807 Amendments of Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Notes~~Is concerned about the geographical imbalances in the composition of the EEAS staff; notes considerable discrepancies between the representation of countries with comparable population size and between West and East European countries (in 2018, 347posts out of 2491 were occupied by Belgian citizens, i.e. almost 14%of total EEAS jobs, whereas Belgian citizens represent only about 2,6% of all EU population); stresses that the EEAS, like all European institutions, must ensure that all Member States are proportionally represented while at the same time respecting the competences and merits of the candidates; ~~calls on~~urges the EEAS to enhance the geographical balance in order to have a proper representation of nationals from all Member States, reflecting the diversity of Member States;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Calls on the EEAS to report on the distribution of nationalities in the selection committee responsible for hiring; invites the EEAS to consider developing further instruments to ensure proportion between merit-based and geographically balanced recruitment; asks the EEAS to provide statistics of the staff according to their nationality for the year 2019;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Notes the rate of anomalies detected in ex ante verifications of commitments and payments (respectively, 308 errors out of 1193 and 394 out of 2119); is concerned that in both cases errors are of an administrative nature i.e. incorrect amounts for commitments or missing supporting documents for payments presented for ex-ante financial verification; calls for the implementation of measures that would contribute to a reduction of the level of errors in general terms;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Underlines that the spread of deliberate, large-scale systematic disinformation is an acute strategic challenge for the Union’s public diplomacy for which adequate financial, IT and human resources should be devoted in the short~~-to-medium term~~ term; supports the reinforcement of the linkage between policy making, public diplomacy and strategic communication;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Notes that only two delegations provided motivated reservations, i.e. the Delegation to Syria (since 2017) and the Delegation in Djibouti in relation to the management of their administrative expenditure, in particular linked to procurement issues; calls on EEAS to undertake necessary steps to examine these issues;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Welcomes the fact that the EEAS is continuously adapting its anti-fraud strategy in conjunction with all the RELEX directorates general and with a dedicated format with OLAF; believes that all necessary efforts have to be made to share and exchange information on their operational challenges to better identify risky areas in their activities and programmes; calls on the EEAS to identify any possible specific policy fields where tighter collaboration with OLAF might be needed to ensure an effective fraud prevention

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Underlines that post-public employment and ‘revolving door’ conflict of interests situations is a recurring issue in the EU institutions; calls for the EEAS for the effective and consistent application of the Staff Regulations, in particular Article 16 thereof, in order to prevent conflicts of interests, in particular – but not only – concerning senior officials and seconded national experts;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Notes with appreciation that this increase in colocations has been coupled with a consolidation and standardisation of the system of recovery of costs through further centralisation of incurred colocations’ revenues and the application of administrative fees in the agreed service level agreements; observes that approximately EUR 10 million of revenues were generated in 2019; calls on the EEAS to present an overview of the allocation of this revenues to ensure transparency;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2149(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50

50. Regrets the fact that there are still unpaid trainees in EU delegations; encourages the EEAS to take step to assure that trainees have means to support themselves; urges the EEAS to follow the recommendation of the European Ombudsman to pay all trainees an appropriate allowance;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Acknowledges that the overall budget increase was mainly due to the impact of the new tasks resulting from the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR), which lays down the data protection obligations for the Union institutions and bodies when they process personal data and develop new policies) and the necessary growth of the European Data Protection Board (hereafter EDPB) that was created on 25th May 2018 and for which the Supervisor was entrusted to provide an independent secretariat; recognises that 2019 was the first full year of operations of the EDPB Secretariat and of the implementation of the GDPR which justifies the increase; the related allocated budget increase amounted to 51% (from 3 594 746 EUR in 2018 to 5 413 838 EUR in 2019);

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that at the end of 2014, the Supervisor counted 55 members of staff compared to 96 at the end of 2019, which signifies almost a doubling in the number of staff; is aware that the Supervisor's budget is mostly administrative, with a large amount being used for expenditure relating to persons, buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous running costs; acknowledges that a substantial part of the staff are contract staff which are employed for a temporary period, such as replacement of staff on maternity leaves or implementation of specific actions;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Underlines the EDPS' initiatives aimed at using office space more sustainably and optimising it as well as reducing the energy level in the building, such as the promotion of structural and occasional teleworking, reimbursement of 50% of the cost of public transport tickets to staff who cease to use office parking spaces and return their parking vignette;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Notes that the EDPS is a smaller organisation with a need for highly specialised staff, however, there is a slight geographical imbalance in staff, where only 19 Union nationalities are represented in the EDPS from which Belgian citizens occupy 28 % of the positions; invites the Supervisor to consider further steps to provide a more balanced representation of all Member States;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Notes that the new telework decision allows staff to work at home, this step allows the EDPS to make more use of shared offices and make savings on the related expenditure;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recognises that due to the very small size of the office of Supervisor, the concluding of service level agreements (SLA) such as with the Commission for trainings, medical service, use of Sysper, appraisal system, for the payment of salaries, the staff insurances and the organisation of missions, for accounting services and transportation services is important for efficiency gains; notes that the Supervisor has SLAs with the Parliament for IT and building-related expenditure and that in addition the Supervisor also participates in many inter-institutional calls for tenders, resulting in a current participation of 60 framework contractsencourages the inter-institutional activities of the EDPS, including 60 framework contracts initiated by different Union institutions; notes that the Supervisor has SLAs with the Parliament for IT and building-related expenditure;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a. Welcomes the activities aimed at verification for compliance with data protection rules and its assessment of Union bodies in this regard; notes that the supervisory activities of EDPS are guided by the accountability principle and follow a risk-based approach;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2148(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Is however of the opinion that the implementation of GDPR, despite harmonised rules, may be particularly challenging for small and medium sized companies (SMEs); asks the Supervisor to further alleviate the administrative burden for SMEs; ~~is interested in~~calls on the EDPS to consider the possibility of conducting a cost evaluation of the implementation of GDPR in the near future;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Encourages the Ombudsman to maintain and expand contacts with bodies at Union and national level, which serve the purpose of exchanging information and best practices and adopting common approaches (such as the guidelines developed via the Inter-institutional Online Communication Committee), where possible, on general administrative, financial, personnel and IT matters as well as on ethics, transparency and public integrity;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Notes that the internal auditor's annual report for 2018 concluded that, subject to closure of the remaining action on business continuity management, the Ombudsman's risk management, control and governance systems are effective and efficient and provide the reasonable assurance thjat it will attain its control objectives on a consistent basis; notes that the Ombudsman developed synergies with the Commission, to use corporate tools and/or services for staff management, financial management and accounting, public procurement, management of missions and recruitment; asks the Ombudsman to inform it on any follow-up in relation to the actions carried over in respect of business continuity management;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Takes the opportunity to congratulate the Ombudsman on the opening of an investigation (OI/2/2017) on the transparency of the Council’s legislative work in 2017 in order to allow citizens to more easily follow the legislative process of the Union; welcomes the recent positive echoing by the Ombudsman of the new transparency steps taken by the Council, for example by proactively publishing progress reports on negotiations on draft laws, a development which is in line with proposals made by the Ombudsman as a result of her inquiries; appreciates Ombudsman´s proposals to ensure a more systematic and effective approach to dealing with former staff members moving to the private sector or people moving from the private sector to the Commission;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Welcomes that the Ombudsman supports the importance of data protection, and commits to enhance further the awareness of users of the importance of online data protection; appreciates he creation of the Register of records of processing operations of the European Ombudsman and the cooperation with the European Parliament;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. WNotes that the Ombudsman spent 102 050 EUR on communication activities, more than half of this amount (64 505 EUR) was spent for outreach conferences and events; welcomes the fact that the Ombudsman exceeded the targets set for social media in 2019; notes that the Ombudsman reached 36.717 mentions on Twitter (target 20 000) and that the number of Twitter followers went from 22.600 at the end of 2018 to 26.300 in December 2019, which represents a 16 % increase; notes that the fastest-growing channel was Instagram, where the audience grew by 47 % during the year and on LinkedIn, the number of followers increased by 21 %;

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2147(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33 a. Welcomes the initiatives by the Ombudsman´s office to encourage the use of public transportation by providing financial support for yearly subscriptions and by limiting available car parking spaces.

2021/02/08
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that the total number of staff in 2019 was 576 (compared to 538 in 2018 and 533 in 2017); notes that the number of posts in the establishment plan amounts to 491 which is considered by the Committee as insufficient; recognises the results of a workload assessment finalised in 2019 for a potential reorganisation with the objective to make further efficiency gains and create synergies; is informed that the Committee wants the Union budgetary authorities to address the issue and balance the current staff situation progressively; encourages the Committee to deepen its administrative cooperation with the EESC via JointServices to pool staff in order to develop more synergies.

