2010/2143(DEC)
2009 discharge: EU general budget, European Parliament
| AFCO | AFET | AGRI | BUDG | CONT | CULT | DEVE | ECON | EMPL | ENVI | FEMM | IMCO | INTA | ITRE | JURI | LIBE | PECH | PETI | REGI | TRAN | |
| Lead Rapporteur | ITÄLÄ Ville (EPP) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Opinion Rapporteur(s) |
Procedure completed
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opinion | AFCO | ||
| Opinion | AFET | ||
| Opinion | AGRI | ||
| Opinion | BUDG | ||
| Lead | CONT | ITÄLÄ Ville (EPP) | SCHALDEMOSE Christel (S&D), GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan (ALDE), STAES Bart (Verts/ALE), SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo (GUE/NGL) |
| Opinion | CULT | ||
| Opinion | DEVE | ||
| Opinion | ECON | ||
| Opinion | EMPL | ||
| Opinion | ENVI | ||
| Opinion | FEMM | ||
| Opinion | IMCO | ||
| Opinion | INTA | ||
| Opinion | ITRE | ||
| Opinion | JURI | ||
| Opinion | LIBE | ||
| Opinion | PECH | ||
| Opinion | PETI | ||
| Opinion | REGI | ||
| Opinion | TRAN |
Activites
- 2011/09/27 Final act published in Official Journal
-
2011/05/10
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
-
T7-0196/2011
summary
The European Parliament adopted by 518 votes to 107, with 34 abstentions, a decision granting discharge to its President in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2009. Parliament also adopted by 534 votes to 91, with 25 abstentions, a resolution containing a number of observations which forms an integral part of the discharge decision. These observations may be summarised as follows: 1) Major changes in Parliament's budget management during 2009: Parliament recognises that the current financial situation requires that Parliament and all the other European Union institutions find the most cost effective ways of using financial and staff resources, including possible savings, as well as electronic tools and methods, to provide efficient services. In an amendment adopted in plenary, Parliament calls for a long-term review of the Parliament's budget and asks for future potential savings to be identified in order to reduce costs and create resources for the long-term running of the Parliament as part of the legislative authority. Parliament deplores, like last year, the significant amount of outstanding actions in respect of the audit carried out by the Internal Auditor on the internal control framework. Although they welcome the fact that a good number of actions are under way, Members encourage all the institution's directorates-general to continue their efforts to improve their procedures in regard to management and control. Noting that 2009 was the first year of implementation for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament and for the Statute for Accredited Parliamentary Assistants, Parliament observes a certain number of initial problems with the implementing measures for the Assistants' Statute. It observes that current rules for payment of the General Expenditure allowance, which state that money is to be paid to a personal account of the Member but which do not require any proof of expenditure, have led to the creation of a division between those Members who account for the expenditure in full and publish details thereof and those who do not adopt such transparent procedures and who, thereby, risk the accusation that a proportion of the allowance is being used to supplement their personal income. It therefore calls on the Secretary-General of the institution to propose arrangements to ensure that expenditure of the allowance is transparent in all cases and used for the purposes intended. As regards the medium-and long-term property policy (buildings strategy), Parliament calls on the Secretary-General to start negotiations with the Belgian authorities with a view to reducing the additional percentage (33%) that the Parliament has to pay if it purchases 'State' owned property. Although it notes improvements in Parliament's governance thanks to information and communication technologies (ITCs), it calls for the introduction of much clearer procedures for procurement in this area. Main remaining challenges: Parliament highlights a certain number of issues that need to be resolved within the institution. These include: security: Parliament strongly disapproves of the evident deficiencies in Parliament's security and calls on the administration to re-deploy the responsible manager to new tasks. It finds it astonishing that around 900 people work in Parliament's security services, most of them as external contract staff and also points to the steady increase in total security costs (some EUR 43 million in 2009). Given these high costs, Parliament expects reforms in this area to increase efficiency. The new security policy should aim to strike a balance between security concerns, on the one hand, and accessibility and openness, on the other hand, in order to enable Parliament to remain, as much as possible, an open and accessible institution. It stresses that more video surveillance is not a desirable way to proceed. It calls for a clear security strategy offering a smart, modern, state-of-the-art security service as well as for improved communication and cooperation with local police forces and for police patrols to be stepped up in the district; Externalisation: Parliament recalls that some 990 external members of staff are accommodated in Parliament's premises. It considers that the need for such accommodation should have to be justified. It deplores Parliament's excessive dependence on external IT or buildings experts; buildings policy: Parliament stresses the need to develop, in-house, the high-quality property expertise that is essential in order significantly to improve the planning and procurement of the future purchases and long-term leases of Parliament's buildings. It asks for an estimate of the loss incurred by the sale of the old Parliament building in Brussels to the Committee of the Regions, taking into account the price per square metre of the offices which are currently being purchased or leased. It also calls for an in-depth analysis of the actual use of Parliament's buildings before any further purchases are undertaken. It considers it preferable that the Parliament's buildings are located close to each other, even if this preference is in contradiction with the fact that there are three official places of work (in three different countries); Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector: Parliament highlights, in relation to the IT applications' development process, the structural problem of a high-degree of reliance on external experts which poses serious legal and operational risks. It calls for an action plan to seek to achieve an adequate mix of Parliament staff and external resources as well as an appropriate balance between internal application development and deliverables-based contracting. It is appalled by the huge data roaming costs reimbursed to staff members who neglect spiralling costs when in Strasbourg and elsewhere outside Brussels. It urges IT management to create a control tool whereby extremely high costs are prevented by the detection of sharp increases in an early stage; exceptional negotiated procedures: faced with the increase in the number and proportion of exceptional negotiated procedures registered between 2007 and 2008, Parliament reiterates its call to the Secretary-General and the Authorising Officers by delegation to take effective and efficient measures in order to reverse that trend and avoid fraud and conflicts of interest. 2) Report on budgetary and financial management:Parliament notes that, in 2009, Parliament received revenue amounting to EUR 141 250 059 (EUR 151 054 374 in 2008) which included EUR 27 576 932 in assigned revenue. It welcomes the positiveStatement of assurance by the Secretary-General as well as the fact that, currently, each Director-General (Authorising Officers by delegation) prepares his or her own Annual Activity Report. It notes, however, some weaknesses in reporting regarding the minimum Internal Control Standards. It therefore reiterates its calls for Parliament's internal control systems to be strengthened and suggests, in the interests of transparency, the publication of certain information on the Parliament's Intranet. Parliament also calls for an Annual report on public contracts awarded. This would highlight the value of procurement contracts, that amount approximately to a third of Parliament's overall budget, given that public procurement is an area vulnerable to mismanagement. It therefore repeats its request to regularly evaluate the procurement systems and in particular to perform internal controls on the contracts awarded in negotiated and restricted procedures. 3) Annual Report of the Court of Auditors for 2009: Parliament welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors found the payments as a whole to be free from material error. However, it notes certain shortcomings in regard to: engagement of temporary and contractual agents allowances for staff organisation and functioning of political groups. As regards the management of Parliament's administration, Parliament comments DG by DG. The key observations relate to: problems in the internal management of the Visitors' Centre (long delay in the opening of the Centre and poor planning and problems in regard to procurement procedures); delays in taking decisions regarding the House of European History and on the total cost of this initiative; the management of visitor groups' costs; the exorbitant cost of WebTV (Parliament calls for a reduction in the cost of this service); the management and relevance of certain prizes awarded by Parliament; the 2009 electoral campaign (a high cost in view of the subsequent poor participation rate); the Washington liaison office; the official transport system which costs EUR 1.3 million in Strasbourg and EUR 2.4 million in Brussels (the plenary calls for cost reductions in this area); certain recruitment (such as the recruitment of Members' family members as assistants- or the over-representation of some nationalities among the officials. Missions to the three places of work: once again, Parliament stresses the need to further rationalise the missions between the three working places, justifying and monitoring them better in order to avoid unnecessary missions and costs. Given the lack of available human resources in some languages and by the fact that new supplies of interpreters and translators may be put at risk by lack of university curricula in some Member States, Parliament proposes that, for certain meetings, interpretation services are only provided in the six most commonly used languages (FR, DE, EN, PL, ES, IT). It recalls the current budget constraints in many Member States due to the financial and economic crisis and the need to critically review expenditure, including at Union level. In this regard, the plenary stresses that real savings could be achieved if Parliament only had one workplace in the same location. Lastly, Parliament makes the following recommendations with a view to: further limiting Parliament's actuarial deficit (which went from some EUR 120 million in 2008 to EUR 84.5 million in 2009) thanks to the improvements in the markets. In this regard, the plenary welcomed Parliament's Bureau's decision that Parliament would assume its legal responsibility to guarantee the right of members of its voluntary pension scheme to a supplementary pension and that the pension age would rise from 60 to 63; Greening the Parliament by means of a series of initiatives to reduce certain expenditures and by reducing Parliament's carbon footprint.
