Activities of Luke Ming FLANAGAN related to 2021/2111(DEC)
Shadow reports (2)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, Section VI – European Economic and Social Committee
SECOND REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, Section VI – European Economic and Social Committee
Amendments (6)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls thatiterates its regrets regarding the temporary decision adopted by the Committee’s Bureau adopted under the COVID-19 limitations a temporary decision allowing Members to claim the usual subsistence allowance for having participated in Committee meetings remotely to compensate members for the time spent in the performance of their duties and for the related administrative costs in cases where the member was prevented from travelling to Brussels;, expressing its awareconcerns that that decision damages the reputation of the Committee in the eyes of the citizens; is concerned that a structural proposal for a specific allowance for remote attendance of meetings was later submitted to and adopted by the Council in June 2021; acknowledges that any new remuneration practices require the Council’s decision and thus, reiterates the call on the Committee to propose fair and proportionate remuneration for members on which Council can express its agreement;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. NotesRegrets that the conclusion in April 2022 and the full implementation of the settlement agreement with one of the victims of serious misconduct; acknowledges only took place in April 2022; is worried as well that the implementation of the measures agreed in March 2021 between the other victim of serious misconduct, former Committee member, and the Committee president; welcomes in particularas delayed to only after the decision by Parliament to postpone the discharge; welcomes nevertheless the public statement by the Committee president, published on the Committee’s website, reiterating her sincere apologies to all those concerned for the true suffering caused by these wrongdoings; reiterates its concern that the Committee's secretary general still refuses to admit internal shortcomings and responsibilities, leading to a breach of duty of care towards the staff of the Committee;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Is extremely worried by media report that the victims of harassment still complain that no serious investigation into the root causes of the Committee mismanagement have taken place and is worried that the duty of care towards the staff is still not fully respected;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes the Committee’s monthly updates and the follow-up to Parliament’s observations in the 2020 discharge resolution; recalls that the OLAF report on case OC/2018/0666/A.1 only concerns the behaviour of the perpetrator towards the victims and that the judgement delivered by the Court of Justice in case T-377/20 simply examines the validity of the Bureau decision of 9 June 2020; points out that the long handling of the case by the Committee’s administration and particularly the shortcomings in the implementation of internal procedures have therefore in no way been examined or validated; rejects the Committee's evaluation of the judgement as well as the Committee's statement in the follow up to the 2020 discharge resolution that the complaints have been handled with due regard for the welfare of officials; believes that the cases occurred require a more in-depth analysis and strongly reiterates, therefore, its call for an external investigation specifically on the action, or lack thereof, of the administrative hierarchy of the Committee over the extent of the case which led to the flagrant breach of its duty of care towards the staff;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that the measures delivered by the joint working group entrusted with the revision of the Committee’s ethical framework resulted in an ethics action plan adopted in January 2021; welcomes that a number of actions have been fully implemented such as, inter alia, the revision of the decisions on whistