2018/2209(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Regrets the small number of staff in key operational units, in particular in the Application Management and Maintenance (AMM) unit; points out as well that in the second half of 2017, the head of the AMM unit also occupied ad interim the posts of Head of the Operations Department and Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit, thereby combining th~~e thre~~ree of the highest management posts in the Operations Department; points out that this is not just a risk from a business continuity perspective but is also a sub-optimal segregation of duties~~, creating~~ with potential operational conflicts of interests implications; request the Agency to avoid taking unnecessary operational risks due to its human resource constraints and requests it to address those issues without delay;

Amendment 14 #

Cornelia ERNST

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Regrets the small number of staff in key operational units, in particular in the Application Management and Maintenance (AMM) unit; points out as well that in the second half of 2017, the head of the AMM unit also occupied ad interim the posts of Head of the Operations Department and Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit, thereby combining the three highest management posts in the Operations Department; points out that this is not just a risk from a business continuity perspective but is also a ~~sub-optimal~~flawed segregation of duties, creating potential operational conflicts of interests; request the Agency to avoid taking unnecessary operational risks due to its human resource constraints and requests it to address those issues without delay;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Highlights the remark of the Court of Auditors that opEU-LISA currently ~~questions the relevance for the Agency of further extending its mandate to include the management of additional IT system~~manages three separate, non-integrated large-scale IT systems (SIS II, VIS and Eurodac) all dealing with data in the Union’s policy area of freedom, security and justice. Points out the risk of the Agency being prevented from realizing economies of scale and synergies, if systems operated by it continue to be run in silos; agrees with the Court that ~~the~~ Agency should work in close co~~nsult~~operation with the Commission and the Member States ~~prepare a cost-benefit analysis supporting a discuss~~to address this risk; points out that the most efficient approach would be implementation onf i~~ts long term evolution~~nteroperability between systems; points out that fu~~rther~~ture extension of the mandate of the Agency should not happen to the detriment of on- going developments and ~~the~~ stability and security of the operations of the ~~Agency’s current systems~~systems entrusted to the Agency at present that must remain its first priority;.

Amendment 16 #

Cornelia ERNST

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Highlights the remark of the Court of Auditors that openly questions the relevance for the Agency of further extending its mandate to include the management of additional IT systems; agrees with the Court that the Agency should in close consultation with the Commission and the Member States prepare a cost-benefit analysis supporting a discussion on its long term evolution; points out that further extension of the mandate of the Agency should not happen to the detriment of ~~on-going developments and the~~the availability, stability and security of the ~~operation of the Agency’s current systems that must remain its first priority~~IT systems currently operated by the Agency that must remain its first priority, or to the detriment of ongoing developments;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Highlights the remark of the Court of Auditors that opthe Agenlcy ~~questions the relevance for the Agency of further extend~~currently manages three separate, non-integrated large-scale IT systems all dealing wit~~s mandate to include the management of additional IT systems~~h data in the Union’s policy area of freedom, security and justice; notes the risks arising from the prevention of the Agency to ensure economies of scale and synergies if systems operated by it continue to be run separately; agrees with the Court that the Agency should work in close co~~nsult~~operation with the Commission and the Member States prepare a cost-benefit analysis supporting a discussion on its long term evolution; points out that further extension of the mandate of the Agency should not happen to the detriment of on-going developments and the stability and security of the operation of the Agency’s current systems that must remain its first priorityto tackle and successfully address these risks; believes that the interoperability between systems would solve these problems;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Welcomes the commitment of the Agency to address the recommendation of the Internal Audit Service report on ‘Audit on the controls over the procurement process in eu-LISA’, issued in December 2017; stresses the importance of the Agency to deliver on its commitment.

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. welcomes the continuous development of the Agency's internal capabilities with regard to budget planning and the monitoring of its execution to ensure the sound management of the Agency’s financial resources; welcomes that the overall execution level of commitments and payments totalled 100%;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. Acknowledges that the Agency successfully delivered its mandate through the year, despite substantial lack of resources in operational and horizontal functions in the Agency; supports the need to continue with the efforts necessary for staff retention and development in the Agency; considers that the way the Agency handled the substantially increased work load was highly adequate, but stresses that the pressure of work on staff has to be kept at a viable limit;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. regrets that the Agency lacked the human resources it needed to fulfil its operational and horizontal functions without recourse to external contractors; calls on the Agency to continue its efforts to ensure staff retention and development within the Agency; welcomes how the Agency handled the substantially increased workload in 2017 despite the high turnover in expert staff;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1 c. Finds that the actions performed by the Agency to manage and evolve the three systems currently entrusted to it (Eurodac, Visa Information System/Biometric Management System (VIS/BMS)and SIS II) are adequate in relation to the objectives set out in its Establishing Regulation; and emphasises the importance of the quality of the data inserted into the systems and the extended role of the Agency in data quality management;