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Acknowledges the Committee’s continued efforts to reinforce its political role and to face the increased need for permanent expertise in political and administrative domains; notes the talent pool created to motivate and retain experienced staff in the Committee; notes that the first general internal competition in the history of the Committee was finalised in the first half of 2019 with a total of 40 laureates out of 113 candidate staff members;deleted

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Notes that the transfer of 24 translation posts from the Committee to the Parliament was estimated to result in the yearly savings amounting to approximately EUR 2.9 million, invites the Committee to present a report on the impact of this transfer;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Acknowledges that the situation in terms of gender balance in middle and senior management positions has remained relatively stable since 2018 with 35 % of these positions being filled by women; acknowledges that a new equal opportunity strategy containing concrete objectives to be reached by 2025 is being adopted and should enter in force in 2020; calls upon the Committee to present an outline of its adoption and its planned impact;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Underlines that the Committee uses contract staff mainly to provide appropriate support in the form of replacements for mid to long term absences and for specific projects in different directorates with the objective of providing additional support to members of the Committee; notes that in 2019, as the consequence of the cooperation between the Committee and Parliament, the number of long-term contract staff decreased in the Directorate for Translation compared to the years 2013-2017;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Notes that the Committee needs to upgrade its security control systems and ensure a safe work place for its members and staff, which require additional specialised resources and that the ratio of resources dedicated to both physical security and IT support per member of staff is very low in comparison to other European institutions.; encourages the Committee to continue preparing new project to boost cybersecurity;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Underlines that an external evaluation of the communication strategy of the Committee was carried out in accordance with the standards applied by all other Union institutions using a shared framework contract; notes that the overall quality of the Committee’s communication mostly meets audience needs and is effective as key stakeholders have a positive perception of the Committee; invites the Committee to improve digital communication with the public and to enhance the visibility of its studies for stakeholders and for Union citizens;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is aware that the bureau of the Committee adopted a digital strategy at the beginning of 2019 and that the implementation started following the adoption; notes that the main deliverables of the strategy are member-centric information systems to support the political work of the Committee, information systems to support paperless administrative processes and a digital workplace programme; invites the Committee to enhance digitalisation also through interinstitutional cooperation;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Welcomes the fact that a series of measures has been implemented to ensure adequate building security standards, such as the installation of new equipment for access control and the installation of new closed-circuit television (CCTV) system; notes that the related security standards have reached the same level as the standards of Parliament and the Commission and that, moreover, first steps have been taken to buy a new visitor's management system that will be implemented in 2020;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that a compliance and effectiveness exercise was launched in 2019 to assess to what extent the Committee complies with the 16 internal control standards; notes that the 2019 compliance exercise has shown that the overall state of implementation and effectiveness of the requirements remained satisfactory and stable as compared to 2018; notes, however, that areas for further improvement have been identified including the alignment of the Committee’s mission and organisational structure with new priorities, administrative cooperation between the Parliament and the Committee, further digitalisation of data storage and simplification of administrative processes as well as an in-depth revamp of the existing business continuity plan arising from the experiences acquired during the current COVID-19 situation;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. Welcomes the existing cooperation agreements between Parliament, the Committee and the European Economic and Social Committee, with a view to identifying other areas in which back- office functions could be shared; invites the Committee to identify further potential synergies and savings;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Supports the Committee and the EESC in the view that in the event of an extension of the current agreement or of a new agreement with Parliament all outstanding issues such as the unbalanced situation for the Committee and the EESC, which transferred a total of 60 translators to Parliament (24 from the Committee) and in exchange obtained ~~only the use of the services of the European Parliamentary Research Service must be settled; notes with concern~~a guarantee for a sustainable working relationship with the Parliament, intensified cooperation with the parliamentary committees, involvement in the European Semester work, a reserved seat during parliamentary committee meetings, the use of the services of the European Parliamentary Research Service, joint projects and synergies on translation, opening of pathways between Parliament and the buildings of the Committees, a service level agreement including provisions of interpretation services and technical support by Parliament, regular use of Parliament buildings in Brussels as well as Parliament’s Liaison Offices in the Member States for events and activities, intensified cooperation in the area of informatics, mutual access to canteens, several cooperation mechanisms to ensure a coherent approach and create synergies in the field of information and communication and if required legal advice in technical and/or administrative matters of the Parliament’s Legal Service should be reviewed; notes that as a consequence the Committee and the EESC had to hire contract staff and outsourced their translation services which resulted in an effective budget reduction;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)