- Results of vote in Parliament
-
T7-0196/2011
summary
- 2011/03/28 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- 2011/03/28 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- 2011/03/22 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
-
2011/02/17
Deadline Amendments
- 2011/02/03 Committee draft report
- 2010/10/07 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
-
2010/07/20
Non-legislative basic document published
-
SEC(2010)0963
summary
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009, as part of the 2009 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the EU Institutions: Section I - European Parliament. CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Parliament. The document helps to bring insight into the EU budget mechanism and the way in which the budget has been managed and spent in 2009. It recalls that European Union's operational expenditure covers the various headings of the financial framework and takes different forms, depending on how the money is paid out and managed. In accordance with the Financial Regulation, the Commission implements the general budget using the following methods: direct centralised management: direct implementation of the budget by the Commission services; indirect centralised management: the Commission confers tasks of implementation of the budget to bodies of EU law or national law, such as the EU agencies of public law or with public service missions; decentralised management: the Commission delegates certain tasks for implementation of the budget to third countries; shared management: under this method of management budget implementation tasks are delegated to Member States. The majority of the expenditure falls under this mode "Shared Management" involving the delegation of tasks to Member States, covering such areas as agricultural spending and Structural Actions; joint management: under this method, the Commission entrusts certain implementation tasks to an international organisation. The document also presents the different financial actors involved in the budget process (accounting officers, internal officers and authorising officers) and recalls their respective roles in the context of the tasks of sound financial management. Amongst the other legal elements relating to the implementation of the EU budget presented in this document, the paper focuses on the following issues: · the way in which EU public expenditure is committed and spent; · the means of recovery following irregularities detected; · the modus operandi of the accounting system: · the audit process followed by the European Parliament's granting of the discharge. To recall, the final control is the discharge of the budget for a given financial year. The discharge represents the political aspect of the external control of budget implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission from its responsibility for management of a given budget by marking the end of that budget's existence. Lastly, the document presents a series of tables and detailed technical indicators on (i) the balance sheet; (ii) the economic outturn account; (iii) cashflow tables; (iv) technical annexes concerning the financial statements. Implementation of appropriations under Section I of the budget for the financial year 2009: the document comprises a series of detailed tables, the most important concerning the implementation of the budget. Concerning the European Parliament's expenditure, the table on the financial and budgetary implementation of this institution shows the following: A) Table showing the commitment appropriations: · Commitments: EUR 1 467 million (91.94% rate of implementation) · Carry-overs to 2010: EUR 26 million (1.65% of authorised appropriations) · Cancelled: EUR 102 million B) Table showing the implementation of payments: · Payments: EUR 1 466 million (81.5% rate of implementation) · Carry-overs to 2010: EUR 212 million (11.78% of authorised appropriations) · Cancellations: EUR 121 million. Lastly, the annexes detail specific expenditure of the institutions, in particular: · pensions: an administrative budget heading includes the pension obligations towards Members and former Members of the EU institutions. Also included under this heading is a liability relating to the pensions of certain Members of Parliament; · joint sickness insurance scheme: a valuation is also made for the estimated liability that the EU has regarding its contributions to the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme in relation to its retired staff. This gross liability has been valued at EUR 3 535 million; · buildings: another heading covers the amounts included correspond to amounts committed to be paid during the term of the contracts. Included here is the outstanding contractual obligation of EUR 441 million relating to building contracts of the Parliament in 2009. For further details on the budgetary implementation of expenditure of Section I of the budget (European Parliament), please refer to the Report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year 2009 (European Parliament). This report outlines the use made of financial resources and the events which had a significant influence on activities during the year. Among the objectives set for Parliament's Secretariat in 2009, special attention should be drawn to the following: · the information campaign for the 2009 European elections and communication activities; · implementation of the new statutes for Members and assistants; · restructuring and consolidation of Parliament's Secretariat; · preparations for implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. The report gives an overview of the results achieved as against the objectives set for 2009.
-
SEC(2010)0963
summary
-
2010/07/20
Date
-
2010/07/20
Non-legislative basic document
-
SEC(2010)0963
summary
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009, as part of the 2009 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the EU Institutions: Section I - European Parliament. CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Parliament. The document helps to bring insight into the EU budget mechanism and the way in which the budget has been managed and spent in 2009. It recalls that European Union's operational expenditure covers the various headings of the financial framework and takes different forms, depending on how the money is paid out and managed. In accordance with the Financial Regulation, the Commission implements the general budget using the following methods: direct centralised management: direct implementation of the budget by the Commission services; indirect centralised management: the Commission confers tasks of implementation of the budget to bodies of EU law or national law, such as the EU agencies of public law or with public service missions; decentralised management: the Commission delegates certain tasks for implementation of the budget to third countries; shared management: under this method of management budget implementation tasks are delegated to Member States. The majority of the expenditure falls under this mode "Shared Management" involving the delegation of tasks to Member States, covering such areas as agricultural spending and Structural Actions; joint management: under this method, the Commission entrusts certain implementation tasks to an international organisation. The document also presents the different financial actors involved in the budget process (accounting officers, internal officers and authorising officers) and recalls their respective roles in the context of the tasks of sound financial management. Amongst the other legal elements relating to the implementation of the EU budget presented in this document, the paper focuses on the following issues: · the way in which EU public expenditure is committed and spent; · the means of recovery following irregularities detected; · the modus operandi of the accounting system: · the audit process followed by the European Parliament's granting of the discharge. To recall, the final control is the discharge of the budget for a given financial year. The discharge represents the political aspect of the external control of budget implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission from its responsibility for management of a given budget by marking the end of that budget's existence. Lastly, the document presents a series of tables and detailed technical indicators on (i) the balance sheet; (ii) the economic outturn account; (iii) cashflow tables; (iv) technical annexes concerning the financial statements. Implementation of appropriations under Section I of the budget for the financial year 2009: the document comprises a series of detailed tables, the most important concerning the implementation of the budget. Concerning the European Parliament's expenditure, the table on the financial and budgetary implementation of this institution shows the following: A) Table showing the commitment appropriations: · Commitments: EUR 1 467 million (91.94% rate of implementation) · Carry-overs to 2010: EUR 26 million (1.65% of authorised appropriations) · Cancelled: EUR 102 million B) Table showing the implementation of payments: · Payments: EUR 1 466 million (81.5% rate of implementation) · Carry-overs to 2010: EUR 212 million (11.78% of authorised appropriations) · Cancellations: EUR 121 million. Lastly, the annexes detail specific expenditure of the institutions, in particular: · pensions: an administrative budget heading includes the pension obligations towards Members and former Members of the EU institutions. Also included under this heading is a liability relating to the pensions of certain Members of Parliament; · joint sickness insurance scheme: a valuation is also made for the estimated liability that the EU has regarding its contributions to the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme in relation to its retired staff. This gross liability has been valued at EUR 3 535 million; · buildings: another heading covers the amounts included correspond to amounts committed to be paid during the term of the contracts. Included here is the outstanding contractual obligation of EUR 441 million relating to building contracts of the Parliament in 2009. For further details on the budgetary implementation of expenditure of Section I of the budget (European Parliament), please refer to the Report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year 2009 (European Parliament). This report outlines the use made of financial resources and the events which had a significant influence on activities during the year. Among the objectives set for Parliament's Secretariat in 2009, special attention should be drawn to the following: · the information campaign for the 2009 European elections and communication activities; · implementation of the new statutes for Members and assistants; · restructuring and consolidation of Parliament's Secretariat; · preparations for implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. The report gives an overview of the results achieved as against the objectives set for 2009.
