76 Amendments of Ingeborg GRÄSSLE related to 2009/2069(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that Parliament is a complex organisation in which the boundary between political and administrative decisions is not always clear due to the multilayered character of the institution's governance structure and the fact that high-level administrative decision-makers are not always appointed on the basis of their managerial capabilities alone;
Amendment 10 #
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 ensure accountability and protect the political leadership and the administrative managers from financial and non-financial risks;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Invites the competent services, therefore, to review and, if necessary, reinforce the minimum internal control standards in order to include lessons learned and to keep in line with developments in risk management and corporate governance; recalls that authorising departments are under an obligation to respect the standards in developing their internal control systems and implementing measures; invites the competent services to seek the opinion of its Committee on Budgetary Control before the revised minimum internal control standards is sent to the Bureau for review and approval;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses that the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has increased Parliament's powers and the workload for its Members and their auxiliary staff; opines that the working conditions in all places of work should adequately reflect the increased need for labour and material; calls on its Secretary-General to submit plans for providing adequate office-space in particular in its Strasbourg offices, where the hygiene cubicles in the offices should be removed and a visitors' reception office should be created;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. In that regard recalls its findings concerning the asbestos rehabilitation works, and asks its Secretary-General to report on the operational and financial results of the works and possible future needs for consequential remedial measures;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 8
Heading before paragraph 8
The discharge process - an occasion for learning and critical scrutiny
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recognises that it is unusual for a public institution to discharge itself; sStresses 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 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that critical scrutiny is necessary to ensure that Parliament's financial manageactors are held fully accountable, because only full transparency offers European citizens an insight into Parliament's financial management and its use of taxpayers' money;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading (before paragraph 12)
Heading (before paragraph 12)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 17
Heading before paragraph 17
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes the tradition according to which the Committee on Budgetary Control requests the administration to provide information on various topics in its discharge reports; recommends that those reports be sent directly from DG Finance to the Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control and published - for the information of the members of the Committee as well as the European citizens - on that Committee's homepage as soon as they have been received by its Chair;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that the Belgian government will reimburse EUR 85 896 389 to Parliament at the beginning of 2010; invites the Secretary-General to inform in due timebefore taking any irreversible measures the Ccommittee on Budgetary Controlpetent Committees on how that money will be used;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 - introductory part
Paragraph 27 - introductory part
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 morconsiderable efforts to ensure:
Amendment 53 #
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 risks a result of a complex legal environment and factual necessities;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 29
Heading before paragraph 29
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Invites the Secretary- General to take urgent action in regard to the following areas: (a) Training: Recognises that progress has been made in the provision of training courses on procurement; considers the drafting of full, clear and precise technical specifications and particularly of adequate exclusion, selection and award criteria a priority; (b) Specialist function: Takes the view that procurement needs to be recognised as a 'specialist function' in Parliament's register of professional skills because full expertise is needed to deal with all the complex requirement of procurement procedures; stresses that 'full expertise' cannot be expected by staff whose main concern is their core operational tasks; recommends the creation of 'specialist procurement officers'; (c) Sensitive posts: Recommends that posts entailing significant decision- making powers in the procurement area should be considered as 'sensitive posts' and should therefore be made subject to appropriate rotation and/or to additional internal control measures; (d) 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 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; (e) Procurement compliance function: Believes that adequate 'checkpoints' must be built into the procurement process at all critical stages and finds that the performance of this function could be entrusted to a 'procurement compliance function', which should be understood as a set of control activities to be carried out during the procurement process and not as an additional post; (f) Organisation of procurement: Stresses that Parliament's strategic challenge is to determine how the benefits of decentralisation can be maintained while maximising 'cross-departmental' efficiency and effectiveness in the interest of fair and open procurement; recommends a strategic shift aiming at creating a central Parliament support unit that would act as a service provider to the contracting departments; takes the firm view that there is scope for combining a degree of centralisation of expertise with the maintenance of departmental control over the subject of the tender, specifications, evaluation and awardan active part in the upcoming tri-annual revision of the Financial Regulation by giving administrative advice on areas in need of reform;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 35
Heading before paragraph 35
Article 54 of the Implementing Rules1 - "reverse that trend"
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 43
Heading before paragraph 43
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 45
Heading before paragraph 45
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Further notes - and strongly regrets - that only some Directors-General "indicated the risks associated with their operations or reported on the working of their internal control systems" (reply to Question 4.2.1) while the Financial Regulation in the second paragraph of Article 60(7) clearly states that Authorising Officers shall indicate in the annual activity report "the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control system";
