2011/2226(DEC)

2010 discharge: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Procedure completed

General
Activities
Documents
Votes
Amendments (133)
History

2011/2226(DEC) 2010 discharge: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Role	Committee	Rapporteur	Shadows
Lead	CONT	MACOVEI Monica Luisa (EPP)	HERCZOG Edit (S&D), GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan (ALDE), STAES Bart (Verts/ALE), CZARNECKI Ryszard (ECR), SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo (GUE/NGL), ANDREASEN Marta (EFD), EHRENHAUSER Martin (NI), HARTONG Lucas (NI)
Lead	CONT	MACOVEI Monica Luisa (EPP)
Opinion	ENVI	HAUG Jutta (S&D)
Opinion	ENVI	HAUG Jutta (S&D)

Lead committee dossier: CONT/7/07248;CONT/7/09687

Subjects

8.70.03.05 2010 discharge

Links

Activites

2012/12/20 Final act published in Official Journal
2012/10/23 Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
- T7-0365/2012 summary
  
  Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in respect of the implementation of the Authoritys budget for the financial year 2010. The decision to grant the discharge shall also constitute the closure of the accounts for this Agency. To recap, in May 2012, Parliament postponed the discharge decision for the Authority chiefly because there was a problem of conflict of interest of some staff (as reported in the summary dated 10/05/2012). Parliament approved the closure of the Authoritys accounts for the 2010 financial year and made a series of recommendations to take into account on the granting of the discharge: conflicts of interest: Parliament welcomes the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012. However, it calls on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future. Recalling the case of conflict of interest mentioned in its resolution to postpone the discharge (as reported in the summary of 10 May 2012), Parliament took careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to offset this problem. It particularly welcomes the code of conduct of the Authoritys Management Board and its members active approach in reviewing their declarations of interest, and the new rules for screening for conflicts of interest in force since July 2012. It indicates that, in this regard, they will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis; the Authoritys full independence policy: Parliament takes note that the Authoritys new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authoritys new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines. It notes from the Authority that its practical approach concerning an expert breaching the independence policy rules is exclusion for a 5-year period. It observes that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility of publishing the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures. It expects the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure. Overall, Parliament encourages the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and to consider adopting rules among others including sanctions in case of conflict of interest; for steps to be taken in cases of non-compliance: Parliament is firmly convinced that steps have to be taken should cases of non-compliance with existing rules occur and calls on the Authority to draw up an action plan, accompanied by a precise timetable, aiming to remedy the shortcomings. Noting the package of measures taken by the Authority towards this end, Parliament acknowledges that it scheduled for 1 October 2012 the launching of its first evaluation of a random sample of declarations of interest in order to verify their coherence with its newly adopted independence policy and implementing rules. It expects that the Authority will share the conclusions of that evaluation with the discharge authority by 1 March 2013 in order to reflect them in the next discharge procedure; transparency: Parliament encourages the Authority to improve the openness and transparency of the risk assessment process, to better take into account independent peer-reviewed scientific literature and to provide detailed justification when it rejects diverging views. It especially encourages it to increase dialogue and cooperation with external experts and national agencies, especially when they hold diverging views on a specific risk assessment process; report on follow-up to the discharge: Parliament calls on the Agency to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest, which should include, inter alia: i) the number of alleged cases of conflict of interest verified; ii) the number of revolving door cases; iii) the measures taken in each category of cases; iv) the number of breach of trust procedures launched and their outcomes; and v) the penalties applied. Overall, Parliament welcomes the agreement on the Joint Statement and Common Approach adopted in June 2012 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies in which certain elements of importance to the discharge have been addressed and taken up.
2012/10/02 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- A7-0299/2012 summary
  
  The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the second reading report of Monica Luisa MACOVEI (PPE, RO) on the discharge of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authoritys budget for the financial year 2010. To recall, in May 2012, Parliament postponed the discharge decision for the Authority chiefly because there was a problem of conflict of interest of some staff (please refer to the summary dated 10/05/2012). Members approved the closure of the Authoritys accounts for the 2010 financial year, and made a series of recommendations to be taken into account in the granting of the discharge: · conflicts of interest: Members welcome the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012. However, they call on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future. Recalling the case of conflict of interest mentioned in its resolution to postpone the discharge (as reported in the summary of 10 May 2012), Members took careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to offset this problem. They particularly welcome the code of conduct of the Authoritys Management Board and its members active approach in reviewing their declarations of interest, and the new rules for screening for conflicts of interest in force since July 2012. Members indicate that, in this regard, they will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis; · the Authoritys full independence policy: Members take note that the Authoritys new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authoritys new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines. They note that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility to publish the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures. They expect the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure. Overall, the Members encourage the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and to consider adopting rules among others including sanctions in case of conflict of interest; · for steps to be taken in cases of non-compliance: Members are firmly convinced that steps have to be taken should cases of non-compliance with existing rules occur and call on the Authority to draw up an action plan, accompanied by a precise timetable, aiming to remedy the shortcomings. Either the European Parliament or the European legislator has to address these problems by changing the existing rules and regulations to eliminate possible loopholes. Noting the package of measures taken by the Authority towards this end, Members welcome the Authoritys initiative to screen by 31 October 2012 their declarations of interest against the newly adopted policy of the independence of the Authority. In this regard, they call on the Authority to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest; · transparency: Members encourage the Authority to improve the openness and transparency of the risk assessment process, to better take into account independent peer-reviewed scientific literature and to provide detailed justification when it rejects diverging views. They especially encourage the Authority to increase dialogue and cooperation with external experts and national agencies, especially when they hold diverging views on a specific risk assessment process. Overall, Members welcome the agreement on the Joint Statement and the Common Approach of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies in which certain elements of importance to the discharge have been addressed and taken up.
2012/09/26 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
2012/09/10 Amendments tabled in committee
- PE494.823
2012/06/20 Committee draft report
- PE491.067
2012/05/10 Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
- T7-0173/2012 summary
  
  The European Parliament adopted by a small majority (321 votes to 306, with 14 abstentions) a decision aiming to postpone granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010. It also postpones the closure of the accounts of this Agency. The reasons for this postponement are set out in a resolution adopted on the same day by 481 votes to 128 and 31 abstentions. These may be summarised as follows: Conflict of interest and 'revolving door' cases: Parliament notes that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) Europe. It considers that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures. Parliament asks therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI activities. It notes that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. It considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out; Revolving door cases: Members note that in March 2010 a German NGO turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than two months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a cooling off period. The Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures in future revolving door cases. They once more, urge the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and 'revolving door' cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform both the discharge authority and the public promptly of the measures taken. They call therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision-making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee. Parliament observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts panels, especially in the case of the panels on Food additives and nutrient sources added to food (ANS) and Genetically modified organisms (GMOs); Budget and Financial Management: Parliament recalls that the Authority had a budget execution rate of 98.8%, only 83.5% in terms of payment appropriations, which is 11% below the target set by the Authority. Corrective action should be taken; Management Board meetings costs are excessive: Parliament finds it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costs on average EUR 92 630 (this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency). This situation should be remedied immediately ; Carryovers and contract management process: Parliament acknowledges from the Authority that 6% of commitments for operational activities carried over from 2009 had to be cancelled. It urges once more, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts. It urges, in addition, the Authority to improve the reporting on contract implementation in order to guarantee effective supervision and management of its operational activities; Human resources: Parliament calls on the Authority to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures. They acknowledge, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure the anonymity of the written tests and decided pass marks for the various stages of the selection process after the evaluation process had already started; Performance: Parliament underlines the need for the Authority to ensure that its advice is of a high quality and is independent, in order to guarantee compliance with Union safety standards, scientific excellence and independence on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, and plant protection; Internal Audit: Parliament acknowledges that six very important recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented. It calls on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies.
- Results of vote in Parliament
2012/04/04 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- A7-0106/2012 summary
  
  The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Monica Luisa MACOVEI (EPP, RO) on granting discharge to the European Food Safety Authority. The committee postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010. It also postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010 and makes a number of recommendations, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Budget and Financial Management: Members recall that the Authority had a budget execution rate of only 83.5% in terms of payment appropriations in 2010 due to delays in contracting scientific cooperation activities. They urge the Authority to take further action to enable a satisfactory budget execution in terms of both commitment and payment appropriations and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achieved. They also find it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costs on average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member (this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency); Carryovers and contract management process: Members acknowledge from the Authority that 6% of commitments for operational activities carried over from 2009 had to be cancelled. They urge, once more, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts. They urge, in addition, the Authority to improve the reporting on contract implementation in order to guarantee effective supervision and management of its operational activities; Human resources: Members call on the Authority to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures. They acknowledge, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure the anonymity of the written tests and decided pass marks for the various stages of the selection process after the evaluation process had already started; Conflict of interest and 'revolving door' cases: Members note that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) Europe. They consider that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures. Members ask therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI activities such as taskforces, scientific committees or chairs for conferences. They note that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. They consider, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out ; Members note that in March 2010 a German NGO turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than two months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a cooling off period. The Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures in future revolving door cases. They once more, urge the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and 'revolving door' cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform both the discharge authority and the public promptly of the measures taken. They call therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision-making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; Performance: Members underline the need for the Authority to ensure that its advice is of a high quality and is independent, in order to guarantee compliance with Union safety standards, scientific excellence and independence on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, and plant protection. They consider that the main tasks of the Authority are the provision of independent scientific advice on matters with a direct or indirect impact on food safety, the conduct of risk assessments to provide Union institutions, Member States and policy-making bodies with a sound scientific basis for defining policy-driven legislative or regulatory measures and the collection and analysis of scientific data; Internal Audit: Members acknowledge that six very important recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented and that three of them have already been delayed for over 12 months. They call, therefore, on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies, and to inform the discharge authorities of the results achieved.
2012/03/27 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
2012/03/07 Amendments tabled in committee
- PE483.626
2012/02/13 Committee draft report
- PE473.970
2012/02/08 Document attached to the procedure
- 06083/2012 summary
  
  Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2010 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2010 of the European Food Safety Authority, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010, accompanied by the Authority's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Authority in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor's report call for a certain number of remarks: the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Authority's annual accounts fairly present the financial position as at 31 December 2010 and the results of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Authority's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular; as regards the review process of the Declarations of Interest of the Management Board's Members, the Councils shares the Court's opinion that a more rigorous methodology should be adopted in order to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; it also urges the Authority to correct the weaknesses identified in its staff selection procedures.
2011/10/12 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
2011/09/06 Court of Auditors: opinion, report
- N7-0017/2012 summary
  
  PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), together with the Authority's replies. CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit. This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the Courts opinion, the Authority's Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation. The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. The report confirms that the Agencys 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million and that the number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 433. The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latters response. The main observations may be summarised as follows: The Courts observations: Declarations of Interest of the Members of the Management Board is carried out by the Chairperson with the assistance of Vice Chairpersons. The Court states that this review process is insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently detailed. There is scope to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; weaknesses were noted in some recruitment procedures. The Authoritys response: in order to reinforce the self assessment of its Members Declarations of Interest the Management Board adopted in June 2011 a code of conduct as well as a draft policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making processes for public consultation. This new draft policy foresees that for any matters linked to the independence of members of the Board, the Authority might consult the EU institutions that contributed to the appointment process (Council, Parliament, Commission); as regards recruitment, the Authority adapted its guidelines to adhere to the ECA best practices recommendations. Lastly, the Court of Auditors report contains a summary of the Authoritys activities in 2010. This is focused on the following: scientific outputs and supporting publications: scientific opinions and advice, Evaluation of products, substances and claims subject to authorisation, Data Collection, scientific cooperation and networking; various publications: scientific outputs supported by communication activities: 34%, 78 public consultations, 3 million web visits, 16 press releases, 59 web news stories and 116 interviews.
- OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106
2011/07/26 Non-legislative basic document
- COM(2011)0473 summary
  
  PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 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 Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EFSA's tasks: EFSA, which is located in Parma, was established by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002. Its main tasks are to supply the scientific information needed for Union legislation to be drawn up, to collect and analyse data that allow risks to be identified and monitored and to provide independent information on these risks. EFSA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Authority's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million compared with EUR 71.4 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Authority at the end of the year was 433 as compared with 407 the previous year. The complete version of EFSA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsahow/funding.htm
- DG {u'url': u'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', u'title': u'Budget'}, ŠEMETA Algirdas

Documents

Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2011)0473
Court of Auditors: opinion, report: N7-0017/2012
Court of Auditors: opinion, report: OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106
Document attached to the procedure: 06083/2012
Committee draft report: PE473.970
Amendments tabled in committee: PE483.626
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0106/2012
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0173/2012
Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
Committee draft report: PE491.067
Amendments tabled in committee: PE494.823
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0299/2012
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0365/2012

Votes

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Décision

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	321	71	40	26	26	21	74	11	52	5
Against	306	2	0	5	1	4	158	136	0	2
Abstain	14	0	1	0	2	0	1	10	0	1

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Decision

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	321	71	40	26	26	21	74	11	52	5
Against	306	2	0	5	1	4	158	136	0	2
Abstain	14	0	1	0	2	0	1	10	0	1

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Am 1 S

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	365	1	1	0	2	4	203	152	2	0
Against	277	74	40	31	27	21	28	6	50	2
Abstain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Amendment 1 S

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	365	1	1	0	2	4	203	152	2	0
Against	277	74	40	31	27	21	28	6	50	2
Abstain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Am 2

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	221	69	0	0	0	2	20	130	0	1
Against	397	3	42	29	25	20	208	20	50	3
Abstain	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Amendment 2

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	221	69	0	0	0	2	20	130	0	1
Against	397	3	42	29	25	20	208	20	50	3
Abstain	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Résolution

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	481	74	41	30	28	16	225	15	52	3
Against	128	0	0	1	0	3	1	123	0	1
Abstain	31	0	0	0	1	6	6	18	0	0

A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Resolution

2012/05/10

Position	Total	ALDE	ECR	EFD	GUE/NGL	NI	PPE	S&D	Verts/ALE	correctional
For	481	74	41	30	28	16	225	15	52	3
Against	128	0	0	1	0	3	1	123	0	1
Abstain	31	0	0	0	1	6	6	18	0	0

