22 Amendments of Tamás DEUTSCH related to 2012/2176(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes that while 2011 was the first financial year for the EEAS, it is, however, fully responsible for the financial year 2011 and has to ensure strict compliance with the legislation; urges the EEAS to examine what lessons can be learned from the first year of operation;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that in the 2011 annual report, the Court of Auditors included observations on the EEAS concerning the payment of social allowances and benefits to staff members, the conclusion of contracts with temporary agents, the management of a contract for the provision of security services and procurement procedures; urges the EEAS to take the necessary steps to address these observations;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is concerned that non-compliance with the rules has lead to incorrect payments to staff members, legal uncertainty for temporary staff and for the EEAS, failure to respect the Financial Regulation and unrecovered VAT and a breach of the procurement rules which all Union institutions are bound to comply with; point out that the EEAS is fully responsible for its operation and stresses its obligation to ensure that the measures taken will prevent incorrect payments in the future;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets that according to the Court of Auditors' observations, the risk of making incorrect or undue payments if the circumstances of staff members have changed still remains in 2012, although the EEAS has taken measures to prevent this from happeningintroduced a yearly update mechanism; calls on the EEAS to attach information on the implementation of this new mechanism in its 2012 annual activity report;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that at the end of 2011, the final budget for EEAS headquarters was EUR 188 000 000, with a utilisation rate of 91% and was EUR 276 100 000 for the delegations, with a lower execution rate of around 89%; takes note that the budget of the delegations had to be supplemented by the Commission to a total of EUR 252 400 000, having an execution rate of 85%; however acknowledges that the challenges of budget implementation in third countries are very different from those within the Union;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Asks for a clear allocation and coordination of roles and responsibilities of the Commission and the EEAS as regards programming and implementation of the budget in third countries;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes the importance of the current discharge in setting the framework for future discharge exercises and believes that it will reinforce the expectations of future developments and improvements in the effectiveness of the EEAS and its operations; calls on the High Representative to provide a review of the organisation and functioning of the EEAS, accompanied, if necessary, by proposals for a revision of the Council Decision 2010/427/EU by mid-2013;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Regrets that the proportion of staff coming from the newer Member States is very low when compared to staff from the EU-15; urges the EEAS to take the necessary measures to have a better and more balanced representation; welcomes the fact that the number of vacant posts has been decreasing; urges the EEAS to use the unoccupied posts to enforce the geographical balance at all levels of staff;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Deplores the fact that there are 36 EEAS delegations having only a Head of Delegation and believes that it is not possible to deliver effective diplomatic operation with one Union official in the host country; requests the EEAS to provide information on the functioning of these "one man" delegations;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes with satisfaction the performance and management of 8 800 candidates, 1 300 interviews and 118 vacancies to be filled; regrets, however, that there is no overview on how often a candidate was invited to interview and that thus the process cannot be considered as fully transparent; invites the EEAS to get a better overview on the costs of the interviews;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Welcomes the fact that the revised Financial Regulation obliges the EEAS to provide a working document on its building policy to the Parliament by 1 June each year;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Is concerned over the increasing rental costs of the EEAS's offices and residences (i.e. increase of over 50% of the Moscow offices of the Union delegation to Russia from year 2010 to 2011); urges the EEAS to maintain cost effective operation and to provide all the necessary information to the discharge authority;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16 c. Underlines that the revised Financial Regulation allows the EEAS to take loans for the acquisition of its offices and residences; urges the EEAS to maintain cost effective operation and to find appropriate financing solutions consulting DG ECFIN;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)
Paragraph 16 d (new)
16 d. Points out that the local practice in certain host countries makes it difficult to agree on payment conditions fully in line with the Financial Regulation (i.e. advance payments for security contracts in Venezuela); urges the EEAS to introduce Exception Notes in all cases to register the local practices;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recognises the high number of posts at high grades, which is very cost-intensive; is surprised that an EEAS official was promoted by five grades within one year; calls on the EEAS to respect the provisions of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Considers the responsibilities of the Union Special Representatives to be very unclear; asks to receive a discriminated note on how the budget they receive to implement their mandate is usedtherefore notes that the EEAS has not succeeded in avoiding parallel tasks and responsibilities; asks to receive a cost-effectiveness analysis of the contribution of the EEAS to the overall policy achievements;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes that 39,5% of Union ambassadors come from the Member States; recalls the agreement that at least one-third of posts should be filled by staff from Member States; urges that the High Representative implement the agreement, which means middle and senior posts are to be included in that quota; properly includes all levels of posts in that quota; calls on the EEAS to respect the principle of non- discrimination within the staff in order to enable the conditions of equal treatment among different categories of staff by employment, assignment, appraisal and promotion exercise; further emphasises that the misuse of any HR related administrative decision in staff recruitment shall not legitimise budget efficiency; further recalls that each year, the High Representative shall present a report to the Parliament and the Council on the occupation and performance of the post-holder in the EEAS;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Points out that there is an imbalance in delegations between staff members of the EEAS and the Commission; urges that more EEAS staff be transferred from headquarters to delegationsregrets that the EEAS has not achieved a real transformation in the set up of external representation of the Union; urges that more EEAS staff be transferred from headquarters to delegations; urges the EEAS to reconsider the overall functionality and composition of staff in delegations, and to establish a concept on appropriate strategic goals and tools of an effective external representation of the Union;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes with concern that 57 % of the Heads of Delegation assess the skills of the operational staff, finance staff, and the monitoring and auditing staff as inadequate to carry out their tasks; demands that the EEAS and the Commission providesent the Parliament with the results of their discussappropriate solutions to resolve the situation;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Draws attention to the cost-intensive procedure of the annual salary adjustment method for local staff in Union delegations; believes that that methodology can be more efficient and cost-effective; asks the EEAS to use an alternative calculation method by means of an independent and objective selection of reference organisations, which would be simpler and cheaper, instead of a selection made by the employee him or herself; suggests that the United Nations be added as a fixed component and a senior ministry official be included; urges that a mechanism be established to relieve the Union ambassador of his responsibility for tariff negotiations with local staff and for the reference organisations to be chosen for a period of five years;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Urges thatExpresses its concern over the high absence rates in Union delegations and urges the EEAS to reduce the high absence rate in delegations and to provide the Parliament with figures of absenteeism on an annual basis; suggests to reconsider procedurges in thate context that the delegation staff combine their periods of professional training in Brussels with the rest of their leave;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Welcomes that the EEAS committed itself to full cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and is finalizing a specific Memorandum of Understanding with the OLAF to elevate their cooperation to a higher level;