Activities of Edit HERCZOG related to 2009/2069(DEC)
Plenary speeches (1)
2008 discharge: EU general budget, European Parliament
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT Report on discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2008, Section I - European Parliament PDF (323 KB) DOC (372 KB)
Amendments (26)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Recalls that a draft report on Parliamentary control of the implementation of the budget by the policy department on budgetary affairs was issued on 12 March 2009 and recommends that a set of best practices be adopted by Parliament;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that complex governance structures and management procedures need more sophisticated internal control and risk management systems than less complex governance structures in order to ensurwill improve accountability and protect the political leadership and the administrative managers from financial and non-financial risks;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recognises that it is unusual and requires high responsibility for a public institution to discharge itself; stresses that the added value of the parliamentary and public procedure leading up to Parliament's discharge of itself is the additional possibility for exercising, in public, a critical scrutiny of the institution's financial management and thereby facilitating European citizens' understanding of Parliament's particular set-up, governance structure and working methods;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Draws attention to the fact thatneed for further risk reduction in Parliament's financial management is an extremely vulnerable and high-risk area and thatwhere even non-material shortcomings may result in considerable reputational damage and may cast doubt on Parliament's overall poovershadowing Parliament's policy achievements and reminds Parliament's Members and staff of their personal responsibilicty achievin Parliament's proper financial managements;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that critical scrutiny is necessary to ensure that Parliament's financial managers are held fully accountable, because only full and complete transparency offers European citizens an insight into Parliament's financial management and its use of taxpayers' money;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Further stressAcknowledges that Parliament's discharging of itself must be seen as an expression of its acknowledgement of its particular governance structures and management procedures as well as its political will and readiness: to ensure that: - 'appearance' does not substitute critical reality checks, and - ownership of any critical area is clear, and to avoid: - intrinsic oversight failure, and - a culture in which riding the waves becomes the rule and causing the waves the exceptionis due to particular governance structures in place in the Union and the process must always ensure that there is rapid ownership and rapid solution of any problems identified;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Invites its Committee on Budgetary Control, therefore, not only to continue but also to strengthen its critical analysis of whether Parliament's governance structures and management procedures are sufficient to ensure transparency, completeness, correct transactions, and sound financial management;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that it is a distinctive feature of its internal organisation that Parliament's suppliers (Members) are also customers (Members) and that Parliament, as institution, has a fundamental interest in full transparency in regard to its financial management; expects its Committee on Budgetary Control, therefore, to comply fully with its specific and important parliamentary role by clearly highlighting where improvements can be donemade, as it does with other institutions;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that the new wording of Article 317 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (introduced by the Lisbon Treaty) will bepresents very challenging tasks for Parliament's control activities and expects that the secretariat of its competent committee - the Committee on Budgetary Control - will receive additional resources so that it can continue to ensure a high-quality service for its Members;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses that the reinforcement of the committee secretariats cannot be effected on the basis of purely quantitative parameters and invites the Secretary- General to include well-defined qualitative parameters as well;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Draws attention to the fact that as interface between the public and the private sector, public procurement is a high-risk area and that Parliament must devote even more efforts to ensure: - compliance with applicable laws, regulation and policies - including the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non- discrimination, - reliability of management information and recording, and - economy, effectiveness and efficiency of operawhich requires continued close attentions;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Recalls that at each stage of the procurement process - initial assessment of needs, preparing the call for tender, drawing up the calls for tender and the specifications, contacts with tenderers, opening of tenders, evaluation of tenders, award decision, conclusion of contracts - there are significant risks to the achievement of the abovementioned objectives and that, action needs to be taken by the authorising officers by delegation, with the assistance of Parliament's central services, to reduce exposure to risk;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29d
Paragraph 29d