Amendments	Dossier
133	2011/2226(DEC) 2010 discharge: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) 2012/07/03 CONT 32 amendments... Amendment 1 # Edit HERCZOG Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 2 # Corinne LEPAGE, Sonia ALFANO, Bart STAES, Antonyia PARVANOVA Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Calls on the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority ~~discharge~~to inform the discharge authority by the 30 June 2012 of the measures taken and of the improvements made in all the areas of concern and decides to postpone the discharge to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 3 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 4 # Bart STAES Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 5 # Edit HERCZOG Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010; Amendment 6 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010; Amendment 7 # Iliana IVANOVA Motion for a resolution Recital C a (new) C a. Whereas workload continues its upgoing trend both in volume and in complexity with the adoption of more than 560 scientific outputs. Amendment 8 # Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Subheading 1 a (new) Postpones the discharge to the agency awaiting substantial replies and actions on the critical remarks and requests made Amendment 9 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. ~~Urges, however,~~Calls on the Authority to implement further actions to enable a satisfactory budget execution both in terms of commitment and payment appropriations and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achieved; Amendment 10 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Notes from the Authority that in line with the schedule of the Commission, migration to the accrual-based accounting (ABAC) system was scheduled for September 2011 and implemented accordingly; Amendment 11 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Finds it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Agency counts only 15 members, each meeting costs in average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member; underlines that this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised Agency; is of the opinion that the Management Board meetings costs are excessive and should be reduced drastically; calls on the Agency and its Management Board to remedy the situation immediately and to inform the discharge authority on the measures undertaken by 30 June 2012; Amendment 12 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. ~~Urges, once more,~~Calls on the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts~~; notes, in particular, that this situation demonstrates weaknesses in the Authority'~~ and also to improve its contract management and monitoring of the remittance of reports and cost statements; Amendment 13 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Calls on the Authority to develop and implement a common monitoring for the management of all its contracts; acknowledges, in particular, the absence of a central and coordinated capacity at the directorate level responsible for the monitoring of contracts; underlines that this entails a risk of inefficient use of resources and uncoordinated monitoring of contracts and therefore asks the Authority to centralise these responsibilities at the level of each directorate; Amendment 14 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. ~~Is concerned~~Notes that the Authority delayed for over 12 months the Internal Audit Service (IAS)‘'s ’"very important'" recommendation which called on the Authority to define contract renewal process and ensure the transparency of decision making; calls~~, therefore,~~ on the Authority to explain to the discharge authority the reasons behind this delay ~~and rapidly address this deficiency~~; Amendment 15 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Is highly concerned by the regular reports in the media that call into question the independence of the Authority and the Members of its Management Board; notes, in particular, that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) - Europe; understands that the declaration of interests of the Authority's Chair of the Management Board has been modified on 28 September 2010 to include her activity in ILSI; believes that suspicions of conflict of interest within the Authority might have a negative impact on the public confidence in the Authority and put at risk its mission and objectives;deleted Amendment 16 # Ingeborg GRÄSSLE Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Is highly concerned by the regular reports in the media that call into question the independence of the Authority and the Members of its Management Board; notes, in particular, that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) - Europe; understands that the declaration of interests of the Authority's Chair of the Management Board has been modified on 28 September 2010 to include her activity in ILSI; believes that suspicions of conflict of interest within the Authority might have a negative impact on the public confidence in the Authority and put at risk its mission and objectives;deleted Amendment 17 # Corinne LEPAGE, Sonia ALFANO, Bart STAES, Antonyia PARVANOVA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16a. Considers that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures; asks therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff to International Life Science Institute (ILSI) activities such as taskforces, scientific committees or chairs for conferences; Amendment 18 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16a. Urges the Court of Auditors to finalise and present its audit on conflict of interest in the Authority in order to provide Parliament with an objective assessment; Amendment 19 # Ingeborg GRÄSSLE Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and possible and actual conflicts of interest situations should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it conveys; calls, moreover, on the Authority to make a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and by the Members of the Management Board followed concrete measures to stop conflicts of interest and information to the public;deleted Amendment 20 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and possible and actual conflicts of interest situations should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it conveys; calls, moreover, on the Authority to make a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and by the Members of the Management Board followed concrete measures to stop conflicts of interest and information to the publicalls on the Agency to provide the discharge authority with the guidelines and assessment criteria on handling potential conflicts of interest of staff members, including the Members of the Management Board; Amendment 21 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and possible and actual conflicts of interest situations should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it conveys; calls, moreover, on the Authority to make a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and by the Members of the Management Board followed by concrete measures to stop conflicts of interest and provide information to the public; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the screening process and the concrete measures adopted, by means of a detailed written report by 30 June 2012; Amendment 22 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Notes ~~moreover~~ that the Court of Auditors have observed that the review process of the Declarations of Interests of the Members of the Management Board is insufficiently rigorous and detailed and puts at risk the completeness and transparency of this procedure; Amendment 23 # Ingeborg GRÄSSLE Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Notes ~~moreover~~ that the Court of Auditors have observed that the review process of the Declarations of Interests of the Members of the Management Board is insufficiently rigorous and detailed and puts at risk the completeness and transparency of this procedure; Amendment 24 # Corinne LEPAGE, Sonia ALFANO, Bart STAES, Antonyia PARVANOVA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 a (new) 18a. Considers that product assessment should not be based solely on industry's data, but should duly take into account independent scientific literature published in peer reviewed journals; stresses that extra caution should be paid to industry influence in the elaboration of guidelines and assessment methodologies, which should not favour industry-sponsored studies on speculative grounds and which should be elaborated in an open, transparent and balanced manner; Amendment 25 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 19. Notes that in March 2010 a German non-governmental organisation turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than 2 months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a ‘cooling off’ period;deleted Amendment 26 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Underlines that the Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way it applies its rules and procedures in future ‘'revolving door’' cases; stresses, moreover, that the Ombudsman also pointed out that negotiations by a serving member of staff concerning a future job which could amount to ‘revolving doors’ would themselves constitute a conflict of interest and recommended that the Authority should strengthen its rules and procedures accordingly; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the concrete measures adopted, and their respective deadlines, to properly address the conclusions of the Ombudsman; Amendment 27 # Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. ~~Once more, urges~~Calls on the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and ‘'revolving door’' cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform ~~both~~ the discharge authority ~~and the public promptly~~ on the measures taken; Amendment 28 # Corinne LEPAGE, Sonia ALFANO, Bart STAES, Antonyia PARVANOVA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 a (new) 22a. Welcomes that the Authority has adopted a new definition of conflicts of interests, based on the OECD definition, but warns that further improvements are necessary to strengthen the Authority's policy on independence; stresses in particular that the criteria that define a conflict of interests should be clarified and widened, and include current and recent past activities; Amendment 29 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 23. Takes note from the Authority that a review of its Policy on Declarations of Interest took place in 2011 and that its Management Board adopted a new policy on Independence and Scientific Decision- Making Processes ; Amendment 30 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 a (new) 23a. Observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts' panels, especially in the case of the panels 'Food additives and nutrient sources added to food' (ANS) and 'Genetically modified organisms' (GMO); underlines that 8 of the Authority's panels and its scientific committee are up for renewal in March 2012 and the Authority's capability to implement the new policy is under scrutiny; calls therefore the Authority to inform in writing the discharge authority by 30 June 2012 on the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on Independence and Scientific Decision- Making Processes and to conform with the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and scientific committee; at the same time, calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the new composition of the panels and scientific committee by 30 June 2012; Amendment 31 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 b (new) 23b. Notes that the Authority has been audited by the Court of Auditors in the framework of the Special Report on conflicts of interest management in the Union agencies and acknowledges from the Court of Auditors that the aforementioned Special Report will be published by the end of June 2012; given the extent of criticisms questioning the independence of the Authority, the findings of the Court of Auditors in the conflict of interest area will be also considered; Amendment 32 # Iliana IVANOVA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 a (new) 25a. Welcomes the plans of the Authority to enhance its medium-term planning with regards to better involve the Member States in Authority's work and better pool its resources accross Europe; supports the Authority in strengthening its cooperation with Member States in the area of risk assessment; source: PE-483.626 2012/08/31 ENVI 18 amendments... Amendment 1 # Renate SOMMER Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Has ~~addressed~~drawn attention already in the past ~~certain shortcomings in connection with C~~to possible conflicts of ~~Interest, Declaration of Interest and transparency~~interest; would like to specify that the former Chair of the Management Board failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the board of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI); ~~considers it noteworthy, however,~~notes that the members of the EFSA Management Board ~~are not appoint~~cannot be dismissed by the Executive Director ~~(ED) and can hence not be dismissed by the ED~~; Amendment 2 # Marina YANNAKOUDAKIS, Anna ROSBACH Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. ~~Has addressed already in the past certain~~Notes that concerns remain over the institutional failings that led to shortcomings in connection with Conflict of Interest, Declaration of Interest and transparency; would like to specify that the former Chair of the Management Board failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the board of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI); considers it noteworthy, however, that the members of the EFSA Management Board are not appointed by the Executive Director (ED) and can hence not be dismissed by the ED; Amendment 3 # Corinne LEPAGE Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Has addressed already in the past cser~~tain~~ious shortcomings in connection with Conflict of Interest, Declaration of Interest and transparency; would like to specify that the former Chair of the Management Board failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the board of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), even though the ILSI is financed by undertakings in the food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors; considers it noteworthy, however, that the members of the EFSA Management Board are not appointed by the Executive Director (ED) and can hence not be dismissed by the ED; Amendment 4 # Renate SOMMER Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. ~~Has also taken serious note of 'revolving door' cases and the need to establish and implement respective measures to avoid such incidents, which undermine~~Draws attention to the need to implement measures to safeguard the Authority'’s credibility; ~~is convinced that such actions need to be accompanied by a set of consequences enforced when those rules are not respected;~~ Amendment 5 # Kartika Tamara LIOTARD Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Has also taken serious note of ‘revolving door’ cases and the need to establish and implement respective measures, urgently, to avoid such incidents, which undermine the Authority's credibility; is convinced that such actions need to be accompanied by a set of consequences enforced when those rules are not respected; Amendment 6 # Corinne LEPAGE Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Has also taken serious note of 'revolving door' cases and the need to establish and implement respective measures to avoid such incidents, which undermine the Authority's credibility; is convinced that such actions need to be accompanied by a set of consequences enforced when those rules are not respected; points out that the European Ombudsman considered that the Authority had failed to deal correctly with a potential conflict of interest linked to the fact that in 2008 the head of its 'genetically modified organisms' unit was recruited by a firm specialising in biotechnologies less than two months after leaving the Authority, with no cooling-off period, and that in response Parliament and the Ombudsman called on the Authority to improve the way it applies its rules and procedures in order to prevent further 'revolving door' cases; Amendment 7 # Kartika Tamara LIOTARD Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Is firmly convinced that necessary steps have to be taken should cases of non- compliance with existing rules occur; believes that, in such cases, the Authority has to draw up an action plan aiming to remedy the shortcomings and its implementation should be monitored by the European Parliament and the European Parliament or the European legislator has to address these problems, as a matter of priority, by changing the existing rules and regulations to eliminate possible loopholes; Amendment 8 # Corinne LEPAGE Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Is firmly convinced that necessary steps have to be taken should cases of non- compliance with existing rules occur; believes that, in such cases, the Authority has to draw up an action plan, accompanied by a precise timetable, aiming to remedy the shortcomings and its implementation should be monitored by the European Parliament and the European Parliament or the European legislator has to address these problems by changing the existing rules and regulations to eliminate possible loopholes; Amendment 9 # Corinne LEPAGE Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Takes careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 200711 to avoid ~~and mitigate~~ Conflict of Interest amongst scientific experts and staff; is determined to monitor the effect of these actions; will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis, to foster the exchange of information also through the appointed contact person from amongst its members and by visiting the Agency every two years; recalls that the last visit took place in May 2012; Amendment 10 # Esther de LANGE Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Takes careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to avoid and mitigate Conflict of Interest amongst scientific experts and staff; welcomes in this regard the code of conduct of the EFSA Management Board and their active approach in reviewing their declarations of interest, and the new rules for screening for conflicts of interest in force since July 2012, which were proactively used in the renewal of the scientific panels; is determined to monitor the effect of these actions; will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis, to foster the exchange of information also through the appointed contact person from amongst its members and by visiting the Agency every two years; recalls that the last visit took place in May 2012; Amendment 11 # Renate SOMMER Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Takes careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to avoid and mitigate Conflict of Interest amongst scientific experts and staff; welcomes, in particular, the new guidelines on independence and scientific decision- making processes; is determined to monitor the effect of these actions; will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis, to foster the exchange of information also through the appointed contact person from amongst its members and by visiting the Agency every two years; recalls that the last visit took place in May 2012; Amendment 12 # Marina YANNAKOUDAKIS, Anna ROSBACH Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Is informed about the detailed correspondence between the administration level of the EFSA and the CONT rapporteur both before and after the plenary decision