one of the reasons why the Commission does not seem to hear the voice of the parliamentary chambers and is continuing the work on the proposal.
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