Activities of Bart STAES related to 2010/2181(DEC)
Shadow reports (2)
SECOND REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2009 PDF (177 KB) DOC (104 KB)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2009 PDF (206 KB) DOC (147 KB)
Amendments (29)
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2009
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1.... Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Police College discharge in respect of the implementation of the College's budget for the financial year 2009;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
- having regard to the report of the European Police College of 12 July 2010 on the Reimbursement of Private Expenditure (10/0257/KA),
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
- having regard to the Annual Activity Report 2009 of the Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the College's budget for the year 2009 was of EUR 8 800 000, compared to EUR 8 700 000 for the year 2008,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges, nevertheless, from the College that a Procurement Officer has finally been appointed and a Procurement Manual, including templates and checklists, was adopted on 8 June 2010 by Decision No 002/2010 of the Director;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Requests that the College provide the Parliament with a report on the application of the Procurement Manual for the period covering 1 July 2010 - 1 July 2011, before 31 October 2011;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Voices concern at the fact that the Court of Auditors identified severe shortcomings in the administrative and financial rules governing expenditure on the organisation of courses and seminars, which accounts for a major proportion of the College's operational expenditure; notesconsiders unacceptable that the main irregularities are due to the fact that the revised College'’s Financial Regulation has never entered into force and, as result, all engagement contracts signed were illegal; acknownotes from the Colledges that these contracts expired in 2010 and were not renewed;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that the College's Financial Regulation which was submitted to the Commission for an opinion in 2009 contained two provisions which did not get a favourable opinion of the Commission because they were not considered to comply with the revised framework Financial Regulation;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recommends that the College, in the interest of fostering transparency, provide direct access to its detailed budget, which should include a list of its contracts and procurement decisions, and be published on the College's website; believes that the recommendation does not contravene the principle of personal data protection;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that already for the budget year 2008 31 % of the College's total budget had to be carried over and, in 2007, 41.5% of the College's total budget had to be carried over while more than 20% (EUR 0,5 million ) of the College's appropriations carried over from the preceding year were cancelled;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Is concerned that since 2007 the percentage of the College's total budget that had to be carried over and the percentage of the appropriations carried over that eventually had to be cancelled are increasingly getting worse; questions therefore the legitimacy to increase the amount of Union participation in the College's budget;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. NotesIs concerned that the College, in its Financial Statements for 2009, quantified the total impact on accumulated reserves of its errors prior to 1 January 2008 as of EUR 929 670,27 (10,56 % of its total budget for 2009) and the total impact on accumulated reserves of its errors from 2008 as of EUR 284 718,77 (3,2% of its total budget for 2009);
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – introductory part
Paragraph 9 – introductory part
9. Voices concern that the Court of Auditors reported several weaknesses with regard to staff selection procedures that put at risk the transparency of these procedures; stresses in particular that the documentation of the procedures was inadequate; finds unacceptable that:
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Deplores the fact that a recruitment contract which was executed in the wrong manner is still operative; calls on the College to remedy this irregularity as a matter of priority;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. WelcomNotes the fact that, following the repeated request from the Internal Audit Service (IAS), the Court of Auditors and the discharge authority, an ex-post check on appropriations used to finance private expenditure was finally carried out by thean external company ‘Moore Stephens’;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Notes that the figures provided, where available, by report 10/0257/KA on the reimbursement of private expenditure are far below the aforementioned figures disclosed by the external audit report;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Acknowledges alsoDeplores the fact that due to the passage of time and weaknesses in the financial management, monitoring and reporting at the College at the time leading up to the 2007 audit, the external auditor was not able to give an absoluteconfirm this quantification of the appropriations irregularly used; notes, therefore, that the external auditor considered it more important to place the emphasis of the audit on the recoveries made and the potential for further recoveries;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Notes that the responsibilities regarding the appropriations used to finance private expenditure have been well-established; deplores consequently the fact that the College's Governing Board did not respond properly to the former Director's managerial failings, out of concern not to harm the Agency's image; considers it unacceptable that the Governing Board decided not to take disciplinary action mainly because of the possibility of legal action by the former Director;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Reiterates, therefore, its position that the Governing Board of the College must be held responsible and suggests that changes be made to prevent this situation from recurring in future; calls again for a reconsideration of the position of the Commission to grant it the right to vote and to constitute a blocking minority on decisions concerning the budgetary, financial and administrative management of the Agency within the Governing Boards of the College and of the other Community agencies;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. WelcomNotes the College'’s initiative of providing to the discharge authority the final assessment Report of the IAS on the implementation of the Multi-Annual Plan (MAP) 2010-2014 of the College; considers this a sign of transparency and a best practice to be followed by all other Agencies;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes that the MAP was approved by, upon the request of the discharge authority, the College'’s Governing Board fin May 2010 upon the request of the discharge authority; welcomally approved the MAP in May 2010; notes also the fact that by the end of September 2010, 19 of the 44 milestones had been completed whereas 18 milestones were on course with regard to the planned timetable and 7 milestones still await the initial start of implementation;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. AcknowledgesIs concerned that in its Final Assessment Report on the implementation of the College'’s MAP for 2010-2014, the IAS found a lack of clarity in the description of some items in the MAP and overlap between some of its milestones; stresses, therefore, that the progress reporting is not always accurate enough to allow a clear understanding of what the individual milestones imply in terms of concrete actions and it makes it difficult to assess the ultimate overall status of the related actions;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Notes the reply of the College that, if after an internal investigation it could be concluded that personal accountability can be established, it would definitely take the necessary measures in accordance with the applicable regulations;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Recalls that the progression of the College in implementing the MAP is primarily linked to its capacity in recruiting and retaining qualified staff experienced in financial and accounting matters;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 24 a (new)
Subheading after paragraph 24 a (new)
Structural deficits
Amendment 34 #
Proposal for a decision
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24b. Notes the opinion developed by DG Justice, Freedom and Security in its 2009 Annual Activity Report on the College's structural problems; calls again into question the capability of the College to overcome the following problems: - the College cannot apply the complex EU financial and staff regulation given its limited mission and corresponding small size; - the location of the College's secretariat, in Bramshill, some 70 Kilometres from London, which is a disadvantage, inter alia, as regards recruitment and public transport links; - the College's governance costs which are very high as compared to its activities, given that while employing only 28 staff, the College had a 27-member Governing Board during 2009;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
24 c. a. Notes that the College and Europol are two Community bodies evolving in similar intervention fields and are performing complementary activities; believes that if these activities were brought together under a common agency unnecessary additional costs would be avoided; recalls that the Union budget shall be based on a sound financial management requiring the spending to be relevant, effective, and efficient and unnecessary expenditures to be properly addressed; b. Recommends, therefore, merging the College within Europol in the near future; is convinced that the merger will engender greater rationality and efficiency in expenditure; is convinced that the cost of keeping the College and Europol separate would be higher than the cost of a merger; welcomes, therefore, the Commission's proposal that Europol could take over the training role of the College; regrets that the Member States rejected this proposal and calls for a reevaluation; c. Is confident that merging the College within Europol will be beneficial in terms of the activities performed currently by the two agencies; believes that a merger will not only provide concrete solutions to the aforementioned College's structural and chronic problems but will also enable the College to benefit directly from Europol's expertise regarding international organised crime and terrorism in order to fulfil its mission of providing training for senior police officers; believes that through the merger Europol will benefit from the network as well as the training expertise of the College, and will take advantage of having a unit focusing solely on training- related issues on its premises ; d. Calls on the Council and the Commission to provide the European Parliament with a report on the merging of the College within Europol by the end of 2011;