11 Amendments of Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ related to 2020/2194(DEC)
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes and encourages the cooperation among the agencies within and beyond the framework of the EU Agencies Network (EUAN), which constitutes an important inter-agency cooperation platform to ensure efficient communication between the agencies and relevant stakeholders; appreciates and further encourages the close cooperation among the agencies under the remit of the EMPL Committee in order to improve synergies, ensure further complementarity and the sharing of resources;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the Court did not address ‘emphasis on the matter’ with regard to JHA agencies, with the exception of FRONTEX, for which the Court drew attention to the level of error related to equipment expenditure in the context of grant agreements with cooperating countries; notes the Court’s observation that the Agency has taken steps to improve ex-ante verifications, and has re- introduced ex-post verifications on reimbursements in 2019, in line with recommendations made in previous years; expresses its concern about the serious and repeated allegations of FRONTEX's involvement in the pushbacks and of migrants and allegations of violations of fundamental rights;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes the Court’s finding in its report on the 'Future of EU Agencies' that agencies measure performance through key performance indicators (KPIs) and that the Commission in 2015 issued guidelines for directors of agencies on KPIs; notes with regret that the indicators used in practice mainly relate to the implementation of an agency’s annual work programme, budget and its human resources management, and that they do not usually allow for than Agency's overall performance assessment of results or of the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness in discharging its mandate; calls on the agencies to work together to improve the use of KPIs with the aim of ensuring a stronger focus on performance in the discharge procedure, in addition to compliance; calls on the agencies to continue developing indicators, which will measure their contribution to the policy implementation of Union policies; urges the agencies to regularly review and update those indicators;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Recalls that the Common Approach states that every Union Agency should be evaluated every five years and that the Commission should be responsible for organising evaluation and for every second evaluation the sunset clause should be applied; notes with regret that the founding regulations of several agencies have not yet been aligned with the Common Approach; notes the Court’s finding in its report on the Future of EU agencies that the founding regulations of 13 agencies were recast between 2015 and 2019, but only five proposals were accompanied by an impact assessment; calls on the Commission to regularly conduct independent evaluation of the performance of the agencies to identify synergies and possible changes, including mergers;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that public procurement continues to be the main area prone to error in relation to all Union decentralised agencies; calls therefore on the affected JHA agencies, i.e. Europol, and CEPOL to improve their public procurement procedures with a view to compliance with applicable rules and as a result, the achievement of the most economically advantageous purchases, while respecting the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non- discrimination and eu-LISA to improve the recruitment procedure.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Takes note that the Court did not audit the 2019 accounts of the European Public Prosecutor's Office ('EPPO'), since the EU body was not yet financially autonomous; expects the Court to present an audit of the accounts of the EPPO for the accounting year 2020.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that, similarly to previous years, most of the observations the Court has made in its Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2019 concern shortcomings in public procurement procedures, mostly concerning sound financial management and regularity; encourages the Union agencies to further improve their public procurement procedures, ensuring full compliance with the applicable rules and best value for money procurements;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Expresses its concern over the very high level of carry-overs in some agencies, which could indicate various weaknesses, including weak budgetary planning, which is in contradiction to the budgetary principle of annuality;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Recalls that agencies were created for specific needs and that significant numbers of agencies were set up as reflection to certain crisis; agrees with the Court’s position in its report 'Future of EU Agencies' that the role of an agency needs to be reassessed at different stages of its operational period in order to verify whether an agency is still relevant and whether its actions are coherent with other agencies and their partner DGs;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24 b. Believes that the set-up, functioning and especially potential winding-up of agencies should be flexible to help implement Union policy and to enhance European cooperation; acknowledges in this regard the Court’s consideration in its report 'Future of EU Agencies' that there is not sufficient flexibility in the set-up and operation of agencies and that the potential for them to cooperate for common policy objectives in the interest of citizens could be further exploited;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
24 c. Recalls general unawareness of the European citizens about the existence of the agencies, even within the country where the agencies are located, and also that citizens receive little information about the benefits of the agencies; calls in this regard on the agencies to continue developing their communication strategies and to increase their media and social media presence in order to raise awareness about their work, research and activities in the general public;