15 Amendments of Anneli JÄÄTTEENMÄKI related to 2018/2001(BUD)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that savings, of at least EUR 17 million, compared to the proposal of the Secretary-General are required, but the priority is the efficient use of the budget, without undermining the core competences of the European Parliament;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that, as was the case for budgets for previous years, it is proposed to set aside an amount for ‘extraordinary’ investment and expenditure, i.e. investment and expenditure that is unusual or atypical for Parliament and arises infrequently; notes that in 2019, those investments and expenditure amount to EUR 71,6 million, including EUR 37,3 million for the change of parliamentary term and EUR 34,3 million for other extraordinary expenditure; recalls that the distinction, made in the 2016 budget and included in the consecutive budgets, between ordinary and extraordinary expenditure was made solely in order to respond to the implementation of urgent measures concerning security buildings and cybersecurity following the terrorists attacks; considers that the excessive use of this distinction, i.e. the inclusion of other expenditure in extraordinary expenditure, gives an erroneous indication of the evolution of the budgetary margin and is therefore in contradiction with the principle of transparency of Parliament's expenditure;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs confirmed with the vote in plenary in February 2018 an own- initiative report on Parliament’s composition, and notably the reduction to 705 Members after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union; notes that in the event that the United Kingdom is still a Member State at the beginning of the 2019-2024 parliamentary term, the number of Members shall be 751, until the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union becomes legally effective; points out, however, that the procedure requires a unanimous decision by the European Council after having obtained the consent of Parliament; underlines that Parliament’s estimates, for the moment, reflect a status-quo situation with a Parliament composed of 751 Members from 28 Member States;that during an informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government on 23 February 2018, President Tusk signalled a broad support for this proposal; believes, therefore, this outcome to be considered the most likely; for that reason, takes note with satisfaction of the adjustments proposed by the Secretary- General in his note to the members of the Bureau on March 6, 2018.
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding which entered into force in 2017 between the Belgian Government and the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service, and other institutions based in Brussels, on security clearance checks verifications for all external contractors’ staff wishing to access the Union institutions; reminds its call, in the 2018 Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure, to the Secretary-General to consider the advisability of extending the application of this Memorandum of Understanding to officials, parliamentary assistants and trainees in order to allow the necessary security verifications before their recruitment; asks, therefore, the Secretary-General to inform the Committee on Budgets of the state of progress of this file;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. WelcomNotes the process of improving Members’ and staff working environments as decided by the Bureau in December 2017, which will continue in 2019 in order to provide flexible workspaces for Members to satisfy needs arising from changing working patterns, providing them with three offices in Brussels and two in Strasbourg after the 2019 elections; notes that costs for maintenance of Parliament’s buildings in 2019, including security and environmental requirements, should be taken into account and coordinated a; questions the very high costs of certain proposed developments, namely: the removal of the Library and related offices, the installation of the Atrium building visitors' seminar rooms, the refurbishment of the Members' restaurant (Spinelli building) and the refurbishment of the Churchill building's restaurant; calls on the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to these decisions before the Parliament's rearly as possibleding of the budget in autumn 2018; questions if it is not possible to postpone all or part of these projects;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Questions the EUR 1,58 million planned for studies on the renovation of the Spaak building knowing that EUR 14 million have already been budgeted in the budget 2018; calls on the Secretary- General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to this decision before the Parliament's reading of the budget in autumn 2018;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Welcomes in particular the ever- increasing quality of advice and research provided to Members and committees through the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and the policy departments; recalls, however, that a mid- term evaluation of the efficacy of the cooperation between the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and the policy departments was foreseen when creating the EPRS in 2013; requests once again the Secretary-General to proceed to undertake such an evaluation and present to the Committee on Budgets its results before the Parliament's reading of the budget in autumn 2018; welcomes the new and existing specific projects in the IT application, which will be implemented in full or in part in 2019: e- Parliament project, the Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) project, the Open Digital Library Program, the new project on research and development on machine learning with translation memories and the conference and event participants’ registration tool;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls the abovementioned resolutions of 5 April 2017 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 201812 and of 25 October 2017 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 201813 ; reiterates the appeal for transparency regarding the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA) for Members; calls on Parliament's Bureau to work on better guidance regarding the accountability of the expenditure authorised under this allowance, without generating additional costs or administrative burden to Parliament´s administration or to Members and their offices; __________________ 12 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0114. 13 Texts adopted, P8_TA_PROV(2017)0408
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Recalls the principle of the independence of the mandate; underlines that it is the responsibility of elected Members to use the expenditures for parliamentary activities and that it is possible for Members who wish to do so to publish their spending record of the GEA on their personal webpages; stresses the fact that the lump sum is widely used and recognised as the useful tool in Member Statesat a mixed system must be introduced where a part of the GEA remain as a lump sum and the rest would be paid out based on invoices or subject to an audit; reiterates that improved efficiency and transparency of the GEA does not mean to infringe upon the privacy and should not require additional staff in Parliament's administration;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Bureau to ensure that the social and pension rights of Members and of Accredited Parliamentary Assistants are respected and that adequate financial means are made available; in this regard, reiterates its call to find a workable solution for those APAs who, having worked for two parliamentary terms in the end of the current term, will not be entitled to access to the European pension rights scheme, when they will reach the pension age, since they will be lacking some time out of the ten years' service needed, due to early elections in 2014 and the delays in the validation of the APAs new contracts because of heavy workload during the periods after the elections of 2009 and 2014;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Notes the on-going practice of using the year-end 'mopping up transfer' (ramassage) to contribute to current building projects; highlights, on the basis of the figures 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, that this year-end 'mopping up transfer' takes place systematically on the same chapters and title and, with a few exceptions, exactly on the same lines; wonders, therefore, whether there is a programmed overvaluation of these chapters and lines in order to generate funds for the financing of budgetary policy;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)
Paragraph 30 b (new)
30 b. Questions the necessity of having headsets and webcams installed in the offices in Brussels and Strasbourg for all parliamentary assistants, even though most of them have not even requested it; questions, therefore, the cost of such a decision and the reasons for taking it; calls on the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to this decision;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 c (new)
Paragraph 30 c (new)
30 c. Notes that the restrictions on the access to the Parliament's catering areas were lifted on January 1, 2017; accepts the practice that anyone working in Parliament's buildings or accessing its premises for an interinstitutional meeting to have lunch in the canteens and restaurants of the Parliament; notes, however, that access to ASP self-service in Brussels and LOW self-service in Strasbourg has become very complicated due to the daily presence of groups of visitors; calls, therefore, for controls to be re-established rapidly at the entrance of these two self-services, not for members and staff of other institutions, but in order to systematically reorient these groups towards the restauration areas reserved for them;