35 a. Underlines the Committee's acknowledgement in its written answers to Parliament that the cooperation with Parliament in 2019 continued to build on the achievements of the previous years and revealed satisfactory progress on several levels such as the relations between the commissions of the Committee and the committees of Parliament, new ways of cooperation including contributions to implementation reports and fact-finding missions and a successful and impactful cooperation through Parliament's Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development; stresses that the Committee has requested that the political cooperation continue to be further developed while respecting the autonomy and the specific approaches of each parliamentary committee and each commission of the Committee;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. ~~Congratula~~Notes the Committee ~~on the ongoing~~´s efforts in the framework of the environmental management system as regards the lowering of the carbon footprint and plastic, food and paper waste; agrees that the reduction of the carbon footprint is among the most important objectives for the coming years; encourages the Committee to participate in related projects with the other Union bodies and to elaborate a comprehensive plan for the Committee to implement the principles and recommendations presented in the European Green Deal, with the general objective of becoming climate neutral by 2030;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Underlines that on 5 December 2019 the Committee adopted a code of conduct for its members laying down a detailed procedure in the event of alleged harassment of a member of staff by a Committee member, which is largely based on Parliament's Bureau’s Decision of 2 July 2018 on harassment complaints; notes that the code of conduct includes a number of sanctions in order to ensure its observance and that the Committee has set up an advisory board on harassment; asks the Committee to present a report on the implementation of the code of conduct;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. ~~Recalls that the invalidity committee confirmed that the invalidity of the former internal auditor,~~Appreciates the progress on the case concerning the former internal auditor, Mr McCoy, in response to the 2018 discharge, notes the work done by the rapporteur for the other institutions who opened the long-stalled dialogue; recalls that the invalidity committee confirmed that the invalidity of Mr McCoy, arose from an occupational disease, and that, consequently, on 26 June 2019 the Committee formally endorsed this conclusion; notes that pursuant to article 78(5) of the staff regulations Mr McCoy was reimbursed in July 2019 in respect of all his contributions to the pension scheme between the date he started receiving the invalidity allowance (1 July 2007) and the day before he started receiving retirement pension (31 July 2010);

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. aAppreciates the exchange held in the context of the 2019 discharge procedure on 10 November 2020 with the mediator, the former internal auditor and a representative of the Committee; recalls that Mr. McCoy and the Committee were invited to a meeting of Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control based on a suggestion by the EPP coordinator; underlines the importance of deescalating the situation and bringing the positions of the former internal auditor and of the Committee together; welcomes the mediator’s suggestion of a meeting between the President of the Committee and Mr McCoy as a starting point for reconciliation before any negotiations will take place;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)

47 a. Notes that the Committee was originally established to address important issues, as about three quarters of Union legislation is implemented at local or regional level for which reason local and regional representatives needed to have a say in the development of new Union laws; further notes that its original mission was to close the widening gap between the public and the process of European integration by involving regional representation;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 b (new)

47 b. Notes that the budget of the Committee has been growing over the past years (EUR 96 100 540 in 2018, EUR 98 751 065 in 2019 and projected EUR 101 508 480 for 2020); notes the concern that these resources are not used efficiently and that the original purpose is no longer being fulfilled; underlines that unlike the budget, the number of opinions issued by the Committee has gone down (71 in 2017, 78 in 2018 and only 49 opinions in 2019), which is alarming;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 c (new)

47 c. Encourages the Committee to consider preparing a plan for reorganisation and streamlining as such processes could lead to closer cooperation with Parliament and that, by reforming the institution, its know-how could be applied in a more effective way;

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2146(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 d (new)

47 d. Invites the Committee to present impact assessments of its opinions; invites the Committee to also set clear and measurable key performance indicators for the following years in order to optimalise its functioning.

