2019/2092(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Stéphane SÉJOURNÉ, Stéphanie YON-COURTIN, Ondřej KOVAŘÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Takes note of the Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 20181a of the European Court of Auditors, that the Authority uses contracts with IT companies, which were formulated in a way that could imply the assignment of temporary agency workers instead of the provision of clearly defined IT services or products; notes that that is not in compliance with the social and employment rules of the Union; calls on the Authority therefore to make sure that contracts avoid any confusion and ensure that they are in line with the social and employment rules of the Union; _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/AGENCIES_2018/AGENCIES_2 018_EN.pdf

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Questions whether the resources allocated to the Authority are sufficient to enable it to fully carry out an increasing number of tasks assigned to it, in particular in the fields of securitisation, Prospectus 3 and Money Market Fund (MFF) where the workload has increased but no new staff have been allocated; questions whether using temporary workers and external consultancies rather than increasing the number of its own staff is the best use of resources in the long-term;

Amendment 14 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Stéphane SÉJOURNÉ, Stéphanie YON-COURTIN, Ondřej KOVAŘÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Regrets that opportunities for economies of scale and efficiency gains were not realised due to ~~insufficient use of~~the decision not to have joint procurement procedures between the Authority and the European Banking Authority (EBA) when the Authority moved its seat from London to Paris; calls on the Authority to strengthen cooperation with EBA concerning administrative support services and facility management services, which are not related to the core activities, where feasible;

Amendment 15 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Stéphane SÉJOURNÉ, Stéphanie YON-COURTIN, Ondřej KOVAŘÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Regrets that opportunities for economies of scale and efficiency gains were not realised due to insufficient use of joint procurement procedures between the Authority and the European Banking Authority (EBA); calls on the Authority to strengthen cooperation with EBA concerning administrative support services and facility management services, which are not related to the core activities; suggests that an audit be conducted once all the costs and consequences of the move are clear in order to identify best practices and areas for improvement;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that 100 % of the budgetary surplus has been allocated to the Commission whereas Member States consider that their contribution share should be refunded to them; calls on the Commission to resolve that issue;deleted

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

Amendment 18 #

Jessica STEGRUD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

Amendment 2 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Stéphane SÉJOURNÉ, Stéphanie YON-COURTIN, Ondřej KOVAŘÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Emphasises that the Authority’s role in promoting a common supervisory and regulatory regime across the European financial system is essential in order to ensure financial stability, a better integrated, more efficient and safer financial market, as well as a high degree of consumer protection in the Union by promoting fairness and transparency on the product and financial services market;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Observes that the cumulated surpluses over the period 2015 to 2018 resulting from fees paid by credit rating agencies and trade repositories in relation to registration, certification and supervision of these entities amounts to EUR 1,1m~~; is of the opinion that those surpluses should not be used to finance other activities~~.

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Observes that the cumulated surpluses over the period 2015 to 2018 resulting from fees paid by credit rating agencies and trade repositories in relation to registration, certification and supervision of these entities amounts to EUR 1,1m; is of the opinion that those surpluses should ~~not be used to~~ be temporary and should not be used to permanently cross-finance other activities.

Amendment 22 #

Jessica STEGRUD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Observes that the cumulated surpluses over the period 2015 to 2018 resulting from fees paid by credit rating agencies and trade repositories in relation to registration, certification and supervision of these entities amounts to EUR 1,1m; is of the opinion that those surpluses should ~~not be used to finance other activiti~~be returned to the Member States.

Amendment 23 #

6 a. Welcomes the Authority’s Report of July 2019 on Preliminary findings on multiple withholding tax reclaim schemes to respond to the European Parliament Resolution 2018/2900 (RSP) of 29 November 2018, whereby the European Parliament requested ESMA to conduct an inquiry into schemes such as Cum/Ex and Cum/Cum; welcomes further that the Authority’s Board of Supervisors has approved the launch of a formal inquiry under Article 22(4) of the ESMA Regulation;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Welcomes the Authority’s inquiry into dividend arbitrage trading schemes such as cum-ex or cum-cum; encourages the Authority to draw concrete conclusions from this inquiry in order to stop ongoing and prevent future practices threatening the integrity of Union financial markets;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Welcomes the publication of records on stakeholder meetings as requested by the European Ombundsman1a; calls on the Authority to follow the European Ombudsman’s suggestion to include in its information for the public an indication of whether detailed records of a specific meeting with stakeholders exist and could therefore be subject to a request for public access to documents, provided that its contents are not commercially sensitive. _________________ 1a https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/de cision/en/122163

