[ParlTrack]

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 a (new)

(10a) Since the last reform of the Staff Regulations, two studies commissioned by the European Parliament have shown deficiencies in Articles 22a and 22b concerning the raising of matters of concern about possible misconduct and the lack of clarity regarding the handling of these matters by the different authorities that are mentioned in Article 22b.

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 18 – paragraph 1

6. Article 18(1) shall be replaced by the following: '1. All rights in any writings or other work done by any official in the performance of his duties shall be the property of the European Union or, where such writings or work relate to the European Atomic Energy Community, property of that Community. The Union or, where applicable, the European Atomic Energy Community shall have the right to acquire compulsorily the copyright in such works.';deleted.

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 22a

6 d. Article 22a shall be replaced by the following: "1. Any official who, in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties, becomes aware of or honestly believes in the existence of breaches of law, non-compliance of other officials with obligations of fundamental ethical principles, waste and/or risks detrimental to the interests of the European Union has the right to inform and to provide supporting information normally to his immediate superior in the first instance, but if necessary to his Director-General or to OLAF directly, if the matter concerns the competences of OLAF. Each institution must also provide a communication channel which allows anonymous bidirectional communication of messages according to this article. 2. The institution must assure that each official who communicates according to paragraph 1 ("whistleblower") receives prompt confirmation of receipt and is informed within four weeks of the approximate duration needed for analysing his message, which should not exceed six months. If this duration is exceeded, the whistleblower shall be informed about the reasons for this extended duration and the estimated total duration. The same applies for every consecutive period of three months. 3. If preliminary analysis indicates that the matter might involve areas within the competences of OLAF, the case must be transferred to OLAF. The whistleblower shall be informed promptly about that transfer. In relation to the whistleblower and the treatment of whistleblowing OLAF has the same obligations as a primary recipient and his institution. 4. Each institution must assure that the identity of the whistleblower is treated as confidentially as possible. The institution and/or OLAF is also responsible for informing the whistleblower immediately of any breaches or risks to anonymity and confidentiality. 5. Each institution must assure that each whistleblowing message is analyzed, analyses are impartial, adequate, prompt, properly documented, done by competent bodies and cannot be influenced by people accused or suspected by the whistleblower. The whistleblower has a right to be properly informed and heard before an analysis is finished. He must also be informed about the final outcome and has the right to access the related documents. 6. The procedural, privacy and data protection rights of anybody involved as well as the secrecy needs of the institutions must be respected throughout the treatment of the whistleblowing cases. 7. An official shall not suffer any prejudicial effects of his whistleblowing or its preparation on the part of the institution and shall be protected by the institution against any such effects that do or could arise from other officials or third parties. If the whistleblower suffers negative effects and a relation to his whistleblowing cannot be excluded, it is for the institution to prove that such a relationship did not exist. 8. Undue interference in a whistleblowing process by an official (e.g. manipulation of an analysis or any detriment of a whistleblower) shall make him liable to disciplinary action. Officials who misuse the whistleblowing process shall also be liable to disciplinary action if it can be shown that the official had knowingly raised a false concern or knowingly provided false information. 9. The Institutions shall establish internal support to provide independent confidential counselling to potential whistleblowers. The whistleblowing policy shall be communicated in a transparent and constructive manner. Mechanisms shall be established to communicate successful measures in concrete cases such as detection of risks, avoidance of wrongdoing, sanctioning of wrongdoers, avoidance of retaliation and sanctioning of malicious whistleblowing to the staff in an anonymous way. 10. The Institutions shall monitor and regularly evaluate the application of these provisions and undertake proactive measures, provide risk awareness and whistleblowing training to support best usage of these provisions. A coordinated registration, tracking and tracing system for disclosures shall be established 11. Without prejudice to paragraph 6 of this article, this article applies also in any case in which an official uses his rights under article 21a or where an official has a duty to report about issues mentioned in paragraph 1. 11. This article also applies in any case in which an official uses his rights under article 21a or where an official has a duty to report about issues mentioned in paragraph 1."