2021/02/09
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Regrets that in 2020 the bureau of the Committee ~~in 2020~~ adopted a decision allowing for the reimbursement of expenses for remote participation in cases where a member was prevented from travelling to Brussels as a result of COVID-19 related issues.; asks the Committee to present a report on the financial impact of this decision including the reasons for the reimbursement;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Welcomes the fact that during 2019, the IT security officer remained active in raising user cybersecurity awareness for staff, including a briefing for the IT steering committee and sectoral briefings at the level of individual departments; notes that ~~the Committee together with the Committee of Regions (‘CoR’) actively contributed to the ‘2019 European cybersecurity month’ campaign~~in 2019, two additional projects were launched concerning cybersecurity; encourages the Committee to continue its close cooperation with other committees, especially the Committee of Regions, to further develop synergies;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Is aware of the new service level agreement launched in 2019 between Parliament and the Committee which allows the Committee to benefit from the services of Parliament’s interpreters (for which payment will be made) every time the Committee uses Parliament’s premises for its meetings and occasionally also in the Committee’s premises; acknowledges that the agreement contributes to the optimisation of the use of the interpreters of Parliament; welcomes the existing cooperation agreements between Parliament, the Committee and the Committee of the Regions with a view to identifying other areas in which back- office functions could be shared; invites the Committee to identify further potential synergies and savings;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a. Acknowledges that the agreement´s purpose is to allow for more flexibility to the advantage of all three involved parties, being the Committee, CoR and Parliament; notes that reallocation of unspent funds to other policy areas is part of this flexibility;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)

30 a. States with concern that the Committee’s total annual budget increased from EUR 108 000 000 in 2006 to more than EUR 138 000 000 in 2019 while the overall number of opinions and reports produced by the Committee decreased significantly (from 193 in 2006 to 127 in 2019), implying that each opinion in 2019 comes at a significantly higher cost for taxpayer’s money which is alarming; notes with concern that out of the 127 opinions and reports, only 55 were own-initiative opinions;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)

30 b. Notes that the annual activity report for 2019 only gives a very general overview of the Committee’s activities without deeper qualitative and quantitative evaluation of its work; calls on the Committee to introduce other key performance indicators in its annual activity report, such as the rate of implementation in Union legislation of the recommendations in its opinions, to enable an impact assessment of the Committee’s work;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 c (new)

30 c. Regrets that for 2019, the Committee’s most consulted opinion (on Blockchain and distributed ledger technology) did not reach more than 2 500 page views, while the other top five opinions reached just between 1 000 and 2 000 views; encourages the Committee to increase its efforts to achieve a higher attention of its opinions;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 d (new)

30 d. Asks the Committee to rationalise its internal bodies and refocus the remits of its structures, as stated in the follow-up to the 2018 discharge, including providing clarifications of savings in connection with this process; notes the efforts of the bureau to set up a six-member ad hoc group to provide a comprehensive review on how to streamline the Committee's working structures and bodies, including the question of the remits of the sections and the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI); asks the bureau to extend the streamlining to all other existing bodies and to report back to Parliament on the findings;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 e (new)

30 e. Acknowledges the existing cooperation agreements between Parliament, the Committee and the Committee of the Regions with a view to identifying areas in which back office functions could be shared; calls, in addition, on the Committee to identify possible synergies related to such back office functions and services;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Is aware that the Committee continues to implement its action plan 2017-2020 for equal opportunities and diversity; ~~notes that gender balance among the Committee's managerial staff already reached parity in 2018 and remains relatively stable;~~ welcomes the ‘united in diversity’ conference on communication in a multicultural environment with the aim of fostering respectful relations at work while taking diversity into account; observes the slight improvement in the geographical balance compared to 2018 with 19 % of the Committee’s managers currently being from Member States who joined the Union after 2004 (compared to 16 % in 2017 and 18,5 % in 2018); notes with concern the overrepresentation of certain nationalities in the Committee’s staff; urges the Committee to develop specific measures to address this imbalance; asks the Committee to ensure geographical balance as addressed in Rule 4 of the rules of procedure for members of the bureau;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41 a. Welcomes that long-term trainees receive a monthly maintenance grant, mobility and travel allowance; recommends the Committee to pay an adequate reimbursement to short-term trainees as well;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Jeroen LENAERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. ~~Ask~~Urges the Committee to inform the discharge authority on the procedures and processes the Committee has rolled out or intends to roll out as to how cases of harassment or similar issues concerning staff will be avoided in the future in order to ensure that comparable regrettable developments which have caused negative publicity and damaged the reputation of the Committee will not be repeated;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49

49. Acknowledges that the Committee is well aware of the political impact of the refusal of the 2018 discharge and is striving to further strengthen its ~~capacity~~efforts to tackle harassment situations; notes that ~~a detailed action plan will be endorsed at the latest by the end of 2020~~the directorate of human resources and finances and the internal auditor prepared a revision of the ethics and integrity framework; agrees that the Committee continues to raise staff and management awareness through better targeted internal communication; asks the Committee to provide the Parliament with a complete overview of all actions undertaken;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50

