7 Amendments of Saskia BRICMONT related to 2019/2068(DEC)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors ('the Court') has declared the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the FRA for the financial year 2018 to be legal and regular in all material respects and that its financial position on 31 December 2018 is fairly presented; notdeplores the stablefact that the Agency’s budget of EUR 23 million anddid not increase in 2018 and notes the slight staff increase from 108 to 110 in 2018;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NotWelcomes the Agency’s internal restructuring over 2018 with the aim of enhancing support across departments and strengthening the Agency’s outputs;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regrets that the rates of carry-overs of commitments for operational expenditure once again stood very high at 70 % or EUR 4,9 million, which is the same percentage as in 2017; acknowledges that these delays reflect the nature of the Agency’s activities, notably the financing of studies that span several months, often beyond year-end; welcomes the fact that the Agency has introduced planning procedures to monitor delays between the signature of contracts, deliveries and payments but concurs with the Court that the Agency should further improve its financial planning, including potentially the introduction of differentiated appropriations;
Amendment 7 #
5. 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; notwelcomes the efforts made by the Agency to balance the geographical distribution of its recruitment of qualified candidates for various roles, keeping in mind the difficulties encountered in recruiting the right candidates for certain profiles;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the progress made by the Agency in relation to the Court’s recommendations; calls on the FRA to stepcontinue stepping up its efforts regarding the outstanding recommendations, i.e. the introduction of e-tendering and e-submission, the lowering of budget carry-overs and the procurement of studies;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Affirms, with regard to the procurement of studies, that budgetary constraints should not lead to unsuccessful public procurement procedures; believes thatcknowledges the complex nature of the studies undertaken by the Agency covering the law and practice of all Member States, and recommends that sufficient financial resources be provided so that the duties entrusted to the Agency are better performed; welcomes the Agency’s commitment to considertinue conducting market research before launching calls for tenders, to review, if necessary, the technical requirements and to reassess, if possible, the priority of the studies to be undertaken is a step in the right direction to improve the success of tender procedures in the future.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Highlights the value of the Agency’s studies and opinions for the development of Union legal acts; stresses that the Agency should be able to offer opinions on legislative proposals on its own initiative and that its remit should extend to all areas of rights protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including issues of judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters; regrets the fact that the Agency's current mandate limits its ability to undertake actions and studies in certain thematic areas; calls for a specific budget item to be allocated to activities supporting the visibility and general awareness of the Agency; welcomes the proactive approach of the Agency towards Parliament;