Amendment 6 #

Petr JEŽEK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes that IT projects were implemented on time, on cost and on budget in 2017; points out, however, that the Agency outsourced 90 % of its projects via three framework contracts; stresses that even if the Agency’s IT projects are under its control, outsourcing its activities to such a large extendt creates risks of over-reliance and over-dependency on external contractors; ~~request, therefore, the Agency to devise a long term strategy to mitig~~takes note of the Agency's response thate this risk; acknowledges the administrative overhead, technical challenges and additional costs of adopting such a strategy but stresses that, given the sensitivity of its IT systems, contractor lock-in must be avoided; requests the Agency to present its vendor and contractor strategy to the European Parliament; requests the Agency to take all necessary measures to ensureese issues may be addressed under the Commission's interoperability proposal; welcomes that the Agency has undertaken a study in order to have an overview of the architecture of the future IT systems; requests therefore, the Agency to devise a long term strategy to address thate contractors having access to sensitive information about IT systems or the data they process are legally bound to stringent confidentiality rules and to demand that such contractors have formal national security clearances at the time of accessing such information; requests the Agency to ensure that its contractors are not bound by any laws of third countries that could bring them into conflict with the confidentiality arrangements established by the Agencycerns of the Court; acknowledges the administrative overhead, technical challenges and additional costs of adopting such a strategy but stresses that, given the sensitivity of its IT systems, contractor lock-in must be avoided;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes that IT projects were implemented on time, on cost and on budget in 2017; points out, however, that the Agency ~~outsourced 90 % of its projects via~~had to make extensive use of external contractors for the operational management of the systems entrusted to the Agency through three framework contracts; stresses that even if the Agency’s IT projects are under its control, ~~outsourcing its activitie~~the use of external contractors to such a large extendt creates risks of over- reliance and over-dependency on ~~external contractors~~them; requests, therefore, the Agency to devise a long term strategy to mitigate this risk; acknowledges the administrative overhead, technical challenges and additional ~~costs of~~staff and budget needed to adopt~~ing~~ such a strategy but stresses that, given the sensitivity of its IT systems, ~~contractor lock-in must~~over-dependency on external contractors should be avoided; requests the Agency to present its vendor and contractor strategy to the European Parliament; requests the Agency to take all necessary measures to ensure that contractors having access to sensitive information about IT systems or the data they process are legally bound to stringent confidentiality rules and to demand that such contractors have formal national security clearances at the time of accessing such information; requests the Agency to ensure that its contractors are not bound by any laws of third countries that could bring them into conflict with the confidentiality arrangements established by the Agency;

Amendment 8 #

Cornelia ERNST

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes that IT projects were implemented on time, on cost and on budget in 2017; points out, however, that the Agency outsourced 90 % of its projects via three framework contracts; stresses that even if the Agency’s IT projects are under its control, outsourcing its activities to such a large extend creates risks of over-reliance and over-dependency on external contractors; request, therefore, the Agency to devise a long term strategy to mitigate this risk; acknowledges the ~~administrative overhead, technical challenges and additional costs of adopting such a strategy but~~technical challenges of adopting such a strategy but underlines that the high rate of outsourcing defeats the purpose of its existence and stresses that, given the sensitivity of its IT systems, contractor lock-in must be avoided; requests the Agency to present its vendor and contractor strategy to the European Parliament; requests the Agency to take all necessary measures to ensure that contractors having access to sensitive information about IT systems or the data they process are legally bound to stringent confidentiality rules and to demand that such contractors have formal national security clearances at the time of accessing such information; requests the Agency to ensure that its contractors are not bound by any laws of third countries that could bring them into conflict with the confidentiality arrangements established by the Agency;

Amendment 9 #

Caterina CHINNICI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes that IT projects were implemented on time, on cost and on budget in 2017; points out, however, that the Agency outsourced 90 % of its projects via three framework contracts; stresses that even if the Agency’s IT projects are under its control, outsourcing its activities to such a large extend creates risks of over-reliance and over-dependency on external contractors; request, therefore, the Agency to devise a long term strategy to mitigate this risk; acknowledges the administrative overhead, technical challenges and additional costs, including staffing costs, of adopting such a strategy but stresses that, given the sensitivity of its IT systems, contractor lock-in must be avoided; requests the Agency to present its vendor and contractor strategy to the European Parliament; requests the Agency to take all necessary measures to ensure that contractors having access to sensitive information about IT systems or the data they process are legally bound to stringent confidentiality rules and to demand that such contractors have formal national security clearances at the time of accessing such information; requests the Agency to ensure that its contractors are not bound by any laws of third countries that could bring them into conflict with the confidentiality arrangements established by the Agency;

source: 631.947

2019/01/31 CONT 24 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Grant~~Refuses the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2017;