- DG Budget, ŠEMETA Algirdas
-
SEC(2010)0963
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: SEC(2010)0963
- Non-legislative basic document: SEC(2010)0963
- Committee draft report: PE450.727
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0094/2011
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0094/2011
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0196/2011
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- : Decision 2011/548
- : OJ L 250 27.09.2011, p. 0001
Votes
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Decision
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 518 | 75 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 233 | 154 | 48 | 0 |
| Against | 107 | 0 | 49 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 34 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - § 5
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 326 | 73 | 50 | 13 | 29 | 19 | 34 | 60 | 48 | 7 |
| Against | 296 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 193 | 88 | 1 | 3 |
| Abstain | 31 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 1 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 3
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 260 | 72 | 50 | 25 | 31 | 22 | 10 | 48 | 2 | 1 |
| Against | 387 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 221 | 115 | 48 | 1 |
| Abstain | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 5
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 168 | 12 | 51 | 25 | 32 | 22 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 2 |
| Against | 488 | 63 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 233 | 141 | 47 | 0 |
| Abstain | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 7
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 435 | 13 | 51 | 26 | 32 | 23 | 230 | 12 | 48 | 1 |
| Against | 216 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 153 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - § 86
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 632 | 72 | 51 | 23 | 27 | 18 | 230 | 162 | 49 | 0 |
| Against | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - § 90
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 599 | 71 | 50 | 22 | 5 | 21 | 221 | 160 | 49 | 2 |
| Against | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 27 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 16 S
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 212 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 137 | 49 | 0 |
| Against | 433 | 71 | 48 | 25 | 30 | 19 | 211 | 28 | 1 | 1 |
| Abstain | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 8
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 124 | 3 | 51 | 21 | 4 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Against | 494 | 71 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 214 | 152 | 45 | 2 |
| Abstain | 29 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 9
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 122 | 3 | 45 | 22 | 8 | 20 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Against | 503 | 70 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 217 | 152 | 49 | 5 |
| Abstain | 24 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 17 S
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 428 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 221 | 149 | 45 | 2 |
| Against | 200 | 68 | 48 | 22 | 16 | 21 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| Abstain | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Am 18 S
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 440 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 225 | 150 | 47 | 2 |
| Against | 195 | 71 | 49 | 22 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| Abstain | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 10
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 109 | 2 | 51 | 23 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Against | 517 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 228 | 155 | 50 | 0 |
| Abstain | 32 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 11
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 106 | 0 | 47 | 23 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Against | 512 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 228 | 154 | 48 | 0 |
| Abstain | 29 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Amendment 12
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 107 | 0 | 51 | 14 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Against | 526 | 74 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 228 | 163 | 49 | 0 |
| Abstain | 20 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - § 129/2
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 621 | 73 | 50 | 23 | 17 | 16 | 231 | 162 | 49 | 1 |
| Against | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - § 143
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 516 | 74 | 51 | 11 | 28 | 19 | 229 | 58 | 46 | 4 |
| Against | 117 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 97 | 0 | 0 |
| Abstain | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
A7-0094/2011 - Ville Itälä - Resolution
| Position | Total | ALDE | ECR | EFD | GUE/NGL | NI | PPE | S&D | Verts/ALE | correctional |
| For | 534 | 71 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 7 | 228 | 148 | 49 | 1 |
| Against | 91 | 1 | 49 | 21 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Abstain | 25 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| Amendments | Dossier |
| 162 |
2010/2143(DEC) 2009 discharge: EU general budget, European Parliament
2011/02/22
CONT
162 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph -1 a (new) -1a. Acknowledges that the current financial situation necessitates that the Parliament, along with all Union institutions, find the most cost effective ways of using financial and staff resources, as well as electronic tools and methods, to provide efficient services;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that, in its resolution of 5 May 2010, on discharge to Parliament for the financial year 2008, Parliament deplores the great number (88 out of 452) and significant proportion of outstanding actions in respect of the audit carried out by the Internal Auditor on the internal control framework; notes with satisfaction the replies by the Secretary-General to the discharge questionnaire according to which, in the opinion of the Directors General, considerable progress took place in the implementation of the action items adopted by them: by the end of 2010 they considered 51 actions to have been fully implemented (including all of the 4 critical actions), 31 actions to have been partially implemented, whilst for 6 actions most of the work still needed to be done; requests however that the assessment and validation by its Internal Auditor of these self- assessments be included in its forthcoming annual report; also requests the Secretary- General to report on a three-monthly basis to the Committee on Budgetary Control
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that DG ITEC was the most concerned, with 22 open actions; notes with satisfaction that, according to the Internal Auditor, the Directorate for Information Technology within DG ITEC, has implemented 19 of the 22 open actions and, in the process, has made significant progress in developing its control framework; encourages all its Directorates general concerned to continue their efforts to improve their respective management and control procedures; is of the opinion that for the remaining three open actions, an implementation deadline should be set;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that DG ITEC was the most concerned, with 22 open actions; notes with satisfaction that, according to the Internal Auditor, the Directorate for Information Technology within DG ITEC, has implemented 19 of the 22 open actions and, in the process, has made significant progress in developing its control framework; underlines, however, that it is not progress but accomplishments that should count when deciding on discharge and encourages all its Directorates general concerned to continue their efforts to improve their respective management and control procedures;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that DG ITEC was the most concerned, with 22 open actions; notes with satisfaction that, according to the Internal Auditor, the Directorate for Information Technology within DG ITEC, has implemented 19 of the 22 open actions and, in the process, has made significant progress in developing its control framework; encourages all its Directorates general concerned to continue their efforts to improve their respective management and control procedures, calls on the Internal Auditor to set stricter timetables on actions to be implemented;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Notes that 2009 was the first year of implementation for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament and for the Statute for Accredited Parliamentary Assistants; observes a certain number of initial problems with the implementing measures for the Assistants' Statute, welcomes however the fact that a Temporary Evaluation Group, set up within the Bureau, on the Members' and Assistants' Statutes has proposed amendments to the implementing measures for the Members' Statute concerning (i) Members' travel, (ii) Members' sickness insurance and reimbursement of medical expenses, (iii) travel by assistants on mission, (iv) duration and renewal of assistants' contracts, (v) assistants' professional training, and (vi) rules concerning Members' trainees as well as other amendments to the Assistants' Statute, in particular on (i) use of the parliamentary assistance and general expenditure allowances, (ii) paying agents, and (iii) revision of the complaints and appeals procedure for Members; stresses that these amendments should be implemented at the latest by 30 November 2011;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Notes that 2009 was the first year of implementation for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament and for the Statute for Accredited Parliamentary Assistants; observes a certain number of initial problems with the implementing measures for the Assistants' Statute, welcomes however the fact that a Temporary Evaluation Group, set up within the Bureau, on the Members' and Assistants' Statutes has proposed amendments to the implementing measures for the Members' Statute concerning (i) Members' travel, (ii) Members' sickness insurance and reimbursement of medical expenses, (iii) travel by assistants on mission, (iv) duration and renewal of assistants' contracts, (v) assistants' professional training, and (vi) rules concerning Members' trainees as well as other amendments to the Assistants' Statute, in particular on (i) use of the parliamentary assistance and general expenditure allowances, (ii) paying agents, and (iii) revision of the complaints and appeals procedure for Members; observes that, despite the amendments proposed by the Temporary Evaluation Group, various issues remained to be solved in 2010, including the unsuccessful search for a paying agent, the conflict with sickness expenditure and the employment of family members;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Notes however that carrying out checks on the actual ways in which assistants on mission travel was not among the proposed amendments, leaving the door wide open to abuse ; requests that its relevant management services carry out regular checks on parliamentary assistants' travel, in particular for missions where the assistant's own car was allegedly used;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Observes that current rules for the payment of the General Expenditure allowance, which state that money be paid to a personal account of the Member but do not require any proof of expenditure, have led to the creation of a division between Members, whereby some account for the expenditure in full and publish details thereof, while those who do not adopt such transparent procedures risk the accusation that a proportion of the allowance may be used to supplement their personal income; calls on the Secretary-General to propose arrangements to ensure that expenditure of the allowance is transparent in all cases and used for the purposes intended;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes the significant increase in the workload registered by the administration, relating to the entry into force of the new Statutes; notes with concern the more complicated procedure as regards accredited assistants' missions outside the three places of work and considers that, in spite of considerable increase in staffing, there are insufficient staff members in the Members' service and the services dealing with assistants and requests, therefore, the redeployment by the administration of additional staff in order to cope with the increased workload; requests, moreover, that an evaluation/assessment be made and forwarded to its competent committees by 30 September 2011 on the experience gained of the implementation of the two Statutes following the first full year of their implementation,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes th
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes the significant increase in the workload registered by the administration, relating to the entry into force of the new Statutes; notes with concern the more complicated procedure as regards accredited assistants' missions outside the three places of work and considers that, in spite of considerable increase in staffing, there are insufficient staff members in the Members' service and the services dealing with assistants and requests, therefore, the redeployment by the administration of additional staff in order to cope with the increased workload; requests, moreover, that an evaluation/assessment be made and forwarded to all the members of its competent committees by 30 September 2011 on the experience gained of the implementation of the two Statutes following the first full year of their implementation, as well as on their financial implications for Parliament's budget;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes the significant increase in the workload registered by the administration, relating to the entry into force of the new Statutes; notes with concern the more complicated procedure as regards accredited assistants' missions outside the three places of work and considers that, in spite of considerable increase in staffing, there are insufficient staff members in the Members' service and the services dealing with assistants and requests, therefore, the redeployment by the administration of additional staff in order to cope with the increased workload; requests, moreover, that an evaluation/assessment be made and forwarded to its competent committees by 30 September 2011 on the experience gained of the implementation of the two Statutes following the first full year of their implementation, as well as on their financial implications for Parliament's budget, including the provisions to be made for possible extra office space;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes the significant increase in the workload registered by the administration, relating to the entry into force of the new Statutes; notes with concern the more complicated procedure as regards accredited assistants' missions outside the three places of work and considers that, in spite of considerable increase in staffing, there are insufficient staff members in the Members' service and the services dealing with assistants and requests, therefore, the redeployment by the administration of additional staff in order to cope with the increased workload; requests, moreover, that a
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Welcomes the
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Applauds especially the medium- and long-term property policy (buildings strategy) approved by the Bureau on 24 March 2010, which takes into account Parliament's increased responsibilities under the Treaty of Lisbon, the rules governing allocation of space, the need for accommodation of certain external staff and the need for maintenance/renovation of buildings; is of the opinion that an evaluation and rationalisation of the actual office space should be conducted before decisions are taken on the purchase of new buildings; calls further on the Secretary General to conduct negotiations with the Belgium authorities aimed at reducing the extra percentage (33%) to be paid if Parliament purchases "State" owned property;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Requests the Bureau to send the minutes of the quarterly meetings between the Bureau's audit panel and the internal auditors to the Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Subheading -1 (new) (under heading "Main remaining challenges") Cost control
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Insists that, in a time of austerity, Parliament must lead by example, by controlling its costs and by carefully managing its resources; request specifically that funds for any additional expenditure that is required for enlargement of the Union or to respond to changing priorities be found by making savings elsewhere;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) (under subheading "Security") 8a. Condemns the third consecutive robbery inside what should be Parliament's secure premises; strongly disapproves of the evident deficiencies in Parliament's security; calls on its administration to re-deploy the responsible manager to new tasks;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Finds it astonishing that around 900 people work in Parliament's security services, most of them as external contract staff and also points to the steady increase in total security costs (some EUR 43 000 000 in 2009); requests, in the light of recent security incidents, the overhaul of these services in order to increase their efficiency; strongly suggests that the two major contracts for security services, both physical and technical, will not be concluded with the same firm as is now the case;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Finds it astonishing that around 900 people work in Parliament's security services, most of them as external contract staff and
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Welcomes in this respect the establishment, from 1 January 2010, of a new Directorate in charge of Security and requests the newly established Directorate to conduct an in-depth review of Parliament's security policy and to work on proposals to adopt security solutions for Parliament which are more technology- oriented and cheaper
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Welcomes in this respect the establishment, from 1 January 2010, of a new Directorate in charge of Security and requests the newly established Directorate to conduct an in-depth review of Parliament's security policy and to work on proposals to adopt security solutions for Parliament which are more technology- oriented and cheaper , resulting in considerable savings in terms of staff and
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Welcomes in this respect the establishment, from 1 January 2010, of a new Directorate in charge of Security and requests the newly established Directorate to conduct an in-depth review of Parliament's security policy and to work on proposals to adopt security solutions for Parliament which are more technology- oriented and cheaper , resulting in considerable savings in terms of staff and budget, and which ensure the recruitment of highly professional staff, and offer not only a more efficient but also a more reliable and effective service;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Considers that the new security policy should aim to strike a balance which is cost effective between internal staff and external agents and between security concerns, on the one hand, and accessibility and openness, on the other hand, in order to enable Parliament to remain, as much as possible, an open and accessible institution; stresses that more video surveillance is not a desirable way to go forward;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11a. Notes that one of the weak spots in the security of Parliament today is that Members can enter and exit the buildings without submitting their badges to electronic control; believes that it should be considered to be mandatory for Members to show their badge when going in and out of the Parliament;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11a. Observes that the arrangements for signing in Members' visitors are slow and cumbersome by comparison to those of the European Commission and those of many national parliaments where security is of equal importance, and that this results in unnecessary delays and inconvenience for visitors, Members and their assistants; invites the Secretary- General to study the practices of parliaments elsewhere and thereafter to recommend adoption of improved procedures;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 – point i Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 – point i i) electronic signature for Members (instead of the current, archaic and costly system of signatures on paper with data entered manually by staff);