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6 c. Calls on the Authority to duly consider the principle of proportionality in its every day work, including by equally considering the contributions of actors of different sizes in its consultations and accounting for the needs of small actors in its guidelines and its Questions and Answers; is concerned that the implementation of supervisory provisions of the Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies in the form of Guidelines and Questions and Answers might overburden smaller actors and might thereby reduce competition in the market1b; _________________ 1bbased on feedback received by Creditreform Rating AG

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. Underlines the responsibility of the financial system in meeting sustainability challenges and ensuring that the Union meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; highlights the crucial role of the Authority in integrating environmental, social and governance related factors into the regulatory and supervisory framework and in mobilising and guiding private capital flows towards sustainable investments; therefore stresses the need for sufficient resources to monitor the implementation of that framework by financial institution and national competent authorities;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1 c. Underlines that the Authority, when carrying out its activities, needs to pay particular attention to ensuring compatibility with Union law, to respecting the principle of proportionality and to complying with the fundamental principles of the internal market;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1 d. Stresses the need to allocate adequate funding and resources to the Authority in order to be able to fulfil its mandate consistently, independently and efficiently;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1 e. Underlines the importance of an open, efficient and independent administration for all Union agencies and the Union as a whole; recalls the problem of conflict of interest arising from ‘revolving door’ situations and stresses the need for a unified legal framework to address these issues;

Amendment 7 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Raffaele FITTO, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI, Patryk JAKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that, while making sure that all assignments are carried out in full and within deadline, the Authority should ~~carefully adhere to~~adhere to and make full use of the tasks and the mandate assigned to it by the European Parliament and the Council;

Amendment 8 #

Markus FERBER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that, while making sure that all assignments are carried out in full and within deadline, the Authority should carefully adhere to the tasks and the mandate assigned to it by the European Parliament and the Council and that the Authority must never attempt to go beyond its mandate; points out that focussing on the mandate assigned by the European Parliament and the Council will lead to a more effective and efficient use of resources;

Amendment 9 #

Markus FERBER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Points out that the principle of proportionality should be a guiding principle for ESMA's work;

source: 644.880

2020/02/03 CONT 20 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2018 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Authority for the financial year 2018;

Amendment 10 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Questions whether the resources allocated to the Authority are sufficient to enable it to fully fulfil its increasing tasks, for example in the fields of securitisation, Prospectus 3 and Money Market Funds (MMFs) where the workload increased but no new staff has been allocated;

Amendment 11 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Notes with satisfaction the reported even gender balance by the Agency with regard to the senior management (1 man and 1 woman) and the Management Board (3 men and 3 women);

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Questions whether the use of temporary workers and external consultancies rather than increasing the number of its own staff is the best use of resources in the long-term;

Amendment 13 #

Bas EICKHOUT

8 a. Notes that the Court has identified a horizontal trend across agencies in the use of external staff hired in IT consultancy roles; calls for the dependency on external recruitment in this important and sensitive area to be reduced as much as possible to limit any potential risks;

Amendment 14 #

Andrey NOVAKOV

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, in 2018, the Authority launched the procurement procedure for the renting of new office space in Paris; notes that initially the Authority had planned a joint procurement procedure with other Union bodies, such as EBA, which was, at the time, preparing for its relocation from London to Paris; notes that the Authorities came to the conclusion that the envisaged advantages of a joint procurement procedure would not materialise and that the Authority and EBA carried out separate procurement procedures for the renting of their office space and other related services, missing the opportunity for economies of scale and efficiency; calls on the Authority to ~~cooperate~~strengthen its cooperation with the other agencies and use joint procurement procedures wherever possible, in order not to miss opportunities for economies of scale and efficiency gains;

