2022/2117(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

Amendment 11 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Is concerned that eu-LISA amended the value of three contracts, two in 2021 and one 2019, which increased the maximum amount of the contracts by 50 % (€70.4 million, €20 million and €40 million respectively); shares the opinion by the Court that eu-LISA should improve ~~the~~its procurement procedures and contracts management ~~to ensure~~, in particular as regards defining the services and goods acquired in thate specific contracts a~~re always aligned with the framework contracts~~nd limiting changes to the scope, duration and value of contracts to the flexibility allowed by the Financial Regulation; furthermore, eu-LISA should also reach out to the Commission to propose changes to its multiannual budget planning, so that it only receives funds for developing systems once the legislation (including delegated or implementing regulations) defining the relevant requirements is adopted, and the project scope can be specified with sufficient detail;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Is concerned that eu-LISA amended the value of three contracts, two in 2021 and one 2019, which increased the maximum amount of the contracts by 50 % (€70.4 million, €20 million and €40 million respectively); ~~shar~~notes the opinion byof the Court ~~that~~and calls on eu-LISA ~~should~~to improve ~~the~~its contracts management in order to ensure that specific contracts are always aligned with the framework contracts; takes note of eu-LISA's reply that the increase of volume was triggered by changes in the legislation which required eu-LISA to source a higher volume of identical supplies and services initially tendered for; further takes note that the initial project and its evolutions are to be considered in the light of the ever- evolving nature of each large-scale IT system managed by eu-LISA; highlights that all contractual prices as well as the terms and conditions were left unchanged;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Is concerned~~Notes that eu-LISA amended the value of three contracts, two in 2021 and one 2019, which increased the maximum amount of the contracts by 50 % (€70.4 million, €20 million and €40 million respectively); shares the opinion by the Court that eu-LISA should improve the contracts management to ensure that specific contracts are always aligned with the framework contracts; highlights, however, eu-LISA’s justification that the increase was done in full transparency in the underlying calls for tenders and in full compliance with the financial rules, as a result of changes in the legislation, which was acknowledged also by the Court;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Is concerned that eu-LISA amended the value of three contracts, two in 2021 and one 2019, which increased the maximum amount of the contracts by 50 % (€70.4 million, €20 million and €40 million respectively); stresses that the three contracts correspond to the Implementation and Maintenance of the Entry Exit System (EES), the provision of the Common Shared Infrastructure (CSI) and the Maintenance of the Schengen Information System (MWO SIS II); shares the opinion by the Court that eu-LISA should improve the contracts management to ensure that specific contracts are always aligned with the framework contracts;

Amendment 15 #

Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 16 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Notes that according to eu-LISA, irregularities identified regarding the legality and regularity of the payments do not have a financial impact, but are rather non-compliance with rules affecting some specific tenders, and that in almost all cases, the issue was the flexibility allowed under the financial rules, which the Court considered to have been exceeded; shares the opinion by the Court the flexibility allowed under the financial rules is excessive and requests that measures are put in place to ensure legal certainty;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes the Court’ ongoing observations from 2018, 2019 and 2020 on the budgetary management; ~~regrets~~takes note that the rate of carry-overs remain substantial compared to the total budget; welcomes that in 2021 no non-automatic carry-overs were performed; acknowledges eu-LISA's reply that carry-overs mainly related to contracting external support service providers, to address systematic understaffing following the assignment of new tasks to eu-LISA, over timeframes that did not align with the calendar year, but with the necessary duration of the services provided; calls on the Commission to improve coordination between the allocation of new tasks and resources in order to address these issues;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes the Court’ ongoing observations from 2018, 2019 and 2020 on the budgetary management; ~~regret~~notes that the rate of carry-overs remain substantial compared to the total budget; acknowledges that eu-LISA performed the carry-overs for administrative activities which were necessary or recurrent, providing reassurance on the respect of sound financial management for the underlying operations and within the applicable financial rules; acknowledges, furthermore, that these carry overs were done in compliance with the financial rules of eu-LISA and were related to the multi-annual nature of the services related to them;

Amendment 19 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes the Court’ ongoing observations from 2018, 2019 and 2020 on the budgetary management; regrets that the rate of excessive carry-overs and high rates of late payments remain substantial compared to the total budget; notes that this could indicate a structural issue, weak budgetary planning, or possibly a contravention of the budgetary principle of annuality;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Notes with appreciation that in 2021, eu-LISA continued the development of new IT systems, as well as of the interoperability between the new and already existing systems; welcomes the completion of several projects such as the EES central system, the installation of the National Uniform Interfaces, the upgrade of the VIS communication infrastructure and the shared Biometric Matching Service; notes with satisfaction eu-LISA's increased efforts in research and innovation through projects in the areas of artificial intelligence, technologies for seamless and contactless border crossing, and internal security;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes the Court’ ongoing observations from 2018, 2019 and 2020 on the budgetary management; regrets that the rate of carry-overs remain substantial compared to the total budget (€11.41 million of 2021 commitment appropriations have been carried over to 2022); stresses that recurrent high rates of carry-overs contradict the budgetary principle of annuality and are indicative of structural issues in the implementation of the budget;