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 – point i i) electronic signature for Members (instead of the current, archaic system of signatures on paper with data entered manually by staff), whilst making sure that the new system leaves no room for abuse;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 – point iv iv) an internalised accreditation system for visitors
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 – point iv a (new) iv)a security drills comparable to fire alarm drills;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12a Considering the breaches of security on Parliament's premises, the final concept of the security strategy should be presented no later than 30 November 2011;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 – point ii a (new) ii)a who has access to the recordings;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 – point ii b (new) ii)b how visitors are informed about the video-surveillance system;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 – point ii a (new) ii)a whether the many cameras and the video surveillance have helped to prevent, detect or resolve thefts or in general how they have helped to increase the level of security in the Parliament;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Deplores the lack of security in Parliament's vicinity and is of the opinion that improved communication and cooperation with local police forces
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Deplores the lack of security in Parliament's vicinity and is of the opinion that improved cooperation with local police forces
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 a (new) 15a. Is of the opinion that the efforts aimed at increasing security should also include fire protection and fire alarm exercises and that such training should be organised at least twice a year for all users of Parliament's premises;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 b (new) 15b. Notes that the arrangements for Members to sign in order to claim attendance allowance when Parliament is not in session continue to be a source of public criticism, particular when Members are observed to sign at 07.00 and immediately then depart from the Parliament, and recommends that the procedure for signing be restricted to the normal working hours of the Parliament;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 c (new) 15c. Requests information on any derogations of the common practice of job rotation, after seven years in the same job at the very latest, of staff, and in particular people in so-called "sensitive posts";
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Deplores the overdependence on external (technical) expertise, especially in the IT and buildings sectors resulting from structural imbalances between internal and external resources and calls for a cost- effective balance to be struck between in- house and external expertise in each area of parliamentary activity; therefore considers that a cost-benefit analysis should be carried out to inform decisions regarding the hire of external expertise;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 a (new) 18a. Asks for an estimate of the loss incurred by the sale of the old Parliament building in Brussels to the Committee of the Regions, taking into account the price per square metre of the offices which are currently being purchased or leased;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 19. Calls on the Secretary-General, with the assistance of DG INLO and all DGs to carry out a in-depth analysis of the actual use of Parliament's buildings and of the need for rules applicable to all categories of users and to develop, as a matter of priority, a single, reliable database containing all relevant information about all the persons accommodated in Parliament's buildings; observes that the Bureau decision on Parliament's medium- and long-term property policy constitutes a good starting point in this respect; calls on DG INLO to scrupulously implement the action plan agreed with the Internal Auditor; calls for a comparative analysis of capital, capital service and maintenance costs per square meter of office space occupied as against the current rental cost of office space in the ‘European district’ in Brussels; demands that, before any more office buildings are purchased, their value must be ascertained by means of discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes the two priority projects necessitating important new office surfaces to be found: a second crèche in Brussels and a second assistant's office; stresses in this context the need for Parliament's buildings to be located close to each other in order to achieve more efficiency and also for environmental reasons; believes that an analysis of future building needs should include full financial assessments in addition to consideration of the most practical solutions;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes th
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes the two priority projects necessitating important new office surfaces to be found: a second crèche in Brussels and a second assistant's office; stresses in this context the need for Parliament's buildings to be located close to each other in order to achieve more efficiency and also for environmental reasons, but not at all costs;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes the two priority projects necessitating important new office surfaces to be found: a second crèche in Brussels and a possible second assistant's office if no other solutions such as the removal of the sanitation units can be found; stresses in this context the need for Parliament's buildings to be located close to each other in order to achieve more efficiency and also for environmental reasons;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes th
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 a (new) 20a. Considers it preferable that the Parliament's buildings are located close to each other; recalls, however, that this preference is in contradiction with the fact that there are three official places of work; stresses in this context that there is sufficient office space available for rent in the immediate vicinity of the European Parliament in Brussels, which could satisfy office space needs in the medium term and at the same time comply with the Parliament's financial and operating efficiency and environmental objectives;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Encourages its administration to negotiate an inter-institutional agreement with the Commission on the financial arrangements for the purchase of ‘Europe Houses’ (EP Information Offices), which is to include clear paragraphs on cost reductions;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 22. Welcomes the more structured approach to ICT and the elaboration of a comprehensive strategy in this field; further welcomes the commitment by its administration in its answers to the questionnaire to launch a study on the possibility of replacement of external staff;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 24 24. Calls therefore on DG ITEC to scrupulously implement the action plan agreed with the Internal Auditor and to aim to achieve an adequate mix of Parliament staff and external resources as well as an appropriate balance between internal application development and deliverables- based contracting; takes note of the lack of qualified candidates on EPSO lists in the field of IT security; supports also the suggestion to urgently organise separate AD7 competitions in this field;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 24 a (new) 24a. Is appalled by the huge data roaming costs reimbursed to staff members who neglect spiralling costs when in Strasbourg and elsewhere outside Brussels; urges IT management to create a control tool whereby extremely high costs are prevented by the detection of sharp increases in an early stage;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 25. Draws attention to the fact that, for Parliament, the increasing use of external companies for implementing IT projects, in addition to being financially detrimental, runs the risk that it will lose important parts of its know-how as well as its ability to manage and supervise projects delivered by external contractors; furthermore calls for use of external companies to be based on a cost-benefit analysis; moreover because of the increasing role and importance of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in the work of European Parliament, it deems to be important to raise the role of ICT management to a higher level, also to ensure higher security protection;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 25. Draws attention to the fact that, for Parliament, the increasing use of external companies for implementing IT projects, in addition to being financially detrimental, runs the risk that it will lose important parts of its know-how as well as its ability to manage and supervise projects delivered by external contractors; demands DG ITEC to provide information on the costs of externalising the computing centres in comparison to previous costs in its activity report for 2010;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 27. Is concerned to see the continuing upward trend in the number of exceptional negotiated procedures and reiterates its call to the Secretary-General and the Authorising Officers by delegation to take effective and efficient measures in order to reverse that trend and to report to its competent committee by 30 September 2011 on the measures taken
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 a (new) 27a. Wishes to be informed about the savings made under Article 24(5) of the implementing measures for the statute for Members of the European Parliament, which provides that "if the duration of the Member's stay at the place of work is less than four hours and the journeys to and from the place of work are undertaken on the same day, the subsistence allowance shall be reduced by half";
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 a (new) 28a. Finds that the possibility of posing written questions to the other institutions should be improved by providing appropriate forms for each of the institutions as well as adapting Parliament's Rules of Procedure;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 30 a (new) 30a. Considers that an additional column should be added to the table containing the relevant data for the previous year in order to provide better transparency and facilitate comparisons;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 31.