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6b (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 22b

6b. Article 22b shall be replaced by the following: "1. A whistleblower who honestly believes that his rights under Article 22a were not respected or who honestly believes in the existence of breaches of law by officials in grade AD 14 or above and/or by Members of his Institution or OLAF is entitled to inform and provide supporting information to the appropriate person in the Commission or of the Court of Auditors (if the areas of the competences of the Court of Auditors are concerned) or of the Council of the European Union or of the European Parliament or to the European Ombudsman. 2. A whistleblower who honestly believes that his rights under article 22b paragraph 1 and 3 were not respected is entitled to inform and provide supporting information about suspected wrongdoing detrimental to the interest of the European Union or suspected criminal behaviour of the officials and/or Members of its institution to any member of the European Parliament and the Court of (if the areas of the competences of the Court of Auditors are concerned). 3. The rights and obligations of article 22a respectively apply to whistleblowers and recipients under article 22b. A recipient under article 22b has the right to question a previously involved recipient and/or institution about his treatment of the whistleblowing and shall be provided with the necessary information for his analysis. 4. If EU legislation entrusts other bodies - outside the EU institutions - with the necessary competences to confidentially assess matters (within EU Institutions) that could be the subject of disclosures by EU officials, then officials may also address them under the conditions mentioned in this article. 5. The recipients mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 also have the right to inform the public if they deem that this is necessary. 6. If a whistleblower is undergoing disciplinary or other procedures for not respecting the recipient-limitations of art. 22a/b and/or e.g. by providing information to the media and public, any measure taken against him must take into account if the information provided was true or the whistleblower believed it to be true. The public interests in the issue at stake must also be taken into account."

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6b (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 22b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph

6b. Article 22b paragraph 1 subparagraph 1 shall read: "1. An official who further discloses information as defined in Article 22a to the appropriate person in the European Commission or of the European Court of Auditors or of the Council of the European Union or of the European Parliament, or to the European Ombudsman - institutions and bodies that shall have procedures in place with a proper handling of the information - shall not suffer any prejudicial effects on the part of the institution to which he belongs provided that both of the following conditions are met:"

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6b (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 22b – paragraph 3a (new)

6b. A new paragraph 3a shall be added in Article 22b: 3a. If an official who followed the procedures of Articles 22a and 22b claims to have suffered reprisals for his disclosure then it is for the institution, and not for the official who disclosed information about possible wrongdoing, to prove that no such reprisals took place.

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6c (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 22c (new)

6c. The following Article 22c shall be added: "Article 22c (1) The Institutions develop and implement policies to optimise whistleblower protection. (2) Where whistleblowing has led to positive effects this shall be taken into account in decisions in relation to the career of the whistleblower. (3) Each Institution shall adopt implementing arrangements for Articles 22a and 22b after consulting its Staff Committee."

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9a (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Article 29 – paragraph 2a (new)

9a. In Article 29a a new paragraph 2a shall be added: "2a. Tailor-made competitions aimed at the recruitment of one specific person shall not be permitted."

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

Marta ANDREASEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 51 (bb) (new)

Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union
Annex IX - Article 26a (new)

51 (ba). After Article 26 a new Article 26a shall be added: "26a (1) Disciplinary measures under Article 25 can only be taken within 1 year after a final judgement by a court. (2) Subject to Article 25 of this annex disciplinary measures can only be taken if the Institutions and/or OLAF respected reasonable delays throughout the whole procedure. (3) A violation of the duty to respect reasonable delays throughout the whole procedure is assumed to exist if a disciplinary measure has not been taken: - within 5 years after the facts took place; - within 3 years after the Institution or OLAF first learned about them; - within 30 months after an investigation has started; - within 18 months after an investigation has ended; - within 1 year after the official has been heard according to Article 11 of this annex; - within 1 year after the report has been submitted to the Board according to Article 12 of this annex."

2012/03/06
Committee: CONT

9 Amendments of Marta ANDREASEN related to 2011/0455(COD)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024