Progress: Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | CONT | CZARNECKI Ryszard ( ECR) | CHRISTOFOROU Lefteris ( EPP), RÓNAI Sándor ( S&D), CHASTEL Olivier ( Renew), EICKHOUT Bas ( Verts/ALE), OMARJEE Younous ( GUE/NGL) |
Committee Opinion | TRAN | GRAPINI Maria ( S&D) | Dominique RIQUET ( RE), Clare DALY ( GUE/NGL) |
Lead committee dossier:
Subjects
Events
The European Parliament decided by 635 votes to 59, with 4 abstentions, to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2019 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year 2019 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 624 votes to 58 with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations contained in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.
Agency’s financial statements
The Agency's final budget for the financial year 2019 was EUR 27 139 347, which represents a decrease of 5.74% compared to 2018.
Budgetary and financial management
Parliament welcomed the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2019, which resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.98 %, equal to the implementation rate in 2018. Payment appropriations execution rate was 92.22 %, representing an increase of 3.27 % compared to 2018.
Due to the expansion of the Agency's mandate under its new Regulation, the Agency started in 2019 to collect fees and charges for certification tasks. The increase in revenue from fees is offset by a decrease in the subsidy to the Agency. Members regretted that the increase in activity was not considered by the Commission as a reason to increase the subsidy.
Parliament called for an increase in the Agency's budget to give it the means to act effectively as an authority and to carry out its tasks, including those related to enhancing competitiveness, improving safety and cross-border interoperability.
The Agency is also invited to break the trend of increasing ex-post non-nonconformities and to emphasise preventive measures.
Other comments
Members also made a series of observations concerning performance, staff policy, procurement, conflicts of interest and internal controls.
In particular, they noted that:
- the Agency has achieved a satisfactory rate of achievement for its key performance indicators and output targets. It is invited to provide the KPI scores and to extend cooperation with all EU agencies;
- on 31 December 2019, the establishment plan was 93.92 % executed, with 139 temporary agents appointed out of 148 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget. Of particular concern is the lack of gender balance in senior management (89% men and 11% women) and the Management Board (70% men and 30% women);
- the Agency needs to further develop a long-term human resources policy framework covering work-life balance, lifelong guidance and career development, gender balance, teleworking, geographical balance and the recruitment and integration of people with disabilities;
- the Agency failed to formally appoint at least one member of an evaluation committee of a procurement procedure, jeopardising the transparency of the procurement procedure. Members noted the measures taken by the Agency to prevent this failure from recurring;
- the Agency's exposure to conflicts of interest increased from 16 June 2019, when the Agency became an authority with significant decision-making powers. The Management Board adopted a framework of good administrative behaviour in May 2019 which contains strict measures on the management of conflicts of interest for those involved in the implementation of the fourth railway package;
- since 16 June 2019, the Agency has successfully started to fulfil its role as the EU authority responsible for issuing marketing authorisations for railway vehicles, single safety certificates for railway undertakings and approvals for trackside equipment in the framework of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). These missions were carried out in conjunction with the eight Member States that had transposed the technical pillar of the fourth railway package in 2019.
Documents
- Decision by Parliament: T9-0189/2021
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A9-0077/2021
- Committee report tabled for plenary: A9-0077/2021
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE680.791
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document: 05793/2021
- Committee opinion: PE660.296
- Committee draft report: PE657.197
- Non-legislative basic document: COM(2020)0288
- Non-legislative basic document: EUR-Lex
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2020)0288
- Non-legislative basic document published: EUR-Lex
- Non-legislative basic document: COM(2020)0288 EUR-Lex
- Committee draft report: PE657.197
- Committee opinion: PE660.296
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document: 05793/2021
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE680.791
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A9-0077/2021
Votes
Décharge 2019 : Agence de l'Union européenne pour les chemins de fer - 2019 discharge: European Union Agency for Railways - Entlastung 2019: Eisenbahnagentur der Europäischen Union - A9-0077/2021 - Ryszard Czarnecki - Propositions de décision #
Décharge 2019 : Agence de l'Union européenne pour les chemins de fer - 2019 discharge: European Union Agency for Railways - Entlastung 2019: Eisenbahnagentur der Europäischen Union - A9-0077/2021 - Ryszard Czarnecki - Proposition de résolution #
Amendments | Dossier |
14 |
2020/2165(DEC)
2021/03/05
CONT
14 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Recalls the importance to increase the digitalisation of the agency in terms of internal operation and management but also in order to speed up the digitalisation of procedures; stresses the need for the agency to continue tobe proactive in this regard in order to avoid a digital gap between the agencies at all costs; draws attention, however, to the need to take all the necessary security measures to avoid any risk to the online security of the information processed;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. Points out the role of the Agency in ensuring the safety and interoperability of the European railway system and in improving the competitiveness of railway with respect to other modes of transport, reducing administrative and technical obstacles, promoting market access and guaranteeing non-discrimination, making more efficient use of public funds in public rail transport services and improving infrastructure governance; supports the Commission's vision of a European rail system that is a world leader in terms of safety performance; calls for an increase of the budget of the Agency in order to provide it with the necessary means to enable it to act as an efficient authority and to fulfil its tasks, particularly those with regard to increasing competitiveness, improving safety and cross-border interoperability;
Amendment 12 #
12 b. Welcomes the fact that, by 16 June 2019, the Agency had successfully started to perform its role as the EU authority responsible for issuing authorisation for placing railway vehicles on the market, single safety certificates for railway undertakings and ERTMS trackside approvals, in the legal framework of the 4thRailway Package; notes that those two missions were conducted in relation to the eight Member States that transposed the technical pillar of the 4th Railway Package in 2019; welcomes the continued development of the ‘one-stop shop’; insists on the need for the Agency to be given the necessary financial, material and human resources alongside greater responsibilities are attributed to the Agency in order to carry out these new and additional functions in an efficient and effective way;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Welcomes the efforts made by the Centre to create an environment-friendly working frame;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 b (new) 13 b. Recalls the importance for the agency to develop greater visibility in the media and on the Internet in order to make its work known;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Encourages the Agency to pursue the digitalization of its services, as a way to reduce bureaucracy;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Urges the Agency to explore possibilities of resources sharing on overlapping tasks among other agencies with similar activities; encourages the Agency to actively seek further and broader cooperation with all of the Union agencies; encourages the Agency to explore the possibility of staff sharing in certain non-expert, technical and administrative fields;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Calls upon the Agency to aim its focus on disseminating the results of its research to the general public;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Is extremely concerned by the total lack of gender balance at the senior management and board management level; invites the Agency to increase its effort to achieve abetter gender balance at all levels;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes with concern the uneven gender balance reported for 2019 for senior managers (89 % male and 11 % female) and the management board (70 % male and 30 % female); asks the Commission and the Member States to take into account the importance of ensuring gender balance when nominating their members to the Agency’s management board;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Encourages the Centre to pursue the development of a long term Human Resources policy framework which addresses the work-life balance, the lifelong guidance and career development, the gender balance, the teleworking, the geographical balance and the recruitment and integration of people with disabilities.
Amendment 8 #
5 b. Notes that the Agency has adopted the policy on protecting the dignity of the person and preventing harassment, confidential counsellors are promoted and staff are encouraged to address their issues to them; notes that one alleged harassment case was reported, but none was investigated nor taken to court;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Notes that the Agency has published the declarations of interests of the management board and senior management, and the CVs of its management board members and of its executive director on their website; calls the Agency to publish the CVs of its senior management and to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken in that regard;
source: 680.791
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