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 31. Notes with satisfaction that for the first time in 2009 no mopping-up transfer took place at the end of the financial year, after a number of years when the possibility of mopping-up was used(mostly to purchase buildings by making advance payments against the annual lease payments) , which suggests a better budget planning and discipline which is
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 31. Notes with satisfaction that for the first time in 2009 no mopping-up transfer took place at the end of the financial year, after a number of years when the possibility of mopping-up was used(mostly to purchase buildings by making advance payments against the annual lease payments) , which suggests a better budget planning and discipline which is to be praised; encourages its administration to pursue this objective in the future
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 33 33. Notes that, currently, each Director- General (Authorising Officers by delegation) prepares his/her own Annual Activity Report, and that no overall Activity Report for the Institution as a whole is drafted and adopted; invites the Secretary-General to consider issuing a more readable, consolidated version (a summary) of the Annual Activity Reports, as is already the case with other institutions, whilst making sure that the annexes of the reports are not scanned but uploaded in such a way as to permit computer searches; takes the view that the report on budgetary and financial management is distinct from the suggested synthesis of annual activity reports;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 33 33. Notes that, currently, each Director- General (Authorising Officers by delegation) prepares his/her own Annual Activity Report, and that no overall Activity Report for the Institution as a whole is drafted and adopted; invites the Secretary-General to consider issuing a more readable, consolidated version (a summary) of the Annual Activity Reports for the 2010 discharge procedure, as is already the case with other institutions; takes the view that the report on budgetary and financial management is distinct from the suggested synthesis of annual activity reports;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 38 a (new) 38a. Notes that finding out where the money under different budget headings is actually flowing or being used, demands great extra efforts on the part of Members and the public; , therefore, in order to increase transparency, proposes the creation of a user-friendly tool on the Internet showing money flows not only in figures, but also through lines of different sizes, reflecting those figures and making the necessary connections from one actor in the chain to another, at the various different levels of action, so that those money flows may be easily recognised and traced to as concrete a level of the usage of money as possible, whilst always taking into account the protection of privacy;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 a (new) 39a. Stresses that the value of procurement contracts amounts approximately to a third of Parliament's overall budget and that public procurement is the area most vulnerable to mismanagement, fraud and corruption; therefore repeats its request to regularly evaluate the procurement systems and in particular to perform internal controls of the contracts awarded in negotiated and restricted procedures;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 b (new) 39b. Asks the Secretary-General to report whether the increase of the ceiling for low-value contracts from EUR 25 000 to EUR 60 000 in 2007 has facilitated access by small companies as intended without substantially weakening scrutiny of the procurement process; notes that these contracts made up only 0,76 % in value but 39,29 % in number of the total contracts awarded;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 41 – introductory part 41. Notes in particular the steady increase in 2009 (although at a slower pace than in 2008 as compared to 2007) in the number of exceptional negotiated procedures as shown in the following breakdown; expects that this trend will be substantially reversed in the coming years;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 42 42. Notes that the audit of the Court of Auditors found the payments as a whole to be free from material error and the Court of Auditors found no material weaknesses when assessing the compliance of supervisory and control systems with the Financial Regulation; would welcome an indication of actual working hours spent by the Court of Auditors on controlling the account books of Parliament;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 43 43. Notes the finding of the Court of Auditors that, in five cases out of 20, documents providing evidence of compliance with the rules relating to the classification of staff as members of the temporary or of the contractual staff and to the fulfilment of linguistic, military and other obligations were not provided; takes note of the responses given by Parliament in the contradictory procedure with the Court of Auditors; requests information on the number of temporary staff that have been employed by Parliament for a period longer than the maximum period provided for (six years), and questions this practice in view of existing waiting lists of people who have taken and been successful in expensive EU competitions to fill these posts;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 45 45. Notes with satisfaction th
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 46 46. Notes that Article 12(9) of the Parliament's Internal Rules for the implementation of the budget, adopted on 27 April 2005, provide that the Internal Auditor's area of competence does not include the appropriations from Parliament's budget managed by political groups; further notes that the specific rules on the use of those appropriations require each political group to establish its own internal financial rules and to implement an internal control system
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 47 47.
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 48 48. Stresses that it is the responsibility of the political groups to put in place their internal
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 48 a (new) 48a. Welcomes the fact that the calculation of the carry forward was made in the same manner as for the election year 2004, when the 50 % rule was applied for the aggregated figures for the two six-month periods;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 48 b (new) 48b. Notes that all political groups have chosen to remunerate their secretaries general at AD 16; asks whether the differences in size of the respective groups- ranging from 265 to 30 Members- should not be reflected in a difference in grade for the respective secretaries general.
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 50 50. Recalls its request, in its resolution of 5 May 2010, that the Secretary-General contact the other EU institutions in order to establish a central database for the studies that they are conducting
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 51 51. Notes with satisfaction that the Secretary-General has sent letters reminding the Directors-General to implement the critical actions agreed between the Internal Auditor and their services; notes with concern that Directors-General apparently need to be reminded of the necessity to comply with the recommendations of the Internal Auditor;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 53 53. Welcomes the fact that, with effect from 1 September 2009, the Internal Audit Service has been attached, for administrative purposes, to the Secretary- General; notes with satisfaction that this important change is in line with the professional standards on the organisational independence of the Internal Audit Service and it enhances both the effectiveness of the internal audit activity and the perception of its independent and objective role by the audited departments; concludes that, although actual and perceived independence was then deemed to be of great importance , this was not the case for 2/3 of the year in respect of which the grant of the discharge was considered;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 55 a (new) 55a. Is of the opinion that the internal audit reports should be made available, under specific conditions, to the Members of the Committee on Budgetary Control; urges the Chair of that committee to agree with the Secretary-General on those conditions;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 59 59. Notes the high cost of measures to prevent a possible H1N1 influenza outbreak implemented between mid- September 2009 and the end of March 2010, amounting to some EUR 1 261 000; stresses the need to evaluate the number of people who are likely to request the vaccine before purchasing vaccine in the future;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 61 61. Stresses the fundamental importance of specific knowledge management, in particular in the work of the committees, and the need for permanent and up-to-date knowledge in their fields of operation; recalls the high number of newly elected Members in recent parliamentary terms; asks the Bureau to reflect on the possibility of providing further specific information and training for Members including specific measures for the new "Lisbon" Members and the future "observer" Members from Croatia;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 62 62. Welcomes the establishment of a support system for the security of delegations outside the three places of work of which the main objective is to furnish Parliament's hierarchy with all the relevant information needed to provide assistance to delegation members in case of an emergency situation; points out the importance of the 24/7 Hotline, the post of Security Unit Duty Officer and appropriate security training and security briefings, as well as the creation of a future crisis cell; would like be informed on the total costs of this operation;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 63. Notes that the human resources available to DG Communication consisted of 722 posts as at 31 December 2009 and the final appropriations managed amounted to EUR 80 935 000; asks to review the number and location of posts and give a detailed explanation of the underlying need for these posts with analysis of the effect and results by DG Communication;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 63. Notes that the human resources available to DG Communication consisted of 722 posts as at 31 December 2009 and the final appropriations managed amounted to EUR 80 935 000; asks to review the number of posts and give a detailed explanation of the underlying need for these posts; recognises that it is a fact that one of the main tasks of DG Communication is to provide political neutral information to the wider public but wonders if it would be more effective in communication terms to shift resources and staff to more political oriented information;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 a (new) 63a. Questions whether the DG needs a 'Performance and Strategic Management Unit', as well as both a 'Policy Unit' and 'Resources Unit'; requests the Secretary General to review these structures and to consider whether the creation of such a unit could be seen as the start of a process of establishing large and unnecessary 'cabinets' for Directors General;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 b (new) 63b. Notes that most heads of Parliament's information offices have written a joint letter questioning aspects of the budgetary management of the DG and asks the Secretary General to investigate the situation and to ascertain whether the creation of central units in the DG such as the 'Performance and Strategic Management' and 'Policy' Units are removing staff from frontline activities such as budgetary management with a cost in terms of the effectiveness of the DG;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 c (new) 63c. Insists that budget line 3242 should not be used to hide costs related to specific activities such as the prizes and that all the associated costs (such as publicity materials, events, expenses related to journalists' visits, etc.) be clearly identified;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 64 64. Deplores the