tof postpon~~ing~~e the ~~granting of the~~decision to grant discharge; Amendment 13 # Renate SOMMER Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Reiterates, that ~~the Court of Auditors commented~~ in its special report on the review of the Declarations of Interests of the Members of the Management Board and the recruitment procedures ~~but considered at the same time~~the Court of Auditors considered the Authority's accounts of 2010 reliable, legal and regular; Amendment 14 # Marina YANNAKOUDAKIS, Anna ROSBACH Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Welcomes, in general, the agreement on the Joint Statement and the Common Approach of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies; recalls that certain elements of importance to the discharge have been addressed and taken up; ~~believ~~stresses that the roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach ~~will~~must duly take ~~due~~into account of those issues; Amendment 15 # Corinne LEPAGE Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Believes, however, that the discharge decision for the Authority cannot be based upon additional requirements, e.g. OECD guidelines, when the implementation of those requirements have neither been officially called for by the EU legislator nor by specific arrangements within the Agencies during the respective discharge procedure; invites the European institutions to examine if it is advisable to incorporate and to commit to additional guidelines in a possible common framework for all European institutions and bodies;deleted Amendment 16 # Marina YANNAKOUDAKIS, Anna ROSBACH Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Believes~~, however,~~ that the discharge decision for the Authority ~~cannot~~should be based upon additional requirements, e.g. OECD guidelines, when the implementation of those requirements have neither been officially called for by the EU legislator nor by specific arrangements within the Agencies during the respective discharge procedureOECD guidelines to ensure high quality, internationally recognised accounting, audit and financial disclosure standards; invites the European institutions to ~~examine if it is advisable to~~ incorporate and to commit to ~~additional~~introducing OECD guidelines within a ~~possible common~~common working framework for all European institutions and bodies; Amendment 17 # Kartika Tamara LIOTARD Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Believes, however, that the discharge decision for the Authority cannot be based upon additional requirements, e.g. OECD guidelines, when the implementation of those requirements have neither been officially called for by the EU legislator nor by specific arrangements within the Agencies during the respective discharge procedure; invites the European institutions to examine, as a matter of priority, if it is advisable to incorporate and to commit to additional guidelines in a possible common framework for all European institutions and bodies; Amendment 18 # Marina YANNAKOUDAKIS, Anna ROSBACH Draft opinion Paragraph 11 11. Is ~~therefore~~ of the opinion that, on the basis of the information available, discharge ~~can~~should not be granted to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010. source: PE-494.706 2012/10/01 ENVI 7 amendments... Amendment 1 # Corinne LEPAGE, Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV, Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Recalls that the current Chair of the Management Board failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the board of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI); notes that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors; asks the Authority to take measures to prohibit its experts and staff from being ILSI members; Amendment 2 # Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Observes that the European Economic and Social Committee published an opinion on GMOs in the EU on 6 December 2011, which reiterates the Environment Council's demands from December 2008 concluding that improvements are deemed necessary in relation to the Authority's assessments of environmental risk; asks for a greater role to be given for external expertise from Member States and independent scientists, and for the publishing of experimental data supplied by the applicants; Amendment 3 # Jutta HAUG Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Takes note of the revision of the Authority's procedures in December 2010 to ensure the implementation of the obligations deriving from Articles 16(2), 17 and 19 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/681; has been informed that in 2010 20 staff members left the Authority of whom all have received a letter upon departure reminding them of their obligations vis-à- vis the Authority; ________________ 1 OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p.1. Amendment 4 # Corinne LEPAGE, Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV, Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Observes that the European Ombudsman, on 7 December 2011, concluded that the Authority had not carried out as thorough an assessment of a potential conflict of interest arising from the move of a Head of Unit of the Authority to a biotechnology company as it should have done, and called on the Authority to improve the way it applies its rules and procedures to avoid future 'revolving door' cases involving staff members; Amendment 5 # Corinne LEPAGE, Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV, Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Regrets the omissions from declarations of interests and of breaches of Article 16 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union in several areas (notably GMOs and sweeteners) which have recurred since 2008; considers that such incidents seriously undermine the Authority's credibility ; Amendment 6 # Corinne LEPAGE, Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV, Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4c. Urges the Authority to take practical steps to counter the problems it encounters, which shall include: - explaining how the Authority will assess the severity of the potential conflicts of interest identified ; - drafting proposals to tackle the problem of the 'revolving door' system, which allows senior experts to move to the private sector to take up a post in the area they were 'controlling' as a civil servant and similar moves from the private sector to the Authority; considers that it should draw up guidelines, pursuant to Article 16 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, to be implemented by the Authority's staff ; - implementing penalties for deliberate omissions from declarations of interests. Amendment 7 # Corinne LEPAGE, Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV, Bart STAES Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. ICalls ofn the ~~opinion, on the basis of the data available, that discharge can be granted~~Agency, therefore, to inform the discharge authority by June 2012 of the measures taken and the improvements made in respect of all these areas of concern and considers that discharge to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010 should be postponed until the abovementioned problems have been resolved. source: PE-478.706 2012/10/09 CONT 76 amendments... Amendment 1 # Edit HERCZOG, Jens GEIER Proposal for a decision 1 Citation 11 a (new) - having regard to the Joint Statement and Common Approach adopted (in June 2012) by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, resulting from the work of the Inter Institutional Working Group on decentralised agencies, and in particular the sections on governance, operations, programming, accountability and transparency; Amendment 2 # Edit HERCZOG, Jens GEIER, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 3 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010; Amendment 4 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. ~~...~~Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010; Amendment 5 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,deleted Amendment 6 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital A a (new) Aa. whereas on 10 May 2012, the European Parliament postponed its decision on the discharge and closure of the accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010, Amendment 7 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital A b (new) Ab. whereas the Authority provided extensive replies to the discharge authority by letters of 29 June 2012 and 20 August 2012, Amendment 8 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital B B. whereas on 10 May 2011 Parliament granted the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge for implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 200916, and in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, inter alia: – called on the Authority to strengthen the budget processes relating to its differentiated appropriations and the planning and monitoring of multiannual implementation, – urged, in addition, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts, – invited the Authority to initiate a survey on the potential conflicts of interest of its leading scientists, its Management Board and its panel members, so that possible omissions in the declarations of interest can be detected and followed by action in a timely manner,deleted Amendment 9 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital C C. whereas the overall budget of the Authority for 2010 was EUR 74 700 000 compared with EUR 71 400 000 in 2009, which represents an increase of 4,6 %; whereas the initial contribution of the Union to the budget of the Authority for 2010 was EUR 69 041 000, which represents an increase of 4,36 % compared with its initial contribution in 200917 ,deleted Amendment 10 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital D ~~D. whereas the workload continues its growing trend both in volume and in complexity with the adoption of more than 560 scientific outputs;~~deleted Amendment 11 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the initial Union contribution to the Authority for 2010 amounted to EUR 69 041 000; notes however that EUR 3 950 000 coming from the recovery of surplus, was added to that amount which, as a result, makes a total Union contribution of EUR 72 991 000 for 2010;deleted Amendment 12 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Acknowledges from its Annual Activity Report (AAR) that, in 2010, the Authority had a budget execution rate of 98,8 % in terms of committed appropriations and of 83,5 % in terms of payment appropriations; takes note that under Title 1 (Staff) and Title 2 (Infrastructure) the budget was fully executed while under Title 3 (Operations) the execution rate reached 96,5 %;deleted Amendment 13 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Notes, however, from the AAR that in 2010 the Authority had a budget execution rate of only 83,5 % in terms of payment appropriations, which is 11 % below the target set by the Authority; finds from comments by the Authority that the execution rate in terms of payment appropriations is lower than expected for the following main reasons: – major data processing and IT operational support projects were initiated in November 2010 and therefore triggered payments for an amount of EUR 4 300 000 only in 2011; – delays in contracting scientific cooperation activities and lower payment levels under the existing grant and procurement programme led to an underspend of the related differentiated credits amounting to EUR 1 300 000; – payments for an amount of EUR 1 100 000 for specific projects in administration and communication were postponed to 2011;deleted Amendment 14 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Acknowledges from the Authority that budget execution was reported to the Management Board on a monthly basis, deviations from the budget execution targets by activity or in relation to the scientific cooperation programme were pointed out and corrective action taken;deleted Amendment 15 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. ~~Urges, however, the Authority to take further action to enable a satisfactory budge~~Notes the Authority's statement that measures now adequate have been undertaken to improve financial management and that execution rate in terms of ~~both~~ commitment ~~and payment~~ appropriations ~~and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achieved~~was close to 100 % in 2011; Amendment 16 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 ~~6. Notes from the Authority that in line with the schedule of the Commission, migration to the accrual-based accounting (ABAC) system was scheduled for September 2011 and implemented accordingly;~~deleted Amendment 17 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Finds it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costs on average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member; underlines that this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency; is of the opinion that the Management Board meetings costs are excessive and should be reduced drastically; calls on the AuthoritWelcomes information received on the significant reductions in Management Board meeting costs, realised through switching to audio streaming on demand, using English as the only lan~~d its Management Board to remedy the situation immediately and to inform the discharge authority of the measures undertaken by 30 June 2012~~guage for Board meetings and to hold all meetings at the premises in Parma; Amendment 18 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. FReminds ~~it unacceptable~~ that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costsed on average EUR 92 630 in 2010, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member; ~~underlin~~welcomes that, this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency; is of the opinion that the Management Board meetings costs are excessive and should be reduced drastically; calls on the Authority and its Management Board to remedy the situation immediately and to inform the discharge authority of the measures undertaken by 30 Junerough the implementation of a series of measures, the Authority reduced expenditure related to the Management Board by 66 % compared to 20120; Amendment 19 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 2 C~~arryovers and c~~ontract management process Amendment 20 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Acknowledges from the Authority that 6 % (EUR 270 000 000) of commitments for operational activities carried over from 2009 had to be cancelled; notes that this is an improvement compared with the previous year in which 19 % of commitments for operational activities were carried over from 2008, 37 % of such commitments were carried over from 2007 and 26 % of such commitments were carried over from 2006;deleted Amendment 21 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Urges, once more, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts; notes, in particular, that this situation demonstrates weaknesses in the Authority's contract management and monitoring of the remittance of reports and cost statements;deleted Amendment 22 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. ~~Calls on~~Takes note that the Authority to develop and implement a common monitoring system for the management of all its contracts; acknowledges, in particular, the absence of a central and coordinated capacity at directorate level responsible for the monitoring of contracts; underlines that this entails a risk of inefficient use of resources and uncoordinated monitoring of contracts and therefore asks the Authority to centralise these responsibilities at the level of each directorateed a 'Grants and Procurement Tool' to improve the monitoring of tendering process, the contracts management and the payment forecast capacity; notes that the new Database on Procurements and Grants was launched on 28 June 2012; Amendment 23 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 ~~11. Urges, in addition, the Authority to improve the reporting on contract implementation in order to guarantee effective supervision and management of its operational activities;~~deleted Amendment 24 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 3 ~~Procurement~~deleted Amendment 25 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Notes from its AAR that, in 2010, the Authority finalised 24 procurement procedures in Communication and Administration for an amount of EUR 48 800 000, as well as 75 procurement contracts and 10 grant agreements as part of the scientific cooperation programme with values of EUR 5 700 000 and EUR 2 100 000 respectively;deleted Amendment 26 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Notes that the Authority has had a Practical Procurement Guide since 2008 to provide practical guidance to its staff in preparing and implementing procurement procedures and the resulting contracts, and that the Guide is regularly updated; notes moreover that the Guide is being revised to take into account the rules recently adopted by the Commission on public procurement and revision of the Financial Regulation;deleted Amendment 27 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 4 ~~Human resources~~deleted Amendment 28 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 ~~14. Notes from the Authority that 99 % of planned posts were either filled or under offer by the end of 2010;~~deleted Amendment 29 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Calls on the Authority to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures; acknowledges, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure the anonymity of the written tests and decided pass marks for the various stages of the selection process after the evaluation process had already started;deleted Amendment 30 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. ~~Calls on~~Notes that the Authority ~~to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures; acknowledges, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure~~, in December 2010, amended its recruitment guidelines in line with the best practice recommended by from the Court of Auditors regarding the anonymity of the written tests and ~~decided~~ pass marks for the various stages of the selection process ~~after the evaluation process had already started~~; Amendment 31 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Is concerned that the Authority delayed for over 12 months the Internal Audit Service (IAS)‘s ’very important' recommendation which called on the Authority to define contract renewal processes and ensure the transparency of decision-making; calls, therefore, on the Authority to explain to the discharge authority the reasons behind this delay and to rapidly address this deficiency;deleted Amendment 32 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. ~~Is concerned that the Authority delayed for over 12 months the Internal Audit Service (IAS)‘s ’very important' recommendation which called on~~Notes the actions taken by the Authority to define contract renewal processes and ensure the transparency of decision-making; calls~~, therefore,~~ on the Authority to ~~explain to~~inform the discharge authority on the ~~reasons behind this delay and to rapidly addres~~functioning of the new Database on Procurements and Grants twhi~~s deficiency~~ch was released in June 2012; Amendment 33 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 5 Conflict of interest and ~~‘revolving door’ cases~~transparency Amendment 34 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes, in particular, that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) - EuropWelcomes the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012 but calls on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future; Amendment 35 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17a. Welcomes