16 Amendments of Olivier CHASTEL related to 2020/2172(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes that in 2019 the Agency received a final budget of EUR 138.3 M and an increase of 15 Temporary Agents; highlights however that the draft estimate budget adopted by the Agency's Management Board called for a total allocation of EUR 143.3 M and a net increase in posts of 43 temporary agents; underlines that due to the budgetary and staffing shortfall, the Agency has had to deprioritise a number of objectives and actions; calls on the Commission and the co-legislators to enhance their dialogues with the Agency with regards to addressing the budgetary and staffing shortfalls;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Agency to continue to increase cooperation and exchange of good practices with other European agencies with a view to improve efficiency (human resources, building management, IT services and security);
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes that in collaboration with eu-LISA, the Agency managed to integrate searches in SIS II into USE user interface and that further progress was achieved towards establishing access to VIS; deplores however the fact that the setting up of a SIRENE office within Europol did not materialise in 2019; encourages the Agency to step up its efforts towards advancing in aligning and coordinating the Agency's internal resources with the developments of the EU interoperability initiatives;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the important role of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (‘Europol’) in supporting Member States’ criminal investigations; emphasises also the extension of its tasks and its growing role in the prevention and combating of serious crime, including terrorism, across Europe;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Notes that Europol ended 2019 with a vacancy rate of 3.6%, therefore higher than the 2% target; acknowledges that mitigation measures such as increasing the pace of publishing vacancy notes or using reserve lists were put in place; notes with concern however, that the Agency also recorded a higher than expected turnover rate of 11.7%, compared to 8.7% in the previous year; calls on the Agency to address this issue in light of potential revolving doors situations;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Calls on the Agency to continue to develop its synergies, increase cooperation and exchange of good practices with other European agencies with a view to improving efficiency (human resources, building management, IT services and security) ; welcomes the cooperation within the JHA Agencies Network chaired by Europol in 2019 to prepare a strategy paper on the future of the EU Security Architecture and the role of JHA agencies;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Welcomes the fact that the scope of the existing e-recruitment tool was successfully expanded to also cover restricted posts; notes with appreciation that Europol publishes its vacancy notices on the website of the European Personnel Selection Office;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. 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 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, for the procurement of furniture, accessories and related services, the terms used in the documents for the call for tender were not specific enough, undermining the competitive nature of the tendering procedure; notes, moreover, that the Agency did not sufficiently check the accuracy of underlying prices and the calculation of discounts applied for the non-standard items before submitting the order form to the contractor; calls on the Agency to ensure full compliance with the principle of competition in all tendering procedures; notes that, according to the Agency’s reply, the tender documentation included the subject matter of the procurement and the applicable exclusion, selection and award criteria, thus allowing for competitiveness and, with regard to the discount given by the contractor, the fact that the contractor had offered a higher discount than the standard rate included in the contract and the Agency thus acted in compliance with the principles of sound financial management, in line with the provisions of the contract;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NoteHighlights that the number of operations that Europol supported grew from 1 748 in 2018 to 1 921 in 2019 (representing an increase of 9,89 %) and that operational meetings funded by Europol increased from 427 in 2018 to over 500 in 2019 (representing an increase of 17%);
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Prevention and management of conflicts of interest, ethics and transparency;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency, prevention and management of conflicts of interest, whistleblower protection and the fight against harassment; notes that two cases of alleged psychological harassment and related inappropriate behaviour were reported and subsequently investigated by means of a formal administrative inquiry in 2019 and a decision on the outcome was to be taken in 2020; notdeplores that the CVs and declarations of interest of some of the members of the Agency’s management board have not been published on the Agency’s website; reiterates its calls on the Agency to rapidly publish the CVs and declarations of interest for all members of the Agency's management board;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Underlines the fact that the current ethical framework applying to EU institutions and agencies suffers from considerable drawbacks due to its fragmentation and lack of coordination between existing provisions; highlights that these issues should be addressed by setting up a common ethical framework, ensuring the application of high ethical standards for all EU institutions 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 these circumstances, for the creation of an EU independent ethics body, responsible for the implementation of the common ethical framework for all EU institutions and agencies;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses the importance to increase the digitalisation of the Agency in terms of internal operation and management but also in order to speed up the digitalisation of procedures; stresses the need for the Agency to continue to be proactive in this 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 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Stresses the importance to increase 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 this 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 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Underlines the important effect of turnover within the staff of the agencies of the European Union; calls for the implementation of human and social policies to remedy it;