Activities of Alviina ALAMETSÄ related to 2021/2136(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Railways for the financial year 2020
Amendments (8)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. RegretNotes that the cancelled payment appropriations amounted to almost 5 % (mainly due to the Covid-19 crisis) while the implementation rate for current-year appropriations was 89,3 %;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes that, following a successful start in 2019, the Agency has continued to perform its role of EU single authority responsible for issuing authorisations for placing railway vehicles on the market, single safety certificates for railway undertakings and ERTMS trackside approvals, as stated in the legal framework of the 4th Railway Package; stresses that this has entailed a considerable increase of workload within the agency, beyond the forecasted level for 2020; points out that a number of the important tasks also mandated to the agency have not been resourced yet, in particular concerning NSA Monitoring, NoBo monitoring, cleaning up of national rules, registers [EVR, RINF2 development], and the One-Stop-Shop’s complete development; notes that these account for a workload gap of approximately 18 FTEs as estimated by the agency; concludes therefore that the agency urgently needs a considerable increase in funding, well beyond previous estimates based on assessments made before the new duties and related tasks were fully assumed;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Commends the agency on its progress with the safety culture model and with attracting more organisations to sign the safety declaration, for instance through its successful contribution to promoting the Risk Management Framework for the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and particularly focusing on the improvement of ERTMS robustness against cyber threats, as well as strengthening the cooperation with EC and ENISA aiming at developing a coherent approach at EU level;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Congratulates the agency’s recommendation to the Commission elements leading to a full revision of the TAP TSI and thereby aiding the facilitation of ticketing and multi-modal travel at national and domestic level.
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Notes that the change of mandate of confidential councillors as well as planned trainings for new councillors and staff at large were interrupted due to the pandemic in 2020; encourages that training and other necessary preparations are still carried out, even remotely should the circumstances in the coming terms require it; stresses that the enforcement of harassment prevention strategies are of particular importance in view of the 3 harassment cases reported in 2020;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Suggests the agency, as well as the other Union agencies and bodies, to present a clear overview of the percentage of women and men employed in every job category EU-wide;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that the Agency has the smallest budget among the transport agencies despite the outstanding environmental performance and other benefits of rail transport contributing to the attainment of the European Green Deal objectives and the Climate Law targets; stresses in particular that the Agency should not be put in a position where it feels compelled to request additional support from the Commission, due to inadequate financial means, especially at a time when railways are a policy priority of the European Union, particularly within the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and as demonstrated by the designation of 2021 as the European Year of Rail; calls for an increase of the budget of the Agency in order to provide it with the necessary means to enable it to act as an efficient authority and to fulfil its tasks, particularly those with regard to increasing competitiveness, improving safety and, cross- border interoperability and particularly its enhanced role and responsibilities on the timely ERTMS deployment;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Suggests to consider the possibility to unify the premises of the agency into a single seat, if feasible, as this could positively contribute to further optimise efficiency and reduce overhead costs of the agency;