29d. External staff - Code of Conduct: Recommends - on the basis of Article 57 of the Financial Regulation - that staff from external service providers should, as a general rule, be excluded from performing tasks or introduce appropriate controls to avoid conflict of interest situations, linked to management of the procurement process; notes that the former Secretary- General issued "Guidelines on relations with external staff" on 2 July 2008; invites the Secretary-General to clarify the status and enforceability of those 'guidelines' and to make them mandatory in all procurement procedures by having them adopted by the Bureau;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Takes the view that the increase registered between 2007 and 2008 clearly obliges the authorising officers to take measures to 'reverse the trend'; is unhappy withconcerned about the administration's remark that "it is difficult to reduce further the use of negotiated procedures" (Annual report on the contracts awarded by the European Parliament, 2008, paragraph 39);
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Draws attention to the fact that the Financial Regulation as adopted by the EU legislator is a political text and not a professional one, that it is drafted by the Commission and that its wording mainlytext, drafted by the Commission, the wording of which tends to reflects the interests of the Commission's Directors-General which aremay not necessarilybe the same as the interests of Parliament's Secretary-General in his capacity as the institution's Principal Authorising Officer;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Takes the view that management representations and declarations in general should be considered with healthy scepticism if a second opinion on such documents is not availableroutinely include a second opinion; invites its Committee on Budgetary Control to deal with this matter in the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Recalls that the objective of an internal control system is to protect the institution's political and administrative leadership from unpleasant surprises;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Stresses that in any system of financial management there must be a counterweight to those who authorise expenditureppropriate checks and balances when expenditure is authorised and is of the opinion that the present counterweight function only offers Parliament's political and administrative leadership a minimum degree of protection;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Invites the Secretary-General, therefore, to inform the discharge authority as soon as possible and no later than 31 JulyDecember 2010 about the precise measures - and deadline for implementation - he has taken or will take in view of reinforcing the internal control system and in particular as regards: - obtaining a second opinion at random on management representations, - reinforcing the Central Financial Unit allowing it fully to shoulder its central responsibility for the systemic adequacy of the internal control system on behalf of the Principal Authorising Officer by Delegation, - ensuringensuring activity reports fully compliancey with Article 60(7) of the Financial Regulation byfrom all Authorising Officers, - strengthening the counterweight function, - achieving clearer, shorter, more precise, more relevant, more professional annual activity reports aiming at providing the discharge authority with relevant information on the institution's use of public money, adopting any other measure necessary for the Secretary-General to issue a meaningful declaration of assurance;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60
Paragraph 60
60. Stresses that some reputational risks are much more dangerous than financial risks and invites the Secretary-General together with the authorising officers to take the opportunity to make Parliament the first public sector institution in the world to be up-front about its ownfully evaluate Parliament´s risk profile;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61
Paragraph 61
61. Notes that the creation of the post of risk manager is in the administrative work programme 2009 - 2011 and stresses that the post should be created as soon as possible and no later than 1 Maythe end of 2010 due to the size of Parliament's budget and the well-known, high reputational risk involved in the activities of Parliament;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
70. Takes the view that this budget line should notonly be increased before an evaluation has provided evidence that the system in fact provides forin parallel with an evaluation of the system's transparency, legality and sound financial management;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79
Paragraph 79
79. Notes the independent auditor's report according to which "the provision for pensions and similar obligations has been calculated based on a return of investment of 6,5% per year", which figure is not realistic;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 97 a (new)
Paragraph 97 a (new)
97a. Believes that a review of Parliament's internal audit office should be conducted with a view to strengthening that service and thereby further improving financial scrutiny, and all the instruments should be provided that guarantee the fulfilment of the tasks of the Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 98 a (new)
Paragraph 98 a (new)
98a. Believes and recommends that the use of appropriations by the political groups should be discussed by the leaders and treasurers of the political groups, who should aim for a sound balance between independence, full transparency and high level of efficiency;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 134
Paragraph 134
134. Invites the Secretary-General to take measures aiming at creating - at all levels - greater understanding for the need to avoid unnecessary waste in general and in particular as regards the number of paper dossiers produced - but not used - for different meetings, especially in light of the great amount of effort in the field of economy and finance spent on the development of digital infrastructure; suggests, therefore, that the use of Parliament's existing digital equipment be improved;