Amendment 10 #

Petri SARVAMAA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Notes with concern that on 31 December 2017 the establishment plan was only 87,02 % executed, with 114 temporary agents appointed out of 131 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared with 118 authorised posts in 2016) ; notes from the Agency, however, that two posts were added in anticipation of the recast of the EURODAC Regulation, that recruitment procedures for 14 posts could be started only on 29 December 2017, the day the EES Regulation entered into force, and that a job offer for the post of Head of the Operations Information Unit was sent and accepted by the end of 2017; notes that, in addition, 32 contract agents and 7seven seconded national experts worked for the Agency in 2017;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Regrets the gender imbalance within the Agency's Management Board members, with 46 out of 52 being ~~of the same gender~~male, 6 being female; in this regard requests the Commission, the Member States and other concerned parties to take into account the importance of ensuring gender balance when presenting their nominees for members of the Management Board;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Regrets deeply the gender imbalance within the Agency's Management Bboard members, with 46 out of 52 being of the same gender;

Amendment 13 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Notes with concern that, according to the Court’s report, the small number of staff creates significant risks for the continuity of the Agency’s operations, particularly considering that the head of the Application Management and Maintenance unit also occupied ad interim the posts of Head of the Operations Department and Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit and thereby combined the three highest management posts in the Operations Department; acknowledges that the Agency successfully delivered its mandate through the year, despite the lack of resources in the operational and horisontal functions in the Agency; supports the continued efforts necessary for staff retention and development in the Agency; welcomes in this regard the Agency’s countermeasure to appoint a different staff member as interim Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Notes with concern that, according to the Court’s report, the small number of staff creates significant risks for the continuity of the Agency’s operations, particularly considering that the head of the Application Management and Maintenance unit also occupied ad interim the posts of Head of the Operations Department and Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit and thereby combined the three highest management posts in the Operations Department; welcomes in this regard the Agency’s countermeasure to appoint a different staff member as interim Head of the Operations and Infrastructure Unit; urges the Agency to fulfil all posts with permanent staff without further delay;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Welcomes the suggestion of the Court to publish vacancy notices also on the website of the European Personnel Selection Office in order to increase publicity; ~~understands the concern of the Agency with regard to translation costs;~~

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Welcomes the suggestion of the Court to publish vacancy notices also on the website of the European Personnel Selection Office in order to increase publicity; understands the concern of the Agency ~~with~~ regard toing the high translation costs triggered by such publication;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes with regret that the audit undertaken by the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) with respect to the Agency’s procurement processes found significant weaknesses, including two ‘very important’ issues regarding the estimation of contract values and key controls and three other findings rated as ‘important’; acknowledges that many of the weaknesses are related to the insufficient staffing of the Financial and Procurement Unit (FPU) and the procurement sector in particular; notes that the Agency has put in place an action plan addressing the audit findings and the IAS’s recommendations; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken to mitigate these weaknesses;

Amendment 18 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Raffaele FITTO, Beata GOSIEWSKA, Richard SULÍK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency uses extensively external contractors and that 90 % of the work relating to the development and implementation of IT projects is carried out by the Agency in a combined effort with the external contractors; notes with concern that although all phases of IT projects are under the Agency’s control, outsourcing the development of such sensitive IT systems to that extent creates considerable risk of over-reliance and over-dependency on contractors; acknowledges the Agency’s reply that the ~~reducing outsourcing of tasks would require additional staff~~complete development of those systems in- house and reducing outsourcing of tasks would require a substantial increase of the staff of the Agency and that in order to ensure proper segregation of duties, contractors involved in quality assurance are not involved in providing external support to the operational management of large-scale IT systems;

Amendment 19 #

Petri SARVAMAA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, 90 % of the work relating to the development and implementation of IT projects is carried out by external contractors; notes with concern that although all phases of IT projects are under the Agency’s control, ~~outsourcing~~the use of external contractors on the development of such sensitive IT systems to ~~that~~such a large extent creates considerable risk of dependency on contractors; acknowledges the Agency’s reply that the complete development of the systems in-house, reducing outsourcing of tasks, would require ~~additional staff~~substantial increase of the staff of the Agency and that in order to ensure proper segregation of duties, contractors involved in quality assurance are not involved in providing external support to the operational management of large-scale IT systems;

