12 Amendments of Michal ŠIMEČKA related to 2021/2122(DEC)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes the low rate of payment appropriations (81%)and the high carry- overs of committed appropriations (EUR 8,4 million) and cancellation rate of 19%; calls on the Office to intensify its efforts regarding the respect of the implementation cycle and budget planning; understands at the same time that the legal uncertainty around the future mandate of the Office, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the implementation of the budget;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Expresses its satisfaction that the Office has completed the one outstanding recommendation of the Court, namely establishing an effective policy for managing rented premises and related services;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Welcomes that the number of pending observations from previous audit reports of the Court has been halved between 2019 and 2020; notes however that 8 out of 12 recommendations still had an ongoing status;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Welcomes the Office’s support to Member States to address the COVID-19 challenges, such as the impact of the pandemic on specific aspects of the asylum process and resettlement, with videoconference meetings of its thematic networks; welcomes the recommendations issued on remote solutions for registration and asylum interviews; notes with appreciation the Office’s pro-active roll- out plan for vaccinating asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the pending casebefore the General Court as regards the procurement of hiring temporary workers in Malta; underlines that high levels of transparency should be observed in conducting all public procurement procedures within the Union agencies; calls on the Office to provide regular information to the discharge authority about the state and course of court proceedings in this case;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that a revised conflict of interest policy is in the final stage of inter- service consultation before its submission to the management board; calls on the Office to finalize this revised policy;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Notes with regret the Court’s observations that irregular payments in 2020 amounted to around EUR 1,1 million; highlights however that these payments and procurement payment are related to contracts signed in previous years and appreciates the efforts of the current management to terminate where possible or otherwise diminish the future financial impact of these past contracts;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls the Office to continue the Governance Action Plan launched in 2018, as while 51 actions had been completed, 10 actions are still pending, including filling up the vacant management posts;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Underlines that by the end of November 2021, the Office still had three ongoing disciplinary procedures, following the report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (the 'OLAF') on the Office of 2018; appreciates the cooperation of the current management with the OLAF and its commitment to addressing the proposed recommendations;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes with satisfaction the establishment in 2020 of the Office’s Legal Affairs and Data Protection Sector (the 'LDPS') within the executive office; highlights that the LDPS contributes to ensuring a sound legal environment for the functioning of the Office, handling litigation and pre-litigation procedures and representing the Office in court proceedings;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Welcomes the fact that the implementation of the internal control framework was further reinforced in 2020, by adding an ex-post controls’ function, thus addressing observations made in previous years by the discharge authority;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Highlights that in 2020 the Office continued to face difficulties in fulfilling certain tasks as a result of its outdated mandate, especially in terms of the legal framework and mechanisms for deployment of asylum support teams providing the support required by the Member States; welcomes the agreement reached by the co-legislators on adopting a new legal framework governing the activities of the Office and its transformation into a fully-fledged EU Agency for Asylum;