Amendment 21 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Re~~gret~~calls that several observations from the Court from previous years are still ongoing; calls on the Agency to follow the observations from the Court and to step up efforts to implement corrective measures to address them; ~~recalls that the European Parliament can use its power not to grant discharge in case recommendations would not effectively be followed up;~~

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Regrets that several observations from the Court from previous years are still ongoing; calls on the Agency to effectively follow the observations from the Court and to step up efforts to implement corrective measures to address them; ~~recalls that the European Parliament can use its power not to grant discharge in case recommendations would not effectively be followed up~~further calls on eu-LISA to report to the discharge authority about the progress made in this regard;

Amendment 23 #

Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Stresses that financial regulation and high management standards has to be respected by all the EU’s institutions;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Regrets the fact that the Court issued a qualified audit opinion with respect to the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts of eu- LISA both for 2020 and for 2021; notes the Court’s explanation that the qualified opinion was issued in relation to six payments; th~~at were considered not compliant to the provisions of framework contracts~~ree of these payments related to a specific contract which implemented a framework contract without specifying the details of the services required (quantities and delivery dates), and oth~~er payments identified~~us did not create a clear legal commitment; The Court also identified other payments, outside of the initial sample, linked to that contract and affected by the same non- compliance; further notes that the three other non-compliant payments from the initial sample related to three different specific contracts, which fundamentally deviated from the corresponding framework contracts, amounting in total to EUR 18.11 million in 2021, representing 6,2 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2021;

Amendment 4 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

2. Regrets the fact that the Court issued a qualified audit opinion with respect to the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts of eu- LISA both for 2020 and for 2021; notes the Court’s explanation that the qualified opinion was issued in relation to six payments that were considered not compliant to the provisions of framework contracts, and other payments identified outside the initial sample affected by the same non-compliance, amounting in total to EUR 18.11 million in 2021, representing 6,2 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2021; takes note that the new tasks of eu-LISA contains short deadlines and that the Commission adopted a more flexible approach to the budget assigned to the eu-LISA for new tasks; reminds, however, the importance of compliance with framework contracts to avoid reputational risks and considers that any suggestion to reduce the overall operational costs of eu-LISA should be planned in advance;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Regrets the fact that the Court issued a qualified audit opinion with respect to the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts of eu- LISA both for 2020 and for 2021; notes the Court’s explanation that the qualified opinion was issued in relation to six payments that were considered not compliant to the provisions of framework contracts, and other payments identified outside the initial sample affected by the same non-compliance, amounting in total to EUR 18.11 million in 2021, representing 6,2 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2021; notes from eu-LISA's reply that compliance in this area is affected by several factors linked to budgetary planning, the sourcing model, managing contractual evolutions, as well as understaffing, restricting the possibility of the Agency to limit the scope, duration and value of contracts;

Amendment 6 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Michal ŠIMEČKA, Malik AZMANI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Re~~grets the fact~~calls that the Court issued a qualified audit opinion with respect to the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts of eu- LISA both for 2020 and for 2021; notes the Court’s explanation that the qualified opinion was issued in relation to six payments that were considered not compliant to the provisions of framework contracts, and other payments identified outside the initial sample affected by the same non- compliance, amounting in total to EUR 18.11 million in 2021, representing 6,2 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2021; welcomes that eu-LISA complied with its duty to record the payment actually affected by potential error/irregularity in the internal control system of eu-LISA through a non- compliance report and an exception report;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Notes that the eu-LISA signed a specific contract of €40 million to implement a framework contract related to large-scale IT systems, without specifying the details of the services acquired and with an extended duration; highlights the repeated concerns by the Court about the risk associated with the ~~practice of giving resources to eu-LISA before the adoption of legislation~~lack of coordination between the allocation of resources and the adoption of relevant legislation; underlines that repeated delays in the adoption of legislation concerning the development and implementation of the systems managed by eu-LISA, rapid technological evolutions, as well as the overall uncertainty regarding the timeframe given to the Agency to implement new legislation further restrict the eu-LISA's ability to establish more specific details within the contracts it concludes, while ensuring business continuity and the optimal functioning of the IT systems managed; underlines that eu-LISA must take the necessary preparedness measures to ensure no delays on its part in the implementation of new relevant legislation, once adopted; calls on the Commission to better coordinate the allocation of resources to eu-LISA with the adoption of relevant legislative acts; calls on eu-LISA, the Court and the Commission to explore possible solutions towards enhancing procurement flexibility in order to better reflect challenges posed by rapid technological evolutions and the transversal operation of systems managed by eu-LISA;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

Amendment 9 #