5 Amendments of Morten PETERSEN related to 2019/2083(DEC)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the slight budget increase to EUR 289 million (an increase of 2 %), of which EUR 171 million or 59 % was assigned to financing agreements with cooperating countries for operational activities; reminds that the management board reduced the initial budget for 2018 by EUR 31,5 million by means of two amending budgets to respond to the lower needs linked to recruitment challenges and savings in return and operational response; recalls the fact that the objective of safer borders in the Union is essential to ensuring the security of Union citizens and of third-country nationals;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that the Agency managed to substantially increase its staff from 526 to 630 (an increase of 20 %) in 2018; regrets, however, that the number stayed well below (17 % less than) the 760 staff authorised in the establishment plan for 2018; expresses its concern over the high staff turnover and the continuous difficulties of the Agency to find suitable candidates; acknowledges that the low salary correction coefficient contributes to the problem and therefore welcomes the intention to consider social measures to address this problem; notes in this regard that the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union offer the necessary flexibility for labour market conditions prevailing in the Union to be taken into account when recruiting officials in order to address the specific needs of the institutions; notes that the Court has identified a horizontal trend across agencies in the use of external staff hired in IT consultancy roles; calls for this dependency on external recruitment in this important area to be addressed; notes the Agency's effort to promote its job offers through online communication channels and calls on the Agency to publish vacancy notices on the European Personnel Selection Office website to increase their visibility;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Nnotes the continuously high level of carry-overs to 2019 (EUR 83 million EUR or 29 %) and cancelled budget carry- overs (EUR 11 million or 12 %), which were linked to the challenges in meeting the establishment plan, the delay in the launch of the building of the new premises and the multi-annual nature of ICT projects and the overestimation of the scale and cost of activities by cooperating countries; expects the Agency and the cooperating states to improve their budget estimates with a view to decrease the carry-overs in 2019; welcomes the fact that the Agency has adopted new rules on whistleblowing, launched a new simplified financing scheme, introduced an ex-post control system covering all types of expenditure and modified its system of ex-ante checks; regrets, however, that the Agency has still not addressed the problem reported by the Court since 2014 with regard to insufficient proof of actual costs for equipment-related expenditure claimed by cooperating Member States; notes the steps taken by the Agency to address this issue but urges the Agency to adequately respond to the comments of the Court given that equipment-related expenditure amounted to EUR 60 million or 35 % of the Agency’s operational expenditure in 2018;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Nnotes the continuously high level of carry-overs to 2019 (EUR 83 million EUR or 29 %) and cancelled budget carry- overs (EUR 11 million or 12 %), which were linked to the challenges in meeting the establishment plan, the delay in the launch of the building of the new premises and the multi-annual nature of ICT projects and the overestimation of the scale and cost of activities by cooperating countries; expects the Agency and the cooperating states to improve their budget estimates with a view to decrease the carry-overs in 2019; welcomes the fact that the Agency has adopted new rules on whistleblowing, launched a new simplified financing scheme, introduced an ex-post control system covering all types of expenditure and modified its system of ex-ante checks; regrets, however, that the Agency has still not addressed the problem reported by the Court since 2014 with regard to insufficient proof of actual costs for equipment-related expenditure claimed by cooperating Member States; notes the steps taken by the Agency to address this issue but urges the Agency to adequately respond to the comments of the Court given that equipment-related expenditure amounted to EUR 60 million or 35 % of the Agency’s operational expenditure in 2018;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. RNotes the lack of information on gender balance within the staff of the Agency; reiterates the persisting significant gender imbalance in the Agency’s management board; urges that this imbalance is remedied as soon as possible; calls therefore on the Agency to proactively remind Member States of the importance of gender balance and on Member States to take gender balance into consideration when nominating their members to the management board;