50. Underlines that on the basis of the observations made by Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, the report by OLAF and the reflections of the Committee’s advisory committee on the conduct of members, the Committee set up a joint internal working group on the ethical framework with a mandate to review all potential gaps in the current framework with a view to recommending improvements; notes that the advisory committee also has the opportunity to liaise with the joint internal working group in order to ensure coherence of the overall ethical framework within the Committee and to explore possible synergies; notes that the advisory committee on the conduct of members became the ethical committee and that a provision on the appointment of reserve members has been added, as well as the possibility for one of its member to recuse himself or herself, or to be removed if found guilty of breaching the code of conduct; welcomes the fact that the Committee has now explicit investigative powers in order to carry out its mission, and may also seek advice from external experts;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51

51. ~~Calls on the Committee to report on the implementation of~~Welcomes the fact that the Committee’s revised code of conduct and rules of procedure following the 2018 OLAF investigation was approved in the Committee plenary by a vast majority in January 2021; notes that the bureau has decided on a partial and light revision of the rules of procedure and a more comprehensive revision of the code of conduct, with a particular view to strengthening sanctions; notes that the ~~revision of the code of conduct should be ready by December~~Committee has also updated its ethics and integrity framework through the adoption of an action plan for a stronger ethical framework, which entered into force on 7 January 20201;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52

52. ~~not~~Welcomes that the ~~proposal for re~~revised code of conduct includes elements such as prevention and prohibition of harassment practices and improved provisions ofn the codeclaration of financial interests and ofn con~~duct should include~~ flict of interest; encourages the Committee to consider including other elements such as stronger sanctions, support mechanisms for victims, automatically informing the Council and the Commission of the names of Committee members who have been found to be responsible for breaching the code of conduct and an annual review of the functioning of the code of conduct; notes that the decision on harassment and the decision on administrative investigations are currently being revised in order to further improve the mechanisms allowing staff to make formal harassment complaints; notes in relation to the informal procedure and the possibility for staff members to share their concerns on any perceived situation of harassment that the number of confidential counsellors has been increased and that the entire network of confidential counsellors receives continuous support through regular supervision and training; notes that the confidential counsellors are part of an inter-institutional network, which allows for the exchange of best practices;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2145(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53

53. Values the Committee’s commitment to tacklinge harassment in the working environment and to fostering a culture of zero tolerance with regard to ~~harassment by working on the revision of the~~the revised ethics and integrity framework and the revision of the Committee’s decisions on harassment, whistleblowing and administrative enquiries; welcomes that a related, detailed action plan is supposed to be endorsed by the end of 2020 and covers a number of measures such as ~~the revision of the code of conduct for members,~~ the possible creation of an independent internal ombudsman function, a brochure focusing on respect and dignity at work, the establishment of a dedicated compulsory learning path before entrusting staff management responsibilities, whether on Committee’s managers or on members, and regular awareness-raising activities,; appreciates that an internal audit on ethics and integrity will take the form of a mapping exercise followed by an analysis aimed at establishing a comprehensive overview of rules, standards and measures in relation to ethics and integrity; notes that the audit will also tackle issues such as gifts and entertainment, outside activities and assignments, conflicts of interest and post-Union employment;

2021/02/15
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. States that the geographical proximity of France, Belgium and Germany to Luxembourg may be a reason why these three nationalities are generally overrepresented among the staff at the Court; notes, however, the Court’s firm position that wUrges the Court to strive for further improvements in the context of geographical balance of staff (specifically for AST functions groups 1-4 and 5-9 there is a significant overrepresentation of certain nationalities); calls on the Court to prepare an action plan for then recruit~~ing~~ment of new staff members ~~the Court acts solely in the interest of the service and~~ with~~out~~ regard to nationality, as stipulated in Article 7 of the Staff Regulations;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Welcomes the administrative arrangement signed in 2019 providing a structured framework between the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Court ~~in order to provide a structured framework for co-operation between OLAF and the Court, and to~~and facilitat~~e their~~ing a timely exchange of information under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/20136 and the Court’s decisions related to internal investigations; notes that this arrangement also contains provisions on non-operational issues such as the organisation of training sessions, workshops and exchange of staff; notes that in 2019, the Court reported ten cases of suspected fraud compared to nine cases in 2018 (eight identified in the course of audit work and two denunciations made by third parties); _________________ 6 Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (EUT L 248 af 18.9.2013, s. 1).