the Authority's commitment to propose its Management Board to elect its Chairperson by open ballot; believes that a transparent procedure will reinforce the Management Board's accountability; Amendment 36 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 b (new) 17b. Takes note that the Authority's new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authority's new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines; notes from the Authority that its practical approach concerning an expert breaching the independence policy rules is an exclusion for a 5-year period; suggests to insert a conclusive set of proportionate sanctions to be part of the implementing rules of the independence policy; Amendment 37 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 c (new) 17c. Notes that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility to publish the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures, including the outcomes of the procedure verifying the integrity of the scientific review and to broaden and reinforce the mandate of its Committee on Conflict of Interests, for instance with a similar mandate to the Committee for Ethical Standards and Prevention of Conflict of Interest of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES); expects the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure; Amendment 38 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 d (new) 17d. Encourages the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and consider adopting rules among others including sanctions and publishing the curriculum vitae and declarations of interest of the in-house experts and scientists; Amendment 39 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 e (new) 17e. Notes the Authority's statement that it adopted a policy on gifts and hospitality on 4 July 2012; commends this initiative and invites the Authority to make the policy available on its website; Amendment 40 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 f (new) 17f. Acknowledges that from 1 October 2012 the Authority will launch its first evaluation of a random sample of declarations of interest to verify their coherence with its newly adopted independence policy and implementing rules; expects the Authority to share the outcomes of the evaluation of all declarations with the discharge authority by 1 March 2013 in order to reflect them in the amendments to the next discharge report; Amendment 41 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Considers that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures; asks therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI activities such as taskforces, scientific committees or chairs for conferences;deleted Amendment 42 # Jens GEIER, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Considers that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures; ~~ask~~notes therefore the ~~Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent~~analysis carried out by the Authority of past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI or other activities ~~such as taskforces, scientific commit~~and looks forward to measures on conflict of interes ~~or chairs for confer~~t arising from the Common Approach agreed by the European Parliament, the Council and European Commission, which will provide a standard according to which all agencies can act; Amendment 43 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 ~~19. Urges the Court of Auditors to finalise and present its audit of conflict of interest in the Authority;~~deleted Amendment 44 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Recalls that the current Chair of the Management Board failed, in 2010, to declare her membership of the Board of Directors of the ILSI; notes that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors;deleted Amendment 45 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it carries out; calls, moreover, on the Authority to undertake a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and members of the Management Board, followed by concrete measures to end conflicts of interest and to provide information to the public; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the screening process and the concrete measures adopted, by means of a detailed written report by 30 June 2012;deleted Amendment 46 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it carries out; calls, moreover, on the Authority to undertake a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and members of the Management Board, followed by concrete measures to end conflicts of interest and to provide information to the public; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the screening process and the concrete measures adopted, ~~by means of a detailed written report by 30 June~~while taking note of the new integrated policy of independence and new implementing rules the Authority adopted in 2011 and 2012; Amendment 47 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 22. Notes that the Court of Auditors has observed that the review process of the declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board is insufficiently rigorous and detailed and puts the completeness and transparency of the procedure at risk;deleted Amendment 48 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 23. Considers that product assessment should not be based solely on industry data, but should duly take into account independent scientific literature published in peer-reviewed journals; stresses that extra caution should be exercised in relation to industry influence in the development of guiAcknowledges the Authority's commitment to work with the European Commission in order to delfine~~s and assessment methodologies, which should not favour industry-sponsored studies on speculative grounds and which should be developed in an open, transparent and balanced manner~~ the modalities of full public access to unpublished raw data; Amendment 49 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 24 24. Reminds the Authority that the rules governing declarations of interests should be accompanied by a set of consequences applied when those rules are breached; further, notes that the Authority should, in addition, focus on public interest in its independent decision-making by taking into account all relevant data and information;deleted Amendment 50 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 25. Notes that in March 2010 a German NGO turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than two months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a ‘cooling off’ period;deleted Amendment 51 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 26 26. Underlines that the Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures in future ‘revolving door’ cases; stresses, moreover, that the Ombudsman also observed that negotiations by a serving member of staff concerning a future job which could amount to a ‘revolving door’ situation would themselves constitute a conflict of interest and recommended that the Authority should strengthen its rules and procedures accordingly; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the concrete measures adopted, and their respective deadlines, to properly address the conclusions of the Ombudsman;deleted Amendment 52 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 27. Once more, urges the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and ‘revolving door’ cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform both the discharge authority and the public promptly of the measures taken;deleted Amendment 53 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 28. Notes from its AAR that in 2010 the Authority took several initiatives in the area of prevention and management of conflict of interests: – the commissioning of an independent report to assess the implementation by the Authority of its 2007 policy on declaration of interests; – the commissioning of an independent report to benchmark the Authority's independence system against those of both national and international peer organisations; – the conclusion of an external independent review of its declaration of interest assessments;deleted Amendment 54 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 29 29. Welcomes the fact that the Authority has adopted a new definition of conflicts of interests, based on the OECD definition, but warns that further improvements are necessary to strengthen the Authority's policy on independence; stresses in particular that the criteria that define a conflict of interests should be clarified and widened, and include current and recent past activities;deleted Amendment 55 # Edit HERCZOG, Jens GEIER Motion for a resolution Paragraph 29 29. Welcomes the fact that the Authority has adopted a new definition of conflicts of interests, based on the OECD definition, ~~but warns that further~~looks forward to receiving reports on imp~~rov~~lement~~s are necessary to strengthen the Authority's policy on independence; stresses in particular that the criteria that define a conflict of interests should be clarified and widened, and include~~ation, and notes that annual and specific declaration of interest forms now have to be completed by scientific experts and others, covering economic interests, employment, membership of specific bodies, consultancy or advisory work, research funding, and intellectual property for both current and recent past activities; Amendment 56 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 30 30. Takes note from the Authority that a review of its policy on declarations of interest took place in 2011 and that its Management Board adopted a new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes;deleted Amendment 57 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 31. Observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts' panels, especially in the case of the panels on ‘Food additives and nutrient sources added to food’ (ANS) and ‘Genetically modified organisms’ (GMO); underlines that eight of the Authority's pPanels and its sScientific cCommittee ~~were due for~~have been renewaled in March 2012 and that the Authority's capability of implementing the new policy is under scrutiny; calls therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; at the same time, calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the new composition of the panels and of the scientific committee by 30 JuneJune 2012; welcomes the publication of the declarations of interest of the newly appointed experts on the Authority's website but observes that some of the curriculum vitae are not yet available; invites the Authority to publish all of them by 1 January 2012; Amendment 58 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 31. Observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts' panels, especially in the case of the panels on ‘Food additives and nutrient sources added to food’ (ANS) and ‘Genetically modified organisms’ (GMO); ~~underlines that~~notes the information given about recruitment to eight of the Authority's panels and its scientific committee which were due for renewal in March 2012, and that the Authority's capability of implementing the new policy is under scrutiny; ~~calls therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012~~takes note of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes and stresses the importance to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; ~~at the same time, calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the new composition of the panels and of the scientific committee by 30 June 2012;~~ Amendment 59 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 a (new) 31a. Notes that 37 experts of two Panels have been appointed in 2011, prior to the adoption of the Authority's new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes; agrees therefore with the Authority's initiative to screen by 31 October 2012 their declarations of interest against the newly adopted policy and implementing rules; invites the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the outcomes of the screening process by the start of the next discharge procedure; Amendment 60 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 b (new) 31b. Calls on the Authority to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest, which shall include inter alia: - the number of conflict-of-interest cases verified, - the number of revolving door cases, - the measures taken in each category of cases, - the number of breach of trust procedures launched and their outcomes; - the sanctions applied; Amendment 61 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 32 32. Takes note of the revision of the Authority's procedures in December 2010 to ensure the implementation of the obligations deriving from Articles 16(2), 17 and 19 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/6818 ; was informed that in 2010, 20 staff members left the Authority, all of whom received a letter on departure reminding them of their obligations vis-à-vis the Authority; calls on the Authority to further improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures to avoid the ‘revolving door’ cases recently highlighted by the European Ombudsman; considers that any problems with the enforcement of staff rules and declarations of interests undermine the Authority's credibility;deleted Amendment 62 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 33 33. Notes that the Authority has been audited by the Court of Auditors in the framework of the Special Report on conflicts of interest management in the Union Agencies and acknowledges from the Court of Auditors that the Special Report is due to be published by the end of June 2012;deleted Amendment 63 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 34 34. Acknowledges from the Special Report that the Commission is considering a modification of the future funding of the Authority and proposed that the discharge authority and the Council consider a partial fee-based financing structure for the Authority; notes that the Commission is conducting an impact assessment on the matter; expresses, however, concerns that the new funding scheme proposed by the Commission could affect the independence of the Authority;deleted Amendment 64 # Cristina GUTIÉRREZ-CORTINES, Pilar AYUSO Motion for a resolution Paragraph 34 – point 1 (new) (1) Invites the European institutions to examine if it is advisable to incorporate and to commit to additional guidelines, legislation and procedures in a possible common framework for all European institutions and bodies; Amendment 65 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 6 ~~Performance~~deleted Amendment 66 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 35 35. Notes from its AAR that a review of its efficiency, led by external consultants, began in 2010 with the launch of the e3 programme; acknowledges that the inception phase of the programme concerned the establishment of the programme portfolio, structure and governance in preparation for the structural reorganisation that would be implemented in 2011; invites the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the conclusions drawn by the review and of the measures it has adopted and implemented to address them;deleted Amendment 67 # Edit HERCZOG, Jens GEIER Motion for a resolution Paragraph 35 35. ~~Notes from its AAR that a~~Welcomes the June 2012 update given to the European Parliament by EFSA on the review of its efficiency, led by external consultants, ~~began~~starting in 2010 with the launch of the e3 programme; acknowledges that the inception phase of the programme concerned the establishment of the programme portfolio, structure and governance in preparation for the structural reorganisation ~~that would be~~which was then implemented in 2011; ~~invites the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the conclusions drawn by the review and of the measures it has adopted and implemented to address them~~looks forward to future updates particularly regarding multi-annual planning, efficiency indicators and scorecard, and staff development policies; Amendment 68 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 36. Welcomes the Authority's plans to enhance its medium-term planning with a view to better involving the Member States in the Authority's work and better pool its resources across Europe; supports the Authority in strengthening its cooperation with Member States in the area of risk assessment;deleted Amendment 69 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 37 37. Underlines the need for the Authority to ensure that its advice is of a high quality and is independent, in order to guarantee compliance with Union safety standards, scientific excellence and independence on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, and plant protection; recommends, particularly in the interests of transparency, measures to further foster and monitor internal rules on declarations of interest by staff of the Authority and by experts working for the Authority;deleted Amendment 70 # Corinne LEPAGE Motion for a resolution Paragraph 37 a (new) 37a. Encourages the Authority to improve the openness and transparency of the risk assessment process, to better take into account independent peer-reviewed scientific litterature and to provide detailed justification when it rejects diverging views; encourages the Authority to increase dialogue and cooperation with external experts and national agencies, especially when they hold diverging views on a specific risk assessment process Amendment 71 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 38 38. Considers that the main tasks of the Authority are the provision of independent scientific advice on matters with a direct or indirect impact on food safety, the conduct of risk assessments to provide Union institutions, Member States and policy-making bodies with a sound scientific basis for defining policy-driven legislative or regulatory measures and the collection and analysis of scientific data;deleted Amendment 72 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 7 ~~Internal Audit~~deleted Amendment 73 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 39. Acknowledges that six ‘very important’ recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented and that three of them have already been delayed for over 12 months; notes in particular that these delays concern: information security management, the contract renewal process and transparency of decision-making, and filing and archiving policy; calls, therefore, on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies, and to inform the discharge authorities of the results achieved;deleted Amendment 74 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 39. Acknowledges th~~at six ‘very important’ recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented and that three of them have already been delayed for over 12 months; notes in particular that these delays concern~~e steps taken by EFSA to address three outstanding recommendations from the IAS where delays occured: information security management, the contract renewal process and transparency of decision-making, and filing and archiving policy; calls, therefore, on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies, and to inform the discharge authorities of the results achieved; Amendment 75 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 40 ~~40. Draws attention to its recommendations from previous discharge reports, as set out in the A~~deleted (The deletion of this paragraph leads to the deletion of the table annexed to th~~is resolution;~~e draft report.) Amendment 76 # Monica Luisa MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 41 41. Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of 10 May 201219 on the performance, financial management and control of the Agencies.deleted source: PE-494.823

