24 Amendments of Olivier CHASTEL related to 2021/2122(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Asylum discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2020 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Asylum discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2020;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes the low rate of payment appropriations (81%)and the high carry- overs of committed appropriations (EUR 8,4 million) and cancellation rate of 19%; calls on the Office to intensify its efforts regarding the respect of the implementation cycle and budget planning; understands at the same time that the legal uncertainty around the future mandate of the Office, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the implementation of the budget;
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2020 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2020;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that, following receipt of a report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) at the end of 2018, which was extensively covered in the discharge report for 2018, the Office initiated three disciplinary procedures in 2019, which are currently ongoing; notappreciates the cooperation of the current management with OLAF and its commitment to addressing the proposed recommendations; welcomes the Office’s commitment to inform the discharge authority of the completion of those proceedings;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the Court declared payments made in 2020 of a total amount of EUR 1 177 848 irregular because they were related to procurement errors in procedures carried out in 2016 and 2017 for rented premises in Rome and procurement procedures declared irregular by the Court in previous years (i.e. procurement for rented premises in Lesbos, for interim workers in Italy and for external experts); appreciates the efforts of the current management to terminate these contracts where possible, or otherwise to reduce their future financial impact;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Expresses its satisfaction that the Office has completed the one outstanding recommendation of the Court, namely establishing an effective policy for managing rented premises and related services;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Welcomes that the number of pending observations from previous audit reports of the Court has been halved between 2019 and 2020; notes however that 8 out of 12 recommendations still had an ongoing status;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Welcomes the Office’s support to Member States to address the COVID-19 challenges, such as the impact of the pandemic on specific aspects of the asylum process and resettlement, with videoconference meetings of its thematic networks; welcomes the recommendations issued on remote solutions for registration and asylum interviews; notes with appreciation the Office’s pro-active roll- out plan for vaccinating asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the Office uses certain measures as key performance indicators to assess the performance of its activities; welcomes the achievement or surpassing of targets for a majority of indicators, despite the difficulties faced because of the COVID-19 pandemic; deplores the fact that for a number of indicators no national data from Member States were available and calls on the relevant national authorities and the Office to address that issue through all available channels;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the pending casebefore the General Court as regards the procurement of hiring temporary workers in Malta; underlines that high levels of transparency should be observed in conducting all public procurement procedures within the Union agencies; calls on the Office to provide regular information to the discharge authority about the state and course of court proceedings in this case;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes the downward trend in the number of interim workers compared to the total number of staff; highlights that one of the reasons underlying the dependency on interim staff was also the delay in the adoption and entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 (the 'Regulation') establishing a European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA); welcomes the entry into force of the Regulation, allowing the new agency to employ remunerated experts; underlines that in order to decrease this dependency, the Office carried out an active dialogue with the Commission; regrets that only short term solutions could be identified and that the Office was allowed to employ 58 contractual agents in 2020 only for a period of one year, until the envisaged adoption of the Regulation; notes, however, that due to the delay in the adoption of the Regulation, the Office found itself in a difficult situation, as the agreement did not allow it to extend these contracts until the entry into force of the new legal framework; notes with regret a serious lack of foresight on behalf of the Commission when designing and allocating these posts to the Office; underlines that the situation created had a negative impact on the recruitment capabilities and activities of the Office;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that a revised conflict of interest policy is in the final stage of inter- service consultation before its submission to the management board; calls on the Office to finalize this revised policy;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Notes with regret the Court’s observations that irregular payments in 2020 amounted to around EUR 1,1 million; highlights however that these payments and procurement payment are related to contracts signed in previous years and appreciates the efforts of the current management to terminate where possible or otherwise diminish the future financial impact of these past contracts;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Notes that a revised conflict of interest policy is in the final stage of inter- service consultation before its submission to the management board; calls on the Office to finalise this revised policy;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls the Office to continue the Governance Action Plan launched in 2018, as while 51 actions had been completed, 10 actions are still pending, including filling up the vacant management posts;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Underlines that by the end of November 2021, the Office still had three ongoing disciplinary procedures, following the report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (the 'OLAF') on the Office of 2018; appreciates the cooperation of the current management with the OLAF and its commitment to addressing the proposed recommendations;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Welcomes the fact that the implementation of the internal control framework was further reinforced in 2020, by adding an ex-post controls’ function, thus addressing observations made in previous years by the discharge authority;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes with satisfaction the establishment in 2020 of the Office’s Legal Affairs and Data Protection Sector (the 'LDPS') within the executive office; highlights that the LDPS contributes to ensuring a sound legal environment for the functioning of the Office, handling litigation and pre-litigation procedures and representing the Office in court proceedings;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Welcomes the Office’s support to Member States to address the COVID-19 challenges, such as the impact of the pandemic on specific aspects of the asylum process and resettlement, with videoconference meetings of its thematic networks; welcomes the recommendations issued on remote solutions for registration and asylum interviews; notes with appreciation the Office’s pro-active roll- out plan for vaccinating asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Welcomes the fact that the implementation of the internal control framework was further reinforced in 2020, by adding an ex-post controls’ function, thus addressing observations made in previous years by the discharge authority;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Notes with satisfaction the establishment in 2020 of the Office’s Legal Affairs and Data Protection Sector (the 'LDPS') within the Executive Office; highlights that the LDPS contributes to ensuring a sound legal environment for the functioning of the Office, handling litigation and pre-litigation procedures and representing the Office in court proceedings;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Highlights that in 2020 the Office continued to face difficulties in fulfilling certain tasks as a result of its outdated mandate, especially in terms of the legal framework and mechanisms for deployment of asylum support teams providing the support required by the Member States; welcomes the agreement reached by the co-legislators on adopting a new legal framework governing the activities of the Office and its transformation into a fully-fledged EU Agency for Asylum;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Highlights that in 2020 the Office continued to face difficulties in fulfilling certain tasks as a result of its outdated mandate, especially in terms of the legal framework and mechanisms for deployment of asylum support teams providing the support required by the Member States; welcomes the agreement reached by the co-legislators and the entry into force of a new legal framework governing the activities of the Office and its transformation into a fully-fledged European Union Agency for Asylum;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16 c. Recalls the important role that the Office fulfils in the asylum policy framework of the Union, assisting requesting Member States with valuable expertise and resources on the matter; welcomes the signature of a new operational support plan with Spain in 2020, bringing the total number of countries assisted by the Office to eight;