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
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~~; notes with appreciation 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, three opinions, 18 audit previews and four other publications, being part of the altogether 67 publications it issued in 2019;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Notes that the audit showed that the case of a former member investigated by OLAF was an isolated case; ~~stress~~notes that the report concluded that the Court’s management and control systems were affected by certain shortcomings which have, however, been effectively remedied since then and that, overall, the management and control procedures currently in place are reliable; takes into account that the IAS made recommendations aimed at improving further the management and control system, that the audit report was strictly confidential and that all members and the secretary-general of the Court received the report;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Welcomes that the IAS considers that overall, reliable ex-post controls have been conducted for most of the high risk areas of the work of the directorates of the secretariat-general, based on the risk register and the operational objectives; appreciates being ~~kept~~ informed (in particular in the context of the past problems identified by an OLAF investigation on a former member of the Court)that the IAS has not observed any shortcomings that are of such importance as to seriously call into question the overall reliability of the internal control systems put in place by the authorising officer by delegation with regard to the legality and regularity of financial operations in 2019 and would appreciate such updates also in the future;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
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; emphasises the new rules on increased transparency with regards to the use of official cars and drivers to ensure that members’ journeys are related to the execution of their duties; 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;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Asks the Court to provide information on the results of three harassment complaints~~, which were~~ reported and investigated in 2019; notes that they were handled in accordance with the procedures laid down in the policy for maintaining a satisfactory working environment and combating psychological and sexual harassment; ~~not~~acknowledges that in terms of expenditure, the investigations of each case were carried out internally and thus did not entail any additional costs; ~~notes that it is foreseen th~~welcomes the intention to evaluate the Court's policy on protecting staff against harassment ~~shall be evaluated~~ every three years and that this exercise is due to be carried out in 2020;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2144(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43

43. ~~Calls on~~Urges the Court to provide information on any decisions taken related to the process of reviewing and amending the code of conduct for its members; supports the conclusions of the peer review with respect to the need to introduce regular updates of declarations, which would increase their reliability; is in agreement that the ethics committee plays a crucial role to the extent that the president and the members may seek its advice on any question pertaining to ethics and on the interpretation of the code of conduct; notes, moreover, that the committee is entrusted with approving any external activity undertaken by the members, including former members who intend to carry out an activity in the year after they leave the Court, which is an efficient tool in ensuring the absence of conflicts of interest.

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Underlines~~Notes with concern that the CJEU still overestimates some commitments as stated in the discharge resolution of 2017: for budget lines such as ‘missions for members’, budget line 104: EUR 299.750 committed versus EUR 34 340 paid; ‘missions persons working with institution’, budget line 162: EUR 498 500 committed versus EUR 272 898 paid; ‘training for members’, budget line 106: EUR 270 065 committed versus EUR 164 263 paid; and ‘training persons working with institution’, budget line 1612: EUR 1.528.061 committed versus EUR 706.717 paid; calls on the CJEU to pursue its efforts to ensure sound financial management for all budget lines in order to avoid significant discrepancies between commitments and payments;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Highlights the importance of addressing the lack of gender balance within the college of judges; welcomes, however, the fact~~Acknowledges that efforts in the field of equal opportunities are becoming increasingly visible at the administrative level with a share of women in middle management amounting to 41 % and in senior management amounting to 40 %; notes that the staff in general has a distribution of 39 % men and 61 % women and for AD staff a distribution of46 % men and 54 % women;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. ~~Calls~~Underlines the need for improvements in the context of geographical balance of staff, in particular for management positions, as at present 15 out of 58 heads of unit (25,8 %) and only 2 out of 15 directors (13,3 %) come from Member States that have joined the Union since May 2004 (compared to 15 out of 57 heads of unit and 2 out of 13 directors in 2018); ~~acknowledges that these figures have to be seen in the context of the percentage of CJEU staff coming from those member states (29 %); calls on the CJEU to strengthen its effort~~urges the CJEU to strengthen its efforts in this regard by encouraging applications from candidates whose nationality is underrepresented and by making use of inter-institutional exchanges in thisat re~~gard~~spect;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Ádám KÓSA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes the steps taken by the CJEU to assess whether the workload is distributed proportionally across the different teams and members of staff to reduce cases of burnout and increase efficiency; notes that the presidents of the Court of Justice and the General Court, respectively, have responsibility for allocating cases by taking into account the current and anticipated workload; highlights the fact that tools have been made available to assess accurately the situation including workload analysis every six weeks; notes that for the administrative services~~, by taking into account the continuous increase in the workload and the limited resources available,~~ the managers monitor the workload and its distribution between the different members of staff on an ongoing basis in order to be able to make the necessary adjustments;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Is satisfied with the significant changes to the rules gov~~Welcomes the changes to the internal legal framework concerning mMembers’ ~~travel arrangements, especially in relation with~~journeys, in particular with regard to the use of official cars and drivers; notes that the use of a driver is now only possible in two specific cases: prior authorised business trips carried out by members for the purpose of external activities (the rules governing such business trips do not provide for any situation, unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which a driver could be asked to travel to the member’s country of origin or to any other country without transporting the member in the vehicle), and trips dictated by special circumstances (health or medical reasons, safety or security grounds and cases of force majeure);

