Activities of Ramona STRUGARIU related to 2022/2096(DEC)
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 2021
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) for the financial year 2021
Amendments (7)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors (‘The Court’) declared the transactions underlying the annuals accounts of the European Union Agency of Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) for the financial year 2021 to be legal and regular in all material respects; recalls that according to its statement of revenue and expenditure, CEPOL's budget decreased in 2021 from EUR 32 to 30 million (-6,25%1,82% compared to 2020), while members of staff increased from 84 to 95 (+13,09%) within the same period;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Reiterates its concern over the recurring high staff turnover rate figures, measuring at 11.8% in 2021; notes with appreciation the efforts undertaken by CEPOL in 2021 to address this issue and better identify the root causes through the introduction of a new structured exit interview; highlights that the low grading of posts was one of the main reasons identified behind the decision of former staff to leave CEPOL; underlines that in addition to low grading, the current salary correction coefficient has an extremely negative impact on CEPOL's recruitment and staff retention efforts; further highlights that among the main difficulties encountered during the recruitment process figured not only the low number of applications, but also a high number of successful candidates refusing the job offers; calls on the Commission to reconsider the salary correction coefficient it applies to the host city of CEPOL in order to better reflect the economic needs and realities on the ground, as well as to make available additional facilities to staff in order to make CEPOL more attractive to highly skilled candidates;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the fact that in 2021 CEPOLspite of the continuation of the pandemic situation in 2021 CEPOL effectively adapted by converting its activities to online learning and carried out 396 training activities, which saw the participation of 46 340 law enforcement officers, representing an increase of 17% compared to 2020; welcomes that in 2021 the CEPOL training activities focused on the key thematic areas of organised crime such as migrant smuggling, drugs trafficking, financial crime, environmental crime, trafficking in human beings or document crime, among others; notes with satisfaction the particular attention payed by CEPOL to the area of cybercrime; welcomes the collaboration with specialised cybercrime knowledge hubs such as EC3, ECTEG, EJTN and Interpol towards addressing the main challenges in the area of cybercrime, such as child sexual abuse and exploitation, non-cash payment fraud, electronic evidence and artificial intelligence;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the creation of the Expert Group on Fundamental Rights with the aim to integrating a fundamental rights dimension in all CEPOL training and events; Welcomes the signature of the working Arrangement with the Fundamental Rights Agency; further welcomes the Expert Group suggestion to add Fundamental Rights as a cross cutting issue to the trainings offered by CEPOL to Member States and third countries;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Welcomes the continued cooperation of CEPOL with other agencies in the field of justice and home affairs, as well as with partners from third countries; notes with satisfaction that CEPOL started the implementation in 2021 of 4 new projects, namely the Enhancing Information Exchange and Criminal Justice Response to Terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa, EUROMED POLICE, the Training and Operational Partnership against Organised Crime and the Partnership against Crime and Terrorism;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the Court observed weaknesses in CEPOL’s internal control environment, in relation to the management of budgetary commitments; takes note that the corrective action to address this issue is ongoing and calls on CEPOL to report to the discharge authority about its progress in this matter;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Regrets that there have been Court identified irregularities in payment of expenses related to organisation of CEPOL events in non-EU countries; notes that thetakes note of CEPOL's reply that in order to ensure transparency the agency formalised the use of an exception note to reduce the use of a previous framework contract in project activities in third countries, thus covering only urgent business needs, ensuring business continuity until the signature of the new framework contract in January 2022; notes that any weaknesses identified in relation to the CEPOL procurement procedure canmay compromise the principle of transparency and expose the agency to reputational and legal risks;