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 64 64. Deplores the very long delay in the opening of the Visitors' Centre (originally foreseen for the 2009 European elections) and the poor planning and insufficient support in the start phase from the administration; notes the opening date that is currently envisaged of October- November 2011; reiterates its request for a detailed explanation of the specific reasons, including a detailed analysis of the procurement procedures, for such a considerable delay and the precise increase in the cost of the project;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 65. Stresses the need to ensure an easy link (a corridor) for visitors groups between the Visitors' Centre, the Hemicycle and the future House of European History; requests the Secretary-General to provide its Committee on Budgetary Control , by 30 September 2011, with concrete plans to realise such a link with an estimated maximum of the costs involved;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 a (new) 65a. Regrets that decisions with regard to the House of European History were only taken by the Parliament's Bureau; calls for the inclusion of the relevant committees of Parliament for further decisions on the concept of the House of European History; encourages the discussion on the possibility to hold exhibitions at different locations across Europe in a first phase; asks for the development of a concept for the House of European History as a separate and independent legal body with the least possible impact on the Parliament's administrative budget;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 a (new) 65a. Would like to be informed about the total cost of the House of European History and requests the Secretary General to provide information on which measures will be taken to cope with the expected large increase of visitors for both projects in terms of parking space (busses, cars) and easy access to the Dalle;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 a (new) 65a. Would like to underline that for projects such as the House of European History, the Committees on Budgets and Budgetary Control should be duly consulted before the Bureau takes any irreversible decisions on them;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 66 66. Recalls its requests, expressed in its discharge resolution of 5 May 2010, that the costs of a sponsored group visit should always be reimbursed to the group leader by bank transfer and not in cash and that a study should be conducted by the Parliament to examine whether the flat rate system for the reimbursement of travel expenses borne by official visitor groups is adequate in view of their different departure points and destinations for their visits or whether the system of reimbursement of real costs, subject to a ceiling, would be more suitable for that type of group; this change towards a flat rate system should be reversed when it is proved to increase costs instead of saving them;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 67 67. Deplores the fact that EuroparlTV cannot be considered to be a success story in view of its very low number of direct users (excluding viewers through partnership agreements with regional TVs) in spite of the considerable annual appropriations that it receives, amounting to some EUR 9 000 000; underlines the need for an Action Plan containing reasonable measures aimed at increasing the number of viewers;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 67 67. Deplores the fact that EuroparlTV cannot be considered to be a success story in view of its very low number of direct users (excluding viewers through partnership agreements with regional TVs) in spite of the considerable annual appropriations that it receives, amounting to some EUR 9 000 000; requests an in- depth analysis of how to reach a broader audience, including a critical examination of the content, in order to transform EuroparlTV into a medium that will reach out to and inform the public objectively of politics in Parliament in a cost-efficient and attractive way;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 67 67. Deplores the fact that EuroparlTV cannot be considered to be a success story in view of its very low number of direct individual users (excluding viewers through partnership agreements with regional TVs) in spite of the considerable annual appropriations that it receives, amounting to some EUR 9 000 000;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 67 67. Deplores the fact that EuroparlTV cannot be considered to be a success story in view of its very low number of direct users (excluding viewers through partnership agreements with regional TVs) in spite of the considerable annual appropriations that it receives, amounting to some EUR 9 000 000; therefore, calls for a cost-benefit evaluation of Europarl TV with a view to making savings in this area;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 67 a (new) 67a. Stresses that costs of this project, which represents so little added value can not be justified, requests the Secretary- General to come forward by the end of 2011 with an action plan reducing the subsidy by at least half;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 68 68. Observes that, in the last few years, Parliament has greatly increased the number of and the budget for its prizes; expresses doubts as to whether those prizes represent at their best Parliament's core competences and the tasks which stem from its legislative, budgetary and budgetary control prerogatives; calls on its Bureau to refrain from initiating the funding of new prizes and to prepare a review of existing prize schemes;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 68 68. Observes that, in the last few years, Parliament has greatly increased the number of and the budget for its prizes;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 68 68. Observes that, in the last few years, Parliament has greatly increased the number of and the budget for its prizes;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 68 68. Observes that, in the last few years, Parliament has greatly increased the number of and the budget for its prizes; expresses doubts as to whether those prizes represent at their best Parliament's core competences and the tasks which stem from its legislative, budgetary and budgetary control prerogatives; calls on its Bureau to refrain from initiating the funding of new prizes, and to examine the funds set aside for winners of these prizes;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 69 69. Deplores the fact that, in spite of its opinion, expressed in its resolution, that the Prize for Journalism is inappropriate, as Parliament should not award prizes to journalists whose task is critically to examine the EU institutions and their work, DG COMM has already launched the procedure for the 2011 prize; deplores this example of politicians being overruled by officials ;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 69 69. Deplores the fact that, in spite of its opinion, expressed in its resolution, that the Prize for Journalism is inappropriate, as Parliament should not award prizes to journalists whose task is critically to examine the EU institutions and their work, DG COMM has already launched the procedure for the 2011 prize; calls for the prize for 2012 to be abolished;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 69 a (new) 69a. Believes the Parliament, as a public institution, is not competent to judge the artistic merit of film productions; insists the LUX prize be discontinued in 2011;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 69 b (new) 69b. Notes that the direct costs of the LUX prize amount to in excess of EUR 300 000 and that indirect costs (travel to film festivals, promotion etc) may well mean the prize costs much more; notes that after four years of operation fewer than one third of Members actually participate in the vote; further notes that voting participation varies dramatically across national delegations but appears to be significantly higher amongst Members from countries with a film on the shortlist;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 69 c (new) 69c. Opposes attempts to expand the prize by organising events in the member states which would imply substantially increased costs relating to publicity and promotion, venues and translation;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 70 70. Notes with concern the overall decline in turnout in the 2009 European Elections to 43
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 70 70. Notes with concern the overall decline in turnout in the 2009 European Elections to 43,2%, in spite if the considerable efforts made to reinforce Parliament's institutional election campaign which cost some EUR 5 676 000; deplores the fact that Parliament's election campaign was rendered totally partial by its glorification of the current policy of the Union; is of the opinion that such a campaign should be absolutely neutral;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 71 71. Notes that the total cost of setting-up the European Parliament Congressional Liaison Office in Washington in 2009 and 2010 is estimated to be some USD 400 000 annually as a result of an administrative arrangement with the Commission; notes that setting up the Office has not entailed the creation of any new posts, the postings being the result of redeployments, long- term missions and a system of one-year missions; is concerned about the possible future cost and requests that its competent committees be informed regularly and duly about any future plan having significant financial implication concerning this Office;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 71 71. Notes that the total cost of setting-up the European Parliament Congressional Liaison Office in Washington in 2009 and 2010 is estimated to be some USD 400 000 annually as a result of an administrative arrangement with the Commission; notes that setting up the Office has not entailed the creation of any new posts, the postings being the result of redeployments, long- term missions and a system of one-year missions; is concerned about the possible future cost and requests that its competent committees be informed regularly about any future plan having significant financial implication concerning this Office; questions in particular the use of one-year missions for senior staff who are sent to faraway places because no suitable jobs can be found for them in Brussels;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 74 74. Deplores the fact that the employment of family members as assistants is still permitted under the derogations to the Members' Statute adopted by the Bureau at its meeting of 23 November 2009, requests the Secretary General to consider whether there should be specific rules preventing Members employing each others family members as assistants;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 74 74. Deplores the fact that the employment of family members as assistants is still permitted under the derogations to the Members' Statute adopted by the Bureau at its meeting of 23 November 2009; urges the administration to scrupulously assess the justification for the remaining cases of such employment;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 74 a (new) 74a. Notes the significant presence of nationals from one particular Member State (13.5%, the highest for any nationality) in Parliament's General Secretariat; reminds that the General Secretariat shall serve Members from all Member States equally and that the staffing ought to reflect this better;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 75 75. Stresses the need to further rationalise the missions between the three working places, justifying and monitoring them better in order to avoid unnecessary missions and costs, asks the Secretary General to report, as part of the discharge procedure, on the total amount of savings that were made as a result of further rationalisation;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 75 75. Stresses the need to further rationalise the missions between the three working places, justifying and monitoring them better in order to avoid unnecessary missions and costs, and in particular to take account of the forthcoming results of the Internal Audit Service's controls in the area of parliamentary assistance;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 77 a (new) 77a. Calls on its Bureau to review the rules for the users of dedicated service cars, so as to end the current practice in which these cars are shuttled empty over long distances for the mere purpose of serving for short distance missions (from airports to final destinations in the city and back again); highlights the cost incurred by such practices; urges its Bureau to find less costly alternatives in order to provide the taxpayer with the best value for money;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 78 78. Is of the opinion that
