Activities of Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ related to 2020/2144(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2019, Section V – Court of Auditors
Amendments (13)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the annual accounts of the Court of Auditors (‘the Court’) are audited by an independent external auditor in order to apply the same principles of transparency and accountability that the Court applies to its auditees; notes with satisfaction the auditor’s opinion that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the Court’s financial position;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that at the end of 2019, there were 853 permanent and temporary posts compared to 891 posts in 2013, constituting a decrease of 4,26 %; notes in particular that permanent posts decreased 6,91 percentage points while temporary posts increased 10,07 percentage points; asks the Court to assess whether the increasing tendency of using temporary posts responds to the Court’s specific needs or rather is a response to budgetary constraints; notes that the level of staff is kept under continuous review and that the Court’s authorised establishment plan remains the same as in 2017 and in 2018 with 853 posts; notes that following the UK withdrawal from the Union, and in accordance with the result of the negotiations, the establishment plan was adapted during 2019;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Appreciates the fact that the Court’s followed-up on the 2018 Staff Satisfaction Survey and implemented activities related to staff well- being such as the Court’s network of confidential contact persons across the organisation to provide professional, and, if requested, anonymous support to members of staff; notes that the Court also provides free access to psychologistsive free sessions with psychologists and organises presentations on how to deal with burnout and, for managers, on how to detect and deal with harassment;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is concerned about the decrease in the number of female directors from 30 % in 2018 to 20 % in 2019 and in the number of female heads of unit from 39 % in 2018 to 35 % in 2019; notes, however, the slight increase in female Court members from 21 % in 2018 to 26 % in 2019; underlines the commitment of Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control to support a revision of the nomination process for Court members in order to increase the share of womenreach gender balance (seven women and 20 men were members in 2019);
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Notes that flexible working arrangements are available for all members of staff except for certain categories where this is not possible for practical reasons; notes, however, that a large majority of members of staff benefiting from those working arrangements in 2019 were women (87 % of staff working part-time and 68 % of staff who took parental leave); calls on the Court to reflect on this situation in the frame of its career opportunities and diversity policies;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Echoes the Court’s remarks regarding the high cost of living in Luxembourg as one of the main factors that leads to difficulties in hiring and retaining staff; reiterates its concerns about the growing problem of the purchase power disparity suffered by Union civil servants posted to Luxembourg;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Takes note of the measures taken with respect to the safety of the staff, namely a contingency plan to deal with large-scale incidents, an internal procedure in case of a possible nuclear accident and a service level agreement with the EEAS to benefit from its advice regarding missions to high and critical threat level countries;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Notes with satisfaction that the Court set up an action plan in 2016 to be prepared for the General Data Protection Regulation and be compliant with that Regulation as soon as it became applicable to Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; notes that data protection and information security responsibilities were restructured in 2019 in order to split and reinforce the resources allocated;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Recognises that the Court applies a set of key performance indicators to monitor progress made, such as for example measuring the implementation rate of the Court’s recommendations; notes that the Court’s analysis showed that 96 % of the recommendations made in the 2015 annual report and 94 % of the recommendations made in the 2015 special reports have been implemented in full, mostly or in some respects; notes that the Court issued six annual reports, 36 special reports, three opinions, 18 audit previews and four other publications, being part of the altogether 67 publications it issued in 2019; notes that in 2019 approximately 52 % of the Court's audit resources were used for its Statement of Assurance work and the financial audits of the Union agencies and other bodies; asks the Court to report on the impact and satisfaction of its special reports and other products, as well as on the selected audit topics;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Calls on the Court to explore other ways of providing more information on the administrative expenditure of other Union institutions in the context of the discharge; reiterates that the Court’s overall audit approach deserves further auditing work and better targeted assessment; repeats its call for a more dedicated review of the administrative expenditure and support activities of other Union institutions, specifically on topics that are becoming of higher relevance or even critical;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Agrees with the Court’s current strategy to improve the added value of the statement of assurance, focus more on the performance aspects of Union action and make sure to deliver clear messages to the audiences; reiteranotes that in 2019 a group of four supreme audit institutions (the supreme audit institutions of Estonia, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United States) carried out a peer review of the Court’s strategy; notes that the report was published in March 2020 and provides valuable input for the next strategy;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Notes that members are authorised to use official vehicles in the performance of official duties; notes that the use of official cars for other journeys is additional to the performance of such duties and that since 1 January 2017, the costs and kilometres related to the use of official cars have decreased significantly; notes that new rules entered into force on 1 January 2020 and introduced a monthly EUR 100 contribution for the non-official use of the vehicles as well as a liability on the part of the members and the secretary-general for certain costs and charges; asks the Court to duly inform the Parliament of the monitoring of costs and savings related to the management of the car fleet; is furthermore of the opinion that the use of official vehicles for private use should not take place under any circumstances; considers that this practice may harm the reputation of the Court and, in general, of the Union institutions; asks the Court, therefore, to reconsider this subject and to keep Parliament informed;