Amendments

Dossier

133

2011/2226(DEC) 2010 discharge: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

2012/07/03 CONT 32 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Edit HERCZOG

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. ~~...~~Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010;

Amendment 2 #

Corinne LEPAGE, Sonia ALFANO, Bart STAES, Antonyia PARVANOVA

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. ~~...~~Calls on the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority ~~discharge~~to inform the discharge authority by the 30 June 2012 of the measures taken and of the improvements made in all the areas of concern and decides to postpone the discharge to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010;

Amendment 3 #

activities/1/date	changed	Old 2012-10-23 New 2011-07-26
activities/1/docs	added	url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=473 text PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 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 Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EFSA's tasks: EFSA, which is located in Parma, was established by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002. Its main tasks are to supply the scientific information needed for Union legislation to be drawn up, to collect and analyse data that allow risks to be identified and monitored and to provide independent information on these risks. EFSA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Authority's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million compared with EUR 71.4 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Authority at the end of the year was 433 as compared with 407 the previous year. The complete version of EFSA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsahow/funding.htm title COM(2011)0473 type Non-legislative basic document published celexid CELEX:52011DC0473:EN
activities/1/type	changed	Old Prev DG PRES New Non-legislative basic document
activities/4/body	changed	Old EC New CSL
activities/4/commission	deleted	DG url http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
activities/4/date	changed	Old 2011-07-26 New 2012-02-08
activities/4/docs/0/celexid	deleted	CELEX:52011DC0473:EN
activities/4/docs/0/text/0	changed	Old PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 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 Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EFSA's tasks: EFSA, which is located in Parma, was established by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002. Its main tasks are to supply the scientific information needed for Union legislation to be drawn up, to collect and analyse data that allow risks to be identified and monitored and to provide independent information on these risks. EFSA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Authority's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million compared with EUR 71.4 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Authority at the end of the year was 433 as compared with 407 the previous year. The complete version of EFSA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsahow/funding.htm New Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2010 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2010 of the European Food Safety Authority, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010, accompanied by the Authority's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Authority in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor's report call for a certain number of remarks: the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Authority's annual accounts fairly present the financial position as at 31 December 2010 and the results of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Authority's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular; as regards the review process of the Declarations of Interest of the Management Board's Members, the Councils shares the Court's opinion that a more rigorous methodology should be adopted in order to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; it also urges the Authority to correct the weaknesses identified in its staff selection procedures.
activities/4/docs/0/title	changed	Old COM(2011)0473 New 06083/2012
activities/4/docs/0/type	changed	Old Non-legislative basic document published New Document attached to the procedure
activities/4/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=473 New http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=6083%2F12&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
activities/4/type	changed	Old Non-legislative basic document New Document attached to the procedure
activities/5/date	changed	Old 2012-03-07 New 2012-02-13
activities/5/docs/0/title	changed	Old PE483.626 New PE473.970
activities/5/docs/0/type	changed	Old Amendments tabled in committee New Committee draft report
activities/5/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE483.626 New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970
activities/5/type	changed	Old Amendments tabled in committee New Committee draft report
activities/6/body	changed	Old CSL New EP
activities/6/date	changed	Old 2012-02-08 New 2012-03-07
activities/6/docs/0/text	deleted	Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2010 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2010 of the European Food Safety Authority, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010, accompanied by the Authority's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Authority in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor's report call for a certain number of remarks: the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Authority's annual accounts fairly present the financial position as at 31 December 2010 and the results of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Authority's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular; as regards the review process of the Declarations of Interest of the Management Board's Members, the Councils shares the Court's opinion that a more rigorous methodology should be adopted in order to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; it also urges the Authority to correct the weaknesses identified in its staff selection procedures.
activities/6/docs/0/title	changed	Old 06083/2012 New PE483.626
activities/6/docs/0/type	changed	Old Document attached to the procedure New Amendments tabled in committee
activities/6/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=6083%2F12&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100 New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE483.626
activities/6/type	changed	Old Document attached to the procedure New Amendments tabled in committee
activities/14	deleted	date 2012-10-02 docs url http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-299&language=EN text The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the second reading report of Monica Luisa MACOVEI (PPE, RO) on the discharge of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2010. To recall, in May 2012, Parliament postponed the discharge decision for the Authority chiefly because there was a problem of conflict of interest of some staff (please refer to the summary dated 10/05/2012). Members approved the closure of the Authority’s accounts for the 2010 financial year, and made a series of recommendations to be taken into account in the granting of the discharge: · conflicts of interest: Members welcome the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012. However, they call on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future. Recalling the case of conflict of interest mentioned in its resolution to postpone the discharge (as reported in the summary of 10 May 2012), Members took careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to offset this problem. They particularly welcome the code of conduct of the Authority’s Management Board and its members’ active approach in reviewing their declarations of interest, and the new rules for screening for conflicts of interest in force since July 2012. Members indicate that, in this regard, they will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis; · the Authority’s full independence policy: Members take note that the Authority’s new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authority’s new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines. They note that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility to publish the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures. They expect the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure. Overall, the Members encourage the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and to consider adopting rules among others including sanctions in case of conflict of interest; · for steps to be taken in cases of non-compliance: Members are firmly convinced that steps have to be taken should cases of non-compliance with existing rules occur and call on the Authority to draw up an action plan, accompanied by a precise timetable, aiming to remedy the shortcomings. Either the European Parliament or the European legislator has to address these problems by changing the existing rules and regulations to eliminate possible loopholes. Noting the package of measures taken by the Authority towards this end, Members welcome the Authority’s initiative to screen by 31 October 2012 their declarations of interest against the newly adopted policy of the independence of the Authority. In this regard, they call on the Authority to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest; · transparency: Members encourage the Authority to improve the openness and transparency of the risk assessment process, to better take into account independent peer-reviewed scientific literature and to provide detailed justification when it rejects diverging views. They especially encourage the Authority to increase dialogue and cooperation with external experts and national agencies, especially when they hold diverging views on a specific risk assessment process. Overall, Members welcome the agreement on the Joint Statement and the Common Approach of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies in which certain elements of importance to the discharge have been addressed and taken up. type Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title A7-0299/2012 body EP type Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
activities/14/date	changed	Old 2012-02-13 New 2012-10-02
activities/14/docs/0/text	added	The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the second reading report of Monica Luisa MACOVEI (PPE, RO) on the discharge of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2010. To recall, in May 2012, Parliament postponed the discharge decision for the Authority chiefly because there was a problem of conflict of interest of some staff (please refer to the summary dated 10/05/2012). Members approved the closure of the Authority’s accounts for the 2010 financial year, and made a series of recommendations to be taken into account in the granting of the discharge: · conflicts of interest: Members welcome the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012. However, they call on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future. Recalling the case of conflict of interest mentioned in its resolution to postpone the discharge (as reported in the summary of 10 May 2012), Members took careful note of all new policies, rules, implementing measures and actions which have been set up since 2007 to offset this problem. They particularly welcome the code of conduct of the Authority’s Management Board and its members’ active approach in reviewing their declarations of interest, and the new rules for screening for conflicts of interest in force since July 2012. Members indicate that, in this regard, they will continue to invite the Executive Director for an exchange of views on a regular basis; · the Authority’s full independence policy: Members take note that the Authority’s new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authority’s new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines. They note that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility to publish the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures. They expect the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure. Overall, the Members encourage the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and to consider adopting rules among others including sanctions in case of conflict of interest; · for steps to be taken in cases of non-compliance: Members are firmly convinced that steps have to be taken should cases of non-compliance with existing rules occur and call on the Authority to draw up an action plan, accompanied by a precise timetable, aiming to remedy the shortcomings. Either the European Parliament or the European legislator has to address these problems by changing the existing rules and regulations to eliminate possible loopholes. Noting the package of measures taken by the Authority towards this end, Members welcome the Authority’s initiative to screen by 31 October 2012 their declarations of interest against the newly adopted policy of the independence of the Authority. In this regard, they call on the Authority to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest; · transparency: Members encourage the Authority to improve the openness and transparency of the risk assessment process, to better take into account independent peer-reviewed scientific literature and to provide detailed justification when it rejects diverging views. They especially encourage the Authority to increase dialogue and cooperation with external experts and national agencies, especially when they hold diverging views on a specific risk assessment process. Overall, Members welcome the agreement on the Joint Statement and the Common Approach of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies in which certain elements of importance to the discharge have been addressed and taken up.
activities/14/docs/0/title	changed	Old PE473.970 New A7-0299/2012
activities/14/docs/0/type	changed	Old Committee draft report New Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
activities/14/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970 New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-299&language=EN
activities/14/type	changed	Old Committee draft report New Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading

activities/9/docs/1/url	changed	Old http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=21443&l=en New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=22040&l=en
activities/15/docs/0/url	added	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2012-365

activities/15/docs	added	type Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title T7-0365/2012
activities/15/type	changed	Old Vote scheduled New Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
procedure/stage_reached	changed	Old Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage New Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal

activities/13/committees	added	body EP shadows group S&D name HERCZOG Edit group ALDE name GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan group Verts/ALE name STAES Bart group ECR name CZARNECKI Ryszard group GUE/NGL name SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group EFD name ANDREASEN Marta group NI name EHRENHAUSER Martin group NI name HARTONG Lucas responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa body EP responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa body EP responsible False committee ENVI date 2012-07-10 committee_full Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur group S&D name HAUG Jutta body EP responsible False committee ENVI date 2011-10-05 committee_full Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur group S&D name HAUG Jutta
activities/13/type	changed	Old Prev Adopt in Cte New Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading

activities/7/date	changed	Old 2012-10-23 New 2012-04-04
activities/7/docs	added	url http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-106&language=EN text The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Monica Luisa MACOVEI (EPP, RO) on granting discharge to the European Food Safety Authority. The committee postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010. It also postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010 and makes a number of recommendations, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Budget and Financial Management: Members recall that the Authority had a budget execution rate of only 83.5% in terms of payment appropriations in 2010 due to delays in contracting scientific cooperation activities. They urge the Authority to take further action to enable a satisfactory budget execution in terms of both commitment and payment appropriations and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achieved. They also find it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costs on average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member (this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency); Carryovers and contract management process: Members acknowledge from the Authority that 6% of commitments for operational activities carried over from 2009 had to be cancelled. They urge, once more, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts. They urge, in addition, the Authority to improve the reporting on contract implementation in order to guarantee effective supervision and management of its operational activities; Human resources: Members call on the Authority to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures. They acknowledge, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure the anonymity of the written tests and decided pass marks for the various stages of the selection process after the evaluation process had already started; Conflict of interest and 'revolving door' cases: Members note that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) – Europe. They consider that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures. Members ask therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI activities such as taskforces, scientific committees or chairs for conferences. They note that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. They consider, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out ; Members note that in March 2010 a German NGO turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than two months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a ‘cooling off’ period. The Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures in future ‘revolving door’ cases. They once more, urge the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and 'revolving door' cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform both the discharge authority and the public promptly of the measures taken. They call therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision-making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; Performance: Members underline the need for the Authority to ensure that its advice is of a high quality and is independent, in order to guarantee compliance with Union safety standards, scientific excellence and independence on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, and plant protection. They consider that the main tasks of the Authority are the provision of independent scientific advice on matters with a direct or indirect impact on food safety, the conduct of risk assessments to provide Union institutions, Member States and policy-making bodies with a sound scientific basis for defining policy-driven legislative or regulatory measures and the collection and analysis of scientific data; Internal Audit: Members acknowledge that six “very important” recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented and that three of them have already been delayed for over 12 months. They call, therefore, on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies, and to inform the discharge authorities of the results achieved. type Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title A7-0106/2012
activities/7/type	changed	Old Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading New Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
activities/12/body	changed	Old EP New EC
activities/12/commission	added	DG url http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
activities/12/date	changed	Old 2012-04-04 New 2012-10-23
activities/12/docs	deleted	url http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-106&language=EN text The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Monica Luisa MACOVEI (EPP, RO) on granting discharge to the European Food Safety Authority. The committee postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010. It also postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010 and makes a number of recommendations, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Budget and Financial Management: Members recall that the Authority had a budget execution rate of only 83.5% in terms of payment appropriations in 2010 due to delays in contracting scientific cooperation activities. They urge the Authority to take further action to enable a satisfactory budget execution in terms of both commitment and payment appropriations and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achieved. They also find it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costs on average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member (this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency); Carryovers and contract management process: Members acknowledge from the Authority that 6% of commitments for operational activities carried over from 2009 had to be cancelled. They urge, once more, the Authority to improve its budget management in order to reduce its high carryover amounts. They urge, in addition, the Authority to improve the reporting on contract implementation in order to guarantee effective supervision and management of its operational activities; Human resources: Members call on the Authority to address its weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which put at risk the transparency of the procedures. They acknowledge, in particular, from the Court of Auditors that the Authority did not ensure the anonymity of the written tests and decided pass marks for the various stages of the selection process after the evaluation process had already started; Conflict of interest and 'revolving door' cases: Members note that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) – Europe. They consider that, while a dialogue with industry on product assessment methodologies is legitimate and necessary, this dialogue should not undermine the independence of the Authority nor the integrity of risk assessment procedures. Members ask therefore the Authority to consider as a conflict of interest the current or recent past participation of its Management Board, panel and working group members or staff in ILSI activities such as taskforces, scientific committees or chairs for conferences. They note that ILSI is financed by firms in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. They consider, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and of possible and actual conflicts of interest should be carried out ; Members note that in March 2010 a German NGO turned to the European Ombudsman, complaining that the Authority did not adequately address a potential conflict of interest concerning the move of its Head of Genetically Modified Organisms Unit to a biotechnology company in 2008 less than two months after the staff member in question left the Authority, without a ‘cooling off’ period. The Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had not carried out a thorough assessment of the alleged potential conflict of interest and called on the Authority to improve the way in which it applies its rules and procedures in future ‘revolving door’ cases. They once more, urge the Authority to take appropriate measures in cases of conflict of interests and 'revolving door' cases, including when cases occur within the Management Board, and to inform both the discharge authority and the public promptly of the measures taken. They call therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision-making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; Performance: Members underline the need for the Authority to ensure that its advice is of a high quality and is independent, in order to guarantee compliance with Union safety standards, scientific excellence and independence on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety, and plant protection. They consider that the main tasks of the Authority are the provision of independent scientific advice on matters with a direct or indirect impact on food safety, the conduct of risk assessments to provide Union institutions, Member States and policy-making bodies with a sound scientific basis for defining policy-driven legislative or regulatory measures and the collection and analysis of scientific data; Internal Audit: Members acknowledge that six “very important” recommendations from the IAS still need to be implemented and that three of them have already been delayed for over 12 months. They call, therefore, on the Authority to rapidly address these deficiencies, and to inform the discharge authorities of the results achieved. type Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title A7-0106/2012
activities/12/type	changed	Old Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading New Prev DG PRES

activities/3/committees/1	added	body EP responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa
activities/7/committees/1	added	body EP responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa
committees/1	added	body EP responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee	changed	Old CONT/7/07248 New CONT/7/07248;CONT/7/09687

activities/1/date	changed	Old 2012-05-10 New 2011-07-26
activities/1/docs	added	url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=473 text PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 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 Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EFSA's tasks: EFSA, which is located in Parma, was established by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002. Its main tasks are to supply the scientific information needed for Union legislation to be drawn up, to collect and analyse data that allow risks to be identified and monitored and to provide independent information on these risks. EFSA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Authority's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million compared with EUR 71.4 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Authority at the end of the year was 433 as compared with 407 the previous year. The complete version of EFSA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsahow/funding.htm title COM(2011)0473 type Non-legislative basic document published celexid CELEX:52011DC0473:EN
activities/1/type	changed	Old Prev DG PRES New Non-legislative basic document
activities/5	deleted	date 2012-02-13 docs url http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970 type Committee draft report title PE473.970 body EP type Committee draft report
activities/5/date	changed	Old 2012-05-10 New 2012-02-13
activities/5/docs/0/title	changed	Old T7-0173/2012 New PE473.970
activities/5/docs/0/type	changed	Old Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading New Committee draft report
activities/5/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2012-173 New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970
activities/5/type	changed	Old Text adopted by Parliament, single reading New Committee draft report
activities/9/body	changed	Old EC New EP
activities/9/commission	deleted	DG url http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
activities/9/date	changed	Old 2011-07-26 New 2012-05-10
activities/9/docs/0/celexid	deleted	CELEX:52011DC0473:EN
activities/9/docs/0/text	deleted	PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 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 Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EFSA's tasks: EFSA, which is located in Parma, was established by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002. Its main tasks are to supply the scientific information needed for Union legislation to be drawn up, to collect and analyse data that allow risks to be identified and monitored and to provide independent information on these risks. EFSA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Authority's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million compared with EUR 71.4 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Authority at the end of the year was 433 as compared with 407 the previous year. The complete version of EFSA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsahow/funding.htm
activities/9/docs/0/title	changed	Old COM(2011)0473 New T7-0173/2012
activities/9/docs/0/type	changed	Old Non-legislative basic document published New Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
activities/9/docs/0/url	changed	Old http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=473 New http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2012-173
activities/9/type	changed	Old Non-legislative basic document New Text adopted by Parliament, single reading

