32 Amendments of Amelia ANDERSDOTTER related to 2011/2202(DEC)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the year saw consolidation and further modernisation of the administration, with a stronger focus on core activities, restructuring of services, better use of modern technologies and increased interinstitutional cooperation which together ensured; that budgetary and staffing resources were used in thea mostre cost-effective way;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes the adoption, by the Bureau, on 24 March 2010, of a medium-term ICT Strategy (and in particular the Knowledge Management System - KMS - forming part of it) and a medium-term building policy which both have a substantial financial dimension;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes however the significant carry- overs into 2010 (EUR 190 365 823), resulting to a large extent from the particular nature of the 2009 election year and calls for improved planning of expenditure taking this into account in the run up to future European elections;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that this overall high level of implementation is partly due to two targeted transfers made before the end of the financial year 2010 (EUR 9 240 000 for the purchase of a Europe House in Sofia and EUR 10 923 000 for four major IT projects); welcomes the fact that for the second time no mopping-up transfers took place between 2010 and 2011; encourages, however, its administration to pursue the objective of better and clearer budget planning and discipline in the future and notes that to put buildings, IT or any other important expenditure in the budget would provide morefull financial clarity;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Acknowledges as positive the reversed trend in 2010 (as compared to 2009 and previous years) in the number of exceptional negotiated procedures, as shown in the following breakdown:
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Directorates General which still have high figures to further reduce the number/proportion of such procedures; calls on the Secretary-General to report on a six monthly basis to the Committee on Budgetary Control on progress made;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes the Court of Auditors finding that the procedures in place in 2010, which did not require evidence of actual travel costs and which included cash payments to group leaders, presented a risk of overpayment and limited the possibility of applying internal controls to such payments, and welcomestakes note of the adoption of recent changes to this system; points out however that Members have still the option to request cash payment to groups of visitors; requests the Secretary-General to seek the opinion of the Court of Auditors on the amended rules;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes with satisfaction the promptness and extent of written answers in respect of the 2009 discharge resolution provided to the Committee on Budgetary Control on 6 October 2011 and the quality of the exchange of views between the Secretary- General and the Committee on Budgetary Control during the follow-up of the 2009 discharge exercise on 11 October 2011;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point i
Paragraph 24 – point i
(i) to propose arrangementstrict rules applicable to all Members to ensure that the General Expenditure allowance is transparent in all cases and that it is only used for the purposes for which it is intended (paragraph 6);
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point ii
Paragraph 24 – point ii
(ii) to make a comprehensive evaluation covering changes in staff as well as the development of expenditure in all services concerned by the implementation of the new Statutes (of Members and of Assistants) and to forward this to its competent committees, together with an action plan and an assessment of thedirect and indirect financial implications for Parliament's budget for the coming 5 years, including the provision to be made for possible extra office space, removal and costs for renovations/ alterations (paragraph 7);
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point v
Paragraph 24 – point v
(v) to report on the total amount of savings that were made including those as a result of further rationalisation of the missions between the three working places (paragraph 102);
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Refers to its comments, contained in previous discharge resolutions, on internal audit reports; recognises that internal audit reports serve as tools for improvements in systems and performance, and can only be properly interpreted when changes and results are completed, based on their recommendations; notes however that future action and treatment of these reports by all institutions will depend on the outcome of negotiations concerning the ongoing review of the Financial Regulation, is however of the opinion that in order to guarantee a proper assessment from the Committee on Budgetary Control on Parliament's budget and expenditure the Members of this committee should have full access to the internal audit reports and that these reports should be published on time, together with the actions taken , on Parliament's website;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Notes with satisfaction that the Risk Manager took up his appointment on 1 June 2010 and reports directly to the Secretary-General; welcomes the publication on 16 December 2011 of a Risk Management Manual and reiterates its request that its competent committee receive the Risk Manager's annual activity report for 2010 and be kept informed of development in the implementation of Parliament's new risk management policy twice a year, during a committee meeting in the presence of the risk manager based on a report sent to the competent committee beforehand;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes a slight decrease in the budget devoted to security from EUR 45 980 000 to EUR 45 590 000 between 2009 and 2010 due to internalisation of certain parts of the security tasks ; welcomes the continued decreasing trend in the 2011 budget expenditure (final appropriations: EUR 42 830 000) compared to 2010 and the adoption by the Bureau in July 2011 of the Global Security Concept providing more modern and efficient security for Parliament; calls on the Secretary General to inform the Committee on Budgetary Control on the total costs of security including the expenses for internal parts of the security policy; suggests to the Secretary-General to perform a survey among the Members asking them if they are prepared to use their badge for entering and leaving the premises of the Parliament;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Reiterates its request to the Secretary General to come forward, by 30 June 2012, with proposals for a more effective secure and fraudproof signing system (including considerations about opening hours for signing), and in particular for a possible future electronic signing system for Members both for signing documents (such as amendments) and for recording their presence by digital signature, even though it is aware that only minimal impact is to be expected in terms of costs or savings;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Recalls the political importance of delegations in Parliament´'s work inside and outside the Union, notes however the apparently wide disparity in total costs per Member per day (ranging from EUR 1 400 to EUR 5 300) on different delegations, particularly those outside the Union; calls on its Bureau, in collaboration with all DGs concerned, to consider principles for a more economic and uniform cost structure for delegation visits, in particular taking account of their political importance and duration, and the optimum ratio of Members to staff.; call on the Secretary- General to provide figures whereby the "individual" cost per Member per day and all other costs per day are split;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 c (new)