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Ádám KÓSA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Welcomes the training entitled ‘Rules of good conduct’ conducted in 2019 with the participation of 63 staff members; notes that such training have been set up in order to inform newcomers and other staff members on their obligations under the staff regulations and on the conditions of employment of other servants; notes with satisfaction that the courses cover topics such as harassment, whistleblowing, prevention of conflicts of interest and other ethical issues; welcomes that whistleblowing and conflicts of interest have also been included in the content of financial training; encourages such activities and invites the CJEU to promote trainings of similar nature;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU, Ádám KÓSA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. ~~Encourag~~Welcomes the CJEU’s willingness to ensure greater transparency; encourages to publish on its website the members’ CVs and calls on the CJEU to take into consideration the approaches followed by the other institutions and the Member States in this area; ~~welcomes the CJEU’s willingness to examine how a greater transparency can best be achieved;~~

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Encourages the CJEU to enhance transparency and welcomes the CJEU’s decision to livestream the delivery of the judgments of its grand chamber; takes note that the livestreaming of hearings themselves would be a~~n extremely~~ complex and costly matter since it operates in 24 languages and without access to simultaneous interpretation it would be ~~meaningless~~extremely difficult for the vast majority of Union citizens to follow; welcomes also the fact that as of November 2019 the CJEU publishes requests for preliminary ruling from national courts, internal research notes and national judicial decisions on the website of the Judicial Network of the European Union;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Observes that the Council’s budget is mostly administrative with a large amount being used for expenditure concerning persons, buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous running costs; ~~calls on~~regrets that the request to separate the budget of the European Council and the Council into one budget for each institution that has been made by Parliament in previous discharge resolutions has not been considered and urges the Council, as it has done in previous discharge resolutions, to separate the budget of the European Council and the Council into one budget for each institution for reasons of transparency and to improve accountability and expenditure efficiency for both institutions;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Recognises a slight reduction in the carry-over rate, amounting to 9,8 %, from 2019 to 2020 (as compared to a carry-over of 10,7 % from 2018 to 2019 and 11,5 % from 2017 to 2018); reminds the Council ~~of the need~~, however, that carry-overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality and calls on the Council to strengthen its efforts to avoid budget over-estimates;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Notes, in the context of modernisation, the creation of a flatter management structure, by removing layers of hierarchy, with the aim of improving communication, making decision-making easier and empowering staff by allowing greater ownership of files; notes the introduction of a well-tested HR IT tool (SYSPER) and other IT tools used for managing the mission lifecycle; appreciates these steps and invites the Council to continue such efforts;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Calls on the Council to report on its gender action plan, the related procedures put in place and the actions taken to achieve a balance between women and men on all hierarchical levels; calls further on the Council to be provided with information on the geographical balance among its staff and the measures taken in order to ensure such balance;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Is concerned not to find any chapter on an ethical framework on the official website of the Council consisting of rules to prevent, identify and avoid potential conflict of interests; calls on the Council to align with other Union institutions in this respect such as with the European Court of Justice’s website which has a dedicated section on transparency; calls on the Council to present a plan to introduce such measures with clearly set deadlines;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Monika HOHLMEIER, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Recalls that Parliament in its resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU overwhelmingly supported the Ombudsman’s proposals on legislative transparency and encourages the Council to continue its efforts to improve legislative transparency, particularly by recording and publishing member state positions and making available more trilogue documents; invites the Council to report on other measures taken in order to improve legislative transparency;

2021/02/10
Committee: CONT

2020/2142(DEC)