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 51
Heading before paragraph 51
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 53
Heading before paragraph 53
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 54
Heading before paragraph 54
Amendment 94 #
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 1 July 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, - ensuring full compliance with Article 60(7) of the Financial Regulation by all Authorising Officers, - strengthening the counterweight function, - achievingby means of 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 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 55
Heading before paragraph 55
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Recalls that the financial resources of Parliament comprise taxpayers' money and that any institution using public funds has an obligation to explain how those funds have been used and to give comprehensive, objective and relevant information on the degree to which the funds have been used for the intended purposes and in accordance with the principles of sound financial management (economy, efficiency, effectiveness) and transparency;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 a (new)
Paragraph 57 a (new)
57a. Recalls that all grants are subject to the principle of transparency and equal treatment, in particular, Article 109 (1) and Article 110 (2) of the Financial Regulation and Article 169 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 (the implementing rules); stresses that this applies to all beneficiaries of Union funds, including Parliament staff and their relatives receiving subsidies for private excursions (skiing or other); asks the administration to follow up on the examination of such payments;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 58
Heading before paragraph 58
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58
Paragraph 58
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61
Paragraph 61
61. Notes thatWelcomes the creation of the post of risk manager is in the administrative work programme 2009 -on 24 February 20110 and stresses that the post should be created as soon as possible and no later than 1 May 2010 due to the size of Parliament's budget and the well-known, high reputational risk involved in the activities of Parliamentasks the newly appointed risk manager to inform the competent committees at the earliest possible convenience of the concept for a risk approach and strategy to be taken in the future;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
Paragraph 67
67. Expects that its principal decision- makers in this area - the Bureau, the Secretary-General and the Director- General for Personnel - take, as soon as possible after the return of a decision, the necessary measures to ensure that Parliament's internal rules and procedures as regards missions fully and consistently comply with the principle of sound financial management and the Staff Regulations;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 81
Heading before paragraph 81
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81
Paragraph 81
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 83
Paragraph 83
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 84
Heading before paragraph 84
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 84
Paragraph 84
84. Stresses that the only way to reduce this reputational risk is to providee need of full transparency concerning decisions to be taken by its governing bodies, namely, the President, the Bureau, the Quaestors and the Conference of Presidents;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85
Paragraph 85
85. Invites the Vice-President responsible for budgetary affairs together with the competent service to consider in which way he/she can improve the information on decisions with major budgetary consequences to the discharge authority; takes the view that oral information as given to the Committee at present is not adequate and does not satisfy European taxpayers' need for comprehensive and relevant information;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86
Paragraph 86
86. Takes the view that the Bureau as the body competent within Parliament for financial and administrative decisions affecting Members and the running of the institution, has a particular responsibility to foster democratic accountability and recommends, therefore, that the Vice- Presidents of its Committee on Budgetary Control be appointed permanent observer of the Bureau with a speaking right but no voting right;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90
Paragraph 90
90. Stresses that its former position within the organisation did not prevent the Internal Audit Service from performing its functions in accordance with professional and regulatory requirements; expects thatwelcomes its new position and expects that it will improve the flow of essential information on risk issues from the Secretary-General and thereby facilitate the Internal Auditor's role of advising the institution on dealing with risks;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95
Paragraph 95
95. Welcomes the improvements in the DG's' management and internal control systems but questions the high number of uncompleted actions showing an overall completion rate of only 80,53% over a relatively long time period which should have given the responsible services sufficient time to undertake corrective action;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 105
Heading before paragraph 105
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 105
Paragraph 105
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 106
Paragraph 106
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107
Paragraph 107
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 114
Heading before paragraph 114
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 115
Paragraph 115
115. Stresses that "maximum transparency" cannot be achieved without (i) a thorough implementation of all the Internal Auditor's recommendations and in particular the introduction of a model structure for the description of programme activities and for the final activity reports and (ii) a sufficient number of ex-post on- the-spot checks of those grants by the authorising officer;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 117
Paragraph 117
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128
Paragraph 128
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 129
Paragraph 129
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 140
Heading before paragraph 140
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 140
Paragraph 140
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas, in accordance with the usual procedure, a questionnaire was sent to the Parliament administration and replies were received and discussed by the Committee on Budgetary Control, in the presence of the Vice-President responsible for the Budget and the Secretary-General,