Activities of Ramona STRUGARIU related to 2020/2166(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) for the financial year 2019
Amendments (18)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. NotesWelcomes the fact that the Agency uses key performance indicators to measure its training activities and their impact, in particular the satisfaction level of the participants, in order to assess the added value provided by those activities, and uses performance indicators to improve its budget management;
Amendment 5 #
5 a. Calls on the Agency to continue to increase cooperation and exchange of good practices with other Union bodies, offices and agencies with a view to improve efficiency as regards human resources, building management, IT services and security;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Highlights that in 2019, the Agency received a high number of applications to the programmes it offers; underlines that the Agency was only able to accommodate 47% of this demand for the exchange programme and has had to decline 55% of the applicants for a course on cybercrime activities due to a shortage in human resources; calls on the Commission and co-legislators to further engage with the Agency in the process of allocating budgetary resources in order to address staff shortfalls and allow the Agency to fully implement its mandate;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Observes that, following its relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary and the resulting lower correction coefficient applied to staff salaries, the staff turnover has been high and geographical balance has not always been maintained as applications from Member States other than the host country have decreased; notes that in 2019, the Agency continued to receive a significant number of applications from Hungarian citizens and host Member State nationals continued to be overrepresented in the total number of staff; notes with appreciation that in 2019, in order to reduce the high staff turnover, the Agency continued to implement staff retention and business continuity measures, for example, the Agency engaged a number of interim staff and seconded national experts, awaiting the completion of the recruitment of statutory staff, continued the reclassification of staff and functions and maintained social arrangements (e.g. schooling for staff’s children), teleworking and flexitime arrangements;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Highlights the difficulties faced by the Agency in the recruitment and retention of qualified staff; underlines that the correction coefficients vary significantly from one Member State to another, having a serious impact on the ability of agencies located in Member States with lower correction coefficients to recruit and retain staff and expertise; calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of setting up different correction coefficients based on a regional rather than national assessment; highlights that usually the headquarters of agencies located in Member States with lower correction coefficients are in capital cities where living and subsistence costs are significantly higher than in other parts of the countries;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Encourages the Agency to pursue the development of a long term human resources policy framework which addresses the work-life balance, the lifelong guidance and career development, the gender balance, the teleworking, the geographical balance and the recruitment and integration of people with disabilities;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls from the Court’s report 2018 that the Agency had not yet introduced all the tools launched by the Commission aiming to introduce a single solution for the electronic exchange of information with third parties participating in public procurement procedures (e- procurement); notes with satisfaction that the Agency introduced e-invoicing and e- tendering in 2018 and introduced e- submission in 2019, thus fully implementing e-procurement;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Prevention and management of conflicts of interest, ethics and transparency;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency and prevention and management of conflicts of interest; expresses satisfaction that the Agency has set up and implemented a Code of Administrative Behaviour in 2019 and that declarations of interest and the CV’s of management board members and senior management are published on the website; notes with appreciation that in 2019 the management board has approved implementing decisions on whistleblowing as well as on the setting up of a staff committee;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency and prevention and management of conflicts of interest; expresses satisfaction that the Agency has set up and implemented a Code of Administrative Behaviour in 2019 and appreciates the fact that declarations of interest and the CV’s of management board members and senior management are published on the website;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Underlines the fact that the current ethical framework applicable to Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies suffers from considerable drawbacks due to its fragmentation and lack of coordination between existing provisions; highlights that those issues should be addressed by setting up a common ethical framework, ensuring the application of high ethical standards for all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; considers that public officials are not in a position to conduct self- assessments regarding ethical situations or in instances of conflicts of interest; believes that this should fall under the competences of an independent specialised third party; calls, under those circumstances, for the creation of an independent Union ethics body, responsible for the implementation of the common ethical framework for all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, on one occasion, a budgetary commitment of EUR 180 000 was approved in accrual based accounting system (ABAC) by an inappropriately authorised staff member and thus the Agency should ensure consistency between ABAC authorisation rights and the written decision signed by the Executive Director; notes from the Agency’s reply that the identified non-compliance was documented in the register of exceptions and non- compliance events, together with actions for improvement, in order to strengthen the controls over ABAC rights; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority about the actions for improvement it implemented and to avoid any future situations where budgetary commitments are approved by inappropriately authorised staff members, and to ensure full compliance with all principles of sound budgetary execution;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. NoteRegrets that, according to the Court’s report, on one occasion, a framework contract with a value of EUR 100 000 was signed by an authorising officer whose authorisation limit for legal commitments was EUR 60 000 and the Executive Director did not provide specific sub- delegations during his absence in order to ensure the continuity of Agency's operations; notes from the Agency’s reply that, following the audit finding, an amended decision on sub-delegations was adopted, where allocated ceilings for authorised officers were increased to better enable continuity of operations; calls on the executive director to ensure the business and operation continuity at all times, including during temporary absences;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Notes with appreciation that ISO 29993 certification had been successfully obtained for four key residential activities and that in 2019 pre-course quality control was introduced for granted residential activities;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. NotesDeplores the fact that the Agency does not have a policy regarding cyber security and protection of digital records in its possession which in current times is very important; acknowledges that in 2020 the Agency initiated the process to implement the advanced records management system (ARES) as a document management system together with the partner agency EIT; calls on the Agency to cooperate with other Union bodies, offices and agencies in developing and implementing a strong and reliable cybersecurity policy; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority regarding the progress of implementation;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Stresses the importance of increasing the digitalisation of the Agency in terms of internal operations and management procedures; stresses the need for the Agency to continue to be proactive in that regard in order to avoid a digital gap between the agencies at all costs; draws attention, however, to the need to take all the necessary security measures to avoid any risk to the online security of the information processed;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Welcomes the fact that the Agency has adopted the comprehensive strategy towards the digitalisation of the Agency, addressing its digitalisation needs with the objective of providing a holistic long term vision on the development of a technology-enhanced business model; encourages the Agency to further develop its digitalisation strategy;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes the Agency’s efforts to ensure a cost-effective and environment- friendly work-place; points ouregrets the fact that the Agency does not have a carbon off- setting scheme in place but acknowledges on the basis of the Agency’s reply to the standard questionnaire that the cost of participating in such a scheme cannot be covered from its limited financial resources, and acknowledges that the Agency encourages its staff to make use of public transportation to reduce emissions and considers reimbursing the costs for public transport for employees;