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 78 78. Is of the opinion that facilities within Parliament's buildings which are not required in connection with the Institution's activities must be economically self- supporting and should not be financed with subsidies from Parliament's budget; any exceptions for imputed costs must be shown separately; is concerned about the worsening working conditions and of the bad system of remuneration of the employees in these facilities; considers it important that the situation of the employees is prioritised in calls for tenders in this area;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 78 a (new) 78a. Believes that, with such a wide variety of locations available within the buildings of Parliament for canteens, bars, and retail space, a variety of competitive catering outlets, including established high street brands (coffee shops, sandwich outlets, restaurants, and so forth),could, if allowed to establish themselves inside Parliament, offer a better service to staff; calls for a plan to be prepared to indicate how the different catering facilities, could be offered for tender separately when current contractual arrangements come to an end;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 81 81. Considers that the externalisation of translation can result in important cost savings, efforts should, however, be made to increase the quality of external translations; supports the increasing use of the Euramis database, common to all EU institutions, and other technological developments in the field of translation (such as a single integrated system of DocEP and Euramis/translation memories already used by the translators of the Council's secretariat) which aim to avoid double translations and to lower the cost of translation; stresses, however, that no machine translation system can totally replace translators;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 82 a (new) 82a. Expresses its great appreciation of the high quality of the Parliament’s interpretation services, but regrets situations in which interpretation into certain languages is offered without being used; stresses the need for measures to decrease the costs of unneeded interpretation at meetings and therefore requests the development and urgent implementation of a system, which avoids the availability of interpretation into languages that are in practice not spoken at a given meeting;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 82 b (new) 82b. Suggests that such a system could, for example, provide that during working group meetings interpretation into the six largest official languages (FR, DE, EN, PL, ES, IT) will automatically be available, while interpretation into any other official language will only be available at the request of a Member by specific notification of his/her presence in advance, thus guaranteeing the right of Member to speak their own language should they wish to do so, while avoiding unneeded interpretation and unnecessary costs;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 83 a (new) 83a. Takes the view that the services and procedures of DG Finance should be simplified and streamlined in order to speed up the handling of invoices from local assistants based in Member States and to reduce queues and bureaucratic procedures; takes the view that DG Finance should provide quicker electronic information to Members concerning remaining available funds; furthermore takes the view that DG Finance should organise training courses for the staff of Members regarding the procedures; for these purposes DG Finance should elaborate an action plan by 30 September 2011 at the latest;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 86 86. Notes that Parliament has a contract with only one travel agency and sees a certain risk that such a monopolistic situation might prevent Members and Parliament obtaining the best available prices; requires an examination of the travel agency's ways of obtaining the tickets that are being offered to Members and assistants on official missions or to Members travelling between the work places, notes that tickets offered are not always the cheapest on the market for a specific class of ticket;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 86 86. Notes that Parliament has a contract with only one travel agency and sees a certain risk that such a monopolistic situation might prevent Members and Parliament obtaining the best available prices, as has been observed on many occasions through simple internet searches;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 86 86. Notes that Parliament has a contract with only one travel agency and sees a certain risk that such a monopolistic situation might prevent Members and Parliament obtaining the best available prices; requires that in future contracts incentives be included to guarantee the lowest price for tickets;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 86 86. Notes that Parliament has a contract with only one travel agency and sees a certain risk that such a monopolistic situation might prevent Members and Parliament obtaining the best available prices; asks DG Finance to report on the development of prices charged by the new contractor as well as on complaints in connection to the transition from Carlsonwagonlit to BCD in its activity report for 2010; does not agree with the staff increase and additional payments of EUR 34 000 for 2010 shortly after the conclusion of the contract in December 2009; requires that, in future contracts, incentives be included to guarantee the lowest price for tickets;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 86 a (new) 86a. Calls on the Secretary General to commission a study on reducing travel cost for Members and staff exploring, for example, the possibility of annual block bookings with airline companies instead of individual bookings and purchase of tickets or using tendering procedures for annual flight contracts; furthermore, calls for a system to be developed to use the collected airmiles on flights reimbursed by Parliament to further reduce costs;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 91 a (new) 91a. Underlines the low level of transparency the table on annual appropriations offers and asks for more precise figures;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 95 95. Stresses, moreover, the need for the parties and foundations to have a system of standard external auditing instead of the current free choice in the appointment of external auditors, as well as the need for the Parliament's administration to strictly apply accounting rules in particular on contributions in kind, carry-overs and reserves; welcomes, therefore, the recent decision by the Bureau that an external auditor for the parties and the foundation will be provided and paid for by Parliament;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 98 98. Takes the view that the Secretary- General should provide the Committee on Budgetary Control with a note clarifying Parliament's role in the management and supervision of the Fund's assets; recalls that according to Pension Funds estimates, even after the implementation of the restrictive measures adopted in 2009 regarding the payment of entitlements, it will incur a considerable actuarial deficit and the Fund will exhaust its assets between 2020 and 2025; takes the view that this deficit should not be paid with tax payers' money, but by the Fund itself;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 99 99. Stresses that real savings could be achieved if Parliament only had one
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 99 99. Stresses that real savings could be achieved if Parliament only had one seat; indeed, in the report of the Secretary- General on Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for 2011, the estimated annual cost arising from the geographical dispersion of Parliament has been estimated at around EUR 160 000 000, accounting for about 9% of Parliament's total budget; draws the attention to the fact that currently the decision to change this situation - and to make some EUR 160 000 000 of savings annually as well as to considerably lessen Parliament's carbon footprint - lies exclusively with
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 99 99.
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 99 99.
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 101 a (new) 101a. Asks the administration to speed up actions to radically reduce the consumption of paper in the House; takes the view that the full use of electronic devices is key to avoiding the more than 1000 tons of paper waste every year; further takes the view that Members should be given the opportunity to indicate that they do not need printed documents;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 101 b (new) 101b. Considers that the staff of the EMAS section should be urgently increased and that they must enjoy full independence in the performance of their duties;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 101 c (new) 101c. Considers that transport emissions contribute the largest share of Parliament's carbon footprint, which, according to its CO2 action plan, it intends to reduce by 30% by 2020; urges therefore that adequate measures be taken to reduce the carbon footprint; welcomes a study on offsetting in this respect; calls on the responsible Parliament services to systematically provide information about emissions caused by different modes of transport when making travel reservations;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 101 d (new) 101d. Welcomes the proposal to install tap-water fountains in all Parliament meeting rooms and thus saving resources, as adopted by the Bureau in the CO2 Action plan in February 2009;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 101 e (new) 101e. Invites the responsible Parliament services to present measures to increase the energy efficiency of Parliament's buildings, especially concerning the retrofitting of glass surfaces and bridges;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 102 102. Encourages Parliament's administration to replace official cars with environmentally friendly vehicles by constantly modernising its fleet with less polluting cars and organising grouped transport with VIP minibuses to airports in Brussels and Strasbourg in order to reduce Parliament's carbon footprint; reiterates its request, expressed in its resolution on discharge for 2008, that Parliament establish its own bicycle service in Strasbourg; strongly urges that this be realized by September 2011; observes that, as a consequence of the improved bicycle service, the fleet of cars could be smaller;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 102 102. Encourages Parliament's administration to replace official cars with environmentally friendly vehicles by constantly modernising its fleet with less polluting cars and organising grouped transport with VIP minibuses to airports in Brussels and Strasbourg in order to reduce Parliament's carbon footprint; suggests purchasing bicycles which can be used by Members in Strasbourg in order to make it easier for Members to select a more environment friendly means of transport, leading to a reduction in the use of the official Members' cars in the long run;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 102 a (new) 102a. Encourages, within the context of a sustainable Parliament, the use of the charter train from Brussels to Strasbourg for plenary sessions; is concerned about the increasing use of other means of transport by accredited assistants who can not obtain a ticket for the charter train; states that Members, parliament officials and accredited assistants should have priority over external customers in obtaining tickets for the charter train;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 103 a (new) 103a. Requests the Bureau to decide, as soon as possible, that all flights booked in respect of travel for Members, staff and assistants will be automatically subject to CO2 compensation;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 103 b (new) 103b. Suggests that accumulated airmiles obtained through work related travel, be used to purchase tickets in order to reduce the significant travel costs of the House;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 104 source: PE-458.841
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