Amendment 15 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, in 2018, the Authority launched the procurement procedure for the renting of new office space in Paris; notes that initially the Authority had planned a joint procurement procedure with other Union bodies, such as EBA, which was, at the time, preparing for its relocation from London to Paris; notes that the Authorities came to the conclusion that the envisaged advantages of a joint procurement procedure would not materialise and that the Authority and EBA carried out separate procurement procedures for the renting of their office space and other related services~~, missing the opportunity for economies of scale and efficiency; calls on the Authority to cooper~~; calls on the Authority to strengthen cooperation with the EBA, and other agencies as appropriate, and to use joint procurement procedures wherever possible;

Amendment 16 #

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Welcomes the publication of records on stakeholder meetings, as requested by the European Ombudsman; calls on the Authority to follow the European Ombudsman’s suggestion to include in its information for the public an indication of whether detailed records of a specific meeting with stakeholders exist and could therefore be subject to a quest for public access to documents, provided that its contents are not commercially sensitive.

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that during 2018, the expected withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union had a significant impact on the Authority’s planned work and deliverables, and generated a lot of preparatory work, particularly in the areas of supervisory convergence, prevention of fragmentation and regulatory arbitrage and direct supervision and risk assessment; notes that the Authority analysed in detail what operational impact the expected withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union would have on its organisation, and that it has allocated dedicated staff to provide advice on and regularly report on those issues;

Amendment 18 #

Andrey NOVAKOV, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Petri SARVAMAA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Acknowledges that in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, sufficient resources and instruments will be needed to protect the adequacy and unity of the financial regulatory framework of the Union; notes that this task would require a degree of hierarchy over National Competent Authorities (NCAs) that is currently lacking, since the Board of Supervisors is NCA-dominated and is dependent on NCAs in taking actions; stresses that the new multi-annual framework and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom offer a chance to reassess the funding and the administrative design of the Agency.

Amendment 19 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Calls upon the Authority to focus on disseminating the results of its research to the general public, and to reach out to the public via social media and other media outlets;

Amendment 2 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Andrey NOVAKOV, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Petri SARVAMAA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Underlines the responsibility of the financial system in meeting sustainability challenges and ensuring that the Union meets its obligations undertaken in the framework of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; highlights the crucial role of the Authority in integrating environmental, social and governance related factors into the regulatory and supervisory framework and in mobilising and guiding private capital flows towards sustainable investments; therefore stresses the need for sufficient resources to monitor the implementation of that framework by financial institutions and national competent authorities;

Amendment 3 #

Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1

1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Securities and Markets Authority for the financial year ~~2018 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Securities and Markets Authority for the financial year~~ 2018;

Amendment 4 #

Gilles BOYER, Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Authority, in accordance with the related fees regulation, charges fees to credit rating agencies and such fees should exclusively cover the Authority’s expenditure related to the registration, certification and supervision of credit rating agencies; notes that, in 2017, the fees that the Authority charged credit rating agencies exceeded that expenditure by EUR 853 950 and the Authority spent that surplus on other activities, while in 2018, that expenditure exceeded the fees charged to credit rating agencies by EUR 224 664; notes that the cumulated deviation for the period from 2015 to 2018 amounts to EUR 540 412; observes, furthermore, that the Authority charges fees to trade repositories in accordance with the related fees regulation, and that such fees should exclusively cover expenditure related to the registration and supervision of trade repositories; notes that, in 2017, the Authority’s expenditure related to the registration and supervision of trade repositories exceeded the related fees charged by EUR 452 466, and that, in 2018, the Authority’s expenditure in that same field exceeded the related fees charged by EUR 30 882; notes that the cumulated deviation for the period from 2015 to 2018 amounts to EUR 545 735 (or 6 %); observes that, although the Authority followed the guidance provided by the Commission, surpluses and deficits can lead to an annual cross-financing of activities; notes the Authority’s reply that in 2017, it had to reallocate resources to work on a particular risk related to trade repositories, resulting in a gap between the collected fees and the actual expenditures, while always using the Commission’s guidance on the budgeting model for its fees, and that any short-term imbalance has to be offset in the long term; calls on the Authority to ~~avoid~~continue limiting such cross- financing~~, for example by adjusting the annual fees with the surpluses~~ as long as significandt de~~ficits from previous years or by introduc~~viations are not recurrent ing the ~~assigned revenue model for fee-related activities~~Authority’s budget;

Amendment 5 #