activities/4/docs/0/text	added	Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2010 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2010 of the European Food Safety Authority, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010, accompanied by the Authority's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Authority in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor's report call for a certain number of remarks: the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Authority's annual accounts fairly present the financial position as at 31 December 2010 and the results of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Authority's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular; as regards the review process of the Declarations of Interest of the Management Board's Members, the Councils shares the Court's opinion that a more rigorous methodology should be adopted in order to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; it also urges the Authority to correct the weaknesses identified in its staff selection procedures.
activities/8/docs/0/url	added	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-106&language=EN

activities/1/docs/0/url	added	http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=473
activities/2/docs/1/url	added	http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:366:SOM:EN:HTML
activities/4/docs/0/url	added	http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=6083%2F12&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
activities/5/docs/0/url	added	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970
activities/9/date	changed	Old 2012-05-09 New 2012-05-10
activities/10	deleted	date 2012-05-10 body EP type Vote scheduled
procedure/title	changed	Old Discharge 2010: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) New 2010 discharge: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

activities/1/docs/0/celexid	added	CELEX:52011DC0473:EN
activities/2/docs/1/url	added	http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:366:SOM:EN:HTML
activities/4/docs/0/url	added	http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=6083%2F12&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
activities/5/docs/0/url	added	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE473.970

activities/2	added	date 2011-09-06 docs text PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), together with the Authority's replies. CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit. This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the Court’s opinion, the Authority's Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation. The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. The report confirms that the Agency’s 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million and that the number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 433. The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows: The Court’s observations: Declarations of Interest of the Members of the Management Board is carried out by the Chairperson with the assistance of Vice Chairpersons. The Court states that this review process is insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently detailed. There is scope to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; weaknesses were noted in some recruitment procedures. The Authority’s response: in order to reinforce the self assessment of its Members Declarations of Interest the Management Board adopted in June 2011 a code of conduct as well as a draft policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making processes for public consultation. This new draft policy foresees that for any matters linked to the independence of members of the Board, the Authority might consult the EU institutions that contributed to the appointment process (Council, Parliament, Commission); as regards recruitment, the Authority adapted its guidelines to adhere to the ECA best practices recommendations. Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Authority’s activities in 2010. This is focused on the following: scientific outputs and supporting publications: scientific opinions and advice, Evaluation of products, substances and claims subject to authorisation, Data Collection, scientific cooperation and networking; various publications: scientific outputs supported by communication activities: 34%, 78 public consultations, 3 million web visits, 16 press releases, 59 web news stories and 116 interviews. type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title N7-0017/2012 url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:366:SOM:EN:HTML type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106 body CoA type Court of Auditors: opinion, report
activities/2	deleted	date 2011-09-06 docs type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106 text PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), together with the Authority's replies. CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit. This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the Court’s opinion, the Authority's Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation. The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. The report confirms that the Agency’s 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million and that the number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 433. The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows: The Court’s observations: Declarations of Interest of the Members of the Management Board is carried out by the Chairperson with the assistance of Vice Chairpersons. The Court states that this review process is insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently detailed. There is scope to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; weaknesses were noted in some recruitment procedures. The Authority’s response: in order to reinforce the self assessment of its Members Declarations of Interest the Management Board adopted in June 2011 a code of conduct as well as a draft policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making processes for public consultation. This new draft policy foresees that for any matters linked to the independence of members of the Board, the Authority might consult the EU institutions that contributed to the appointment process (Council, Parliament, Commission); as regards recruitment, the Authority adapted its guidelines to adhere to the ECA best practices recommendations. Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Authority’s activities in 2010. This is focused on the following: scientific outputs and supporting publications: scientific opinions and advice, Evaluation of products, substances and claims subject to authorisation, Data Collection, scientific cooperation and networking; various publications: scientific outputs supported by communication activities: 34%, 78 public consultations, 3 million web visits, 16 press releases, 59 web news stories and 116 interviews. type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title N7-0017/2012 body CoA type Court of Auditors: opinion, report
activities/6	added	date 2012-03-26 body EP type Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/6	deleted	date 2012-03-27 body EP type Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/7	added	body EP date 2012-03-27 type EP 1R Committee

activities/0	deleted	date 2011-07-26 docs url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=0473 title COM(2011)0473 type Non-legislative basic document published celexid CELEX:52011DC0473:EN body type Non-legislative basic document published
activities/1	added	date 2011-07-26 docs url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=0473 title COM(2011)0473 type Non-legislative basic document published celexid CELEX:52011DC0473:EN body EC commission DG url http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas type Non-legislative basic document
activities/2	added	date 2011-09-06 docs text PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), together with the Authority's replies. CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit. This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the Court’s opinion, the Authority's Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation. The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. The report confirms that the Agency’s 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million and that the number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 433. The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows: The Court’s observations: Declarations of Interest of the Members of the Management Board is carried out by the Chairperson with the assistance of Vice Chairpersons. The Court states that this review process is insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently detailed. There is scope to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; weaknesses were noted in some recruitment procedures. The Authority’s response: in order to reinforce the self assessment of its Members Declarations of Interest the Management Board adopted in June 2011 a code of conduct as well as a draft policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making processes for public consultation. This new draft policy foresees that for any matters linked to the independence of members of the Board, the Authority might consult the EU institutions that contributed to the appointment process (Council, Parliament, Commission); as regards recruitment, the Authority adapted its guidelines to adhere to the ECA best practices recommendations. Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Authority’s activities in 2010. This is focused on the following: scientific outputs and supporting publications: scientific opinions and advice, Evaluation of products, substances and claims subject to authorisation, Data Collection, scientific cooperation and networking; various publications: scientific outputs supported by communication activities: 34%, 78 public consultations, 3 million web visits, 16 press releases, 59 web news stories and 116 interviews. type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title N7-0017/2012 url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:366:SOM:EN:HTML type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106 body CoA type Court of Auditors: opinion, report
activities/2	deleted	date 2011-07-26 docs url http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=0473 title COM(2011)0473 type Non-legislative basic document celexid CELEX:52011DC0473:EN type Non-legislative basic document body EC commission DG Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
activities/3	deleted	date 2011-09-06 docs text PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), together with the Authority's replies. CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit. This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the Court’s opinion, the Authority's Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation. The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. The report confirms that the Agency’s 2010 budget amounted to EUR 74.7 million and that the number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 433. The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows: The Court’s observations: Declarations of Interest of the Members of the Management Board is carried out by the Chairperson with the assistance of Vice Chairpersons. The Court states that this review process is insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently detailed. There is scope to improve the completeness and transparency of this procedure; weaknesses were noted in some recruitment procedures. The Authority’s response: in order to reinforce the self assessment of its Members Declarations of Interest the Management Board adopted in June 2011 a code of conduct as well as a draft policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making processes for public consultation. This new draft policy foresees that for any matters linked to the independence of members of the Board, the Authority might consult the EU institutions that contributed to the appointment process (Council, Parliament, Commission); as regards recruitment, the Authority adapted its guidelines to adhere to the ECA best practices recommendations. Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Authority’s activities in 2010. This is focused on the following: scientific outputs and supporting publications: scientific opinions and advice, Evaluation of products, substances and claims subject to authorisation, Data Collection, scientific cooperation and networking; various publications: scientific outputs supported by communication activities: 34%, 78 public consultations, 3 million web visits, 16 press releases, 59 web news stories and 116 interviews. type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title N7-0017/2012 type Court of Auditors: opinion, report title OJ C 366 15.12.2011, p. 0106 body type Court of Auditors: opinion, report
activities/6	added	date 2012-03-27 body unknown type Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/7	deleted	date 2012-03-27 body type Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
other/0	added	body EC dg url http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title Budget commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
other/0	deleted	body EC dg Budget commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas

activities/4	added	date 2011-10-12 body EP type Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees body EP shadows group S&D name HERCZOG Edit group ALDE name GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan group Verts/ALE name STAES Bart group ECR name CZARNECKI Ryszard group GUE/NGL name SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group EFD name ANDREASEN Marta group NI name EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa body EP responsible False committee ENVI date 2011-10-05 committee_full Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur group S&D name HAUG Jutta
activities/4	deleted	date 2011-10-12 body EP type Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees body EP shadows group S&D name HERCZOG Edit group ALDE name GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan group Verts/ALE name STAES Bart group ECR name CZARNECKI Ryszard group GUE/NGL name SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo group EFD name ANDREASEN Marta group NI name EHRENHAUSER Martin responsible True committee CONT date 2011-03-03 committee_full Budgetary Control rapporteur group EPP name MACOVEI Monica Luisa body EP responsible False committee ENVI date 2011-10-05 committee_full Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur group S&D name HAUG Jutta
activities/8	added	body EP date 2012-03-27 type Prev Adopt in Cte
activities/8	deleted	body EP date 2012-03-27 type EP 1R Committee
activities/10	deleted	body EC date 2012-05-09 type Prev DG PRES commission DG Budget Commissioner ŠEMETA Algirdas
committees/0/shadows/6	added	group NI name EHRENHAUSER Martin
committees/0/shadows/6	deleted	group NI name EHRENHAUSER Martin

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A7-0106/2012 - Monica Luisa Macovei - Décision

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