Amendment 2 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. GPostpones its decision on grantsing the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2017;

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, 90 % of the work relating to the development and implementation of IT projects is carried out by external contractors; notes with concern that although all phases of IT projects are under the Agency’s control, outsourcing the development of such sensitive IT systems to that extent creates considerable risk of dependency on contractors; acknowledges the Agency’s reply that the reducing outsourcing of tasks would require additional staff and that in order to ensure proper segregation of duties, contractors involved in quality assurance are not involved in providing external support to the operational management of large-scale IT systems; therefore, calls on the Agency to limit dependency on external contractors by better use of its own resources and to set up a proper policy to limit the use of external contractors;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Acknowledges the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency, prevention and management of conflicts of interests, and whistleblower protection; notes with concern that the Agency does not publish the CVs of the members of its Management Board, nor of its managerial staff in general, only of its Executive Director; calls on the Agency to publish the CVs of all members of its Management Board and of its managerial staff; encourages the Agency to use the Independence Policy of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) as a best practice and an exemplary system of monitoring and preventing any conflicts of interest;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Acknowledges the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency, prevention and management of conflicts of interests, and whistleblower protection; notes with concern that the Agency does not publish the CVs of the members of its Management Board, nor of its managerial staff in general, only of its Executive Director; calls on the Agency to publish the CVs of all members of its Management Board and of its managerial staff and to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken in this regard;

Amendment 23 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Benedek JÁVOR, Dennis de JONG, Raffaele FITTO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. ~~Acknowledg~~Notes the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency, prevention and management of conflicts of interests, and whistleblower protection; notes with concern that the Agency does not publish the CVs of the members of its Management Board, nor of its managerial staff in general, only of its Executive Director; ~~calls on~~urges the Agency to publish the CVs of all members of its Management Board and of its managerial staff;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Regrets that despite previous calls, the Agency does not publish the declarations of interests of the members of its Management Board, of its managerial staff in general, and of its executive director; calls for the publication of declarations of interests listing membership to all other organisations; stresses that it is not for the members of the Management Board, the managerial staff or the executive director to declare themselves out of conflict of interest but that a neutral body should assess the existence of conflicts of interest;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Notes ~~with appreciation~~ that budget-monitoring efforts during the financial year 2017 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100 %, representing an increase of 2,1 % compared with 2016; notes furthermore that the payment appropriations execution rate was 91,53 %, representing an increase of 0,68 % compared with 2016;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Notes ~~with concern~~ from the Court’s report that although the Agency paid the full price for construction works for its new premises in Strasbourg in 2016, the work is still not finalised, due to the inability of the contractor to deliver, and only 70 % of the works were covered by the accepted works progress reports; acknowledges that prepayments to the contractor were covered with bank guarantees, released progressively upon acceptance of works; takes note that the contractor submitted a financial claim and filed a court case against the Agency; notes from the Agency that it registered a statement of defence with the Administrative Court of Strasbourg, and that the Court’s decision is pending; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on the final decision of the Administrative Court of Strasbourg;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Notes with concern from the Court’s report that although the Agency paid the full price for construction works for its new premises in Strasbourg in 2016, the work is still not finalised and only 70 % of the works were covered by the accepted works progress reports; takes note that the contractor submitted a financial claim and filed a court case against the Agency; notes from the Agency that it registered a statement of defence with the Administrative Court of Strasbourg, and that the Court’s decision is pending; calls on the Agency to report forthwith to the discharge authority on the final decision of the Administrative Court of Strasbourg;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Notes ~~with satisfaction~~ that the Agency uses several key performance indicators (KPIs) in areas such as system performance, security, and the level of customer satisfaction to measure the added value provided by its activities, and various other KPIs to enhance its budget management;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Notes with concern that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency currently manages three separate, non-integrated large-scale IT systems, which may prevent the Agency from realising economies of scale and synergies between those three ystems, and that the extension of the Agency’s mandate to ~~the~~ manage~~ment of~~ several additional IT systems is expected during the coming years; welcomes the suggestion of the Court that the Agency should prepare a detailed cost-benefit analysis to support a discussion on the future development strategy for the IT systems it manages; notes that, according to the Agency’s reply, a study was undertaken in order to have a clear picture related to the future architecture for interoperable IT systems; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on the outcome of this study and the corrective actions planned;

Amendment 8 #