Paragraph 42 c (new)
42c. Regrets that decisions taken by the Bureau and other bodies concerning the House of European History were not based on the full "estimated" final costs involved in establishing a fully operational project; advises the Bureau and the Quaestors not to approve any project or initiative in future for which no total financial estimate for direct or indirect costs is presented;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Recognises the importance of the visitors' scheme in raising awareness of the Parliament and its legislative work; welcomes improvementsnotes the recent changes made to the visitor group payment system put in place since 2010 and calls for an evaluation of the new payment system and reimbursement scheme to show the evolution of costs and the degree to which payments reflect the actual costs incurred by the groups; suggests to the Court of Auditors to follow this up and looks forward to the Internal Auditor's remarks on the implementation of the new system;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Notes that costs relating to the Prize for Journalism in 2010 were EUR 118 059, an increase of 18 % on 2009 figure; is concerned that the costs rose for the event in 2011 by more than a quarter, and requests that a full cost-benefit analysis be carried out before any alternative initiatives are developed in theis domain of relations with the press or any other domain, now that the Prize has been terminated;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Notes the opening in April 2010 of the EP Liaison Office (EPLO) in Washington and the system of one-year missions for four officials put in place in October 2010; observes that, although the creation of the Washington Office has not entailed the creation of any new posts, other costs have inevitably been incurred; would like to be informed of the level of those costs for 2011 and 2012;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Notes that, at 31 December 2010, a majority of staff in the Secretariat (58,4 %) and within the administrators' function group (51,7 % female) were women; welcomnotes that, at the level of senior and middle management, the proportion of female directors-general increased in 2010 (to 36,4 %, that is, four out of 11) and heads of unit (to 26,2 %); calls on the Secretary- General to achieve before 2025 the aim of at least 50 % women in all higher grades;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Notes that, in 2010, there were 33 200 missions (official trips) representing a total of 98 629 mission days, most of them involving travel between Parliament's three places of work; reiterates the need to avoid unnecessary missions between the three working places and the costs they entail with more systematic and documentary justifications and better monitoring; requests that the Secretary General report, as part of the discharge procedure, on any savings made as a result of further rationalisation; and about further initiatives taken or in preparation leading to less missions; is further of the opinion that in general no committee meeting should take place in Strasbourg with the exception of those committees the agenda of which is directly linked to the reports or discussions on that week's part session's agenda;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Notes with satisfaction that the switch to this new employment system has been broadly budget neutral, with approximately 15 members of staff administering the employment of around 1400 assistants; and looks forward to receiving a copy of the report on that new employment system's implementation, its total indirect and direct costs, including the unemployment benefits paid out by the Commission;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64 e (new)
Paragraph 64 e (new)
64e. Regrets that the building policy lacks elements of social and economic integration with the citizens living and working in the areas around the buildings; calls on the Secretary-General and the Bureau to pay more attention to this aspect of Parliament's building policy;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
70. Notes that final appropriations for the Travel Agency amounted to EUR 1 438 000 in 2010, with a high commitment rate (94 %); further notes that it obtains negotiated prices from airlines, which means that there is an average price for the best service; stresses however that this does not mean that, for a specific day or journey, it is not possible to get better prices by booking directly with travel operators; suggests that random checks are conducted to see if tickets with the same travel conditions are issued at the lowest available price; further suggests that Members and staff using the cheapest available tickets with fixed travel dates will be entitled to be fully compensated up to a maximum of 5 times a year when unforeseen circumstances force them purchase another ticket;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Welcomes the fact that, at the end of the 2010 financial year, the mopping up procedure was not used as has been asked by its Committee on Budgetary Control over the last years, thereby preventing there being a significant difference between the budget as planned for the year and its implementation, as happened in previous years and believes that all Union institutions could make scrutiny and budget discharge for future years easier if they planned buildings expenditure in a transparent way via the budget procedure:
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
73. Notes that, although in 2010 the value of the assets of the Voluntary Pension Fund increased by 13, 3 % as the investment markets continued to recover from the global financial crisis of 2008, as at 31 December 2010 the voluntary pension fund had a deficit of EUR 178 960 000, which raises concerns about the possibility of the fund becoming exhaustedle default of the fund; reminds that Parliament is guaranteeing the payment of pension rights for all former and some current Members of this voluntary pension fund, when and if this fund is not able to meet its obligations; would like to be informed how and from which budget line Parliament will meet its obligations in that case;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76 a (new)
Paragraph 76 a (new)
76 a. Expects a full report on how Parliament's Free Software projects have developed with regards to use and users in Parliament, citizen interaction and procurement activities; invites to investigate Parliament's obligations under Rule 103 with regard to Free Software and Open Standards;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86
Paragraph 86
86. Welcomes the pilot projects in the area of logistics which ran in 2010 (e.g. purchasing low-emissions vehicles - EURO 5 standard, holding training in environmentally responsible driving for drivers and removal staff, trunk sharing for the transport of working documents, thereby reducing CO2 emissions by around 33 % in that area) as part of EMAS Action Plan; would like to be informed on how Parliament will promote the use of electric cars and the number of charging points available;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 87 a (new)
Paragraph 87 a (new)
87a. Believes that better and more use should be made of solar panels on the roofs of Parliament's buildings; regrets that only a few are installed until now; would like to be informed on the total amount of square meters of roof available for the "economic" use of solar panels in future, how many square meters are used for the moment and the potential electric output in percentage of the total electricity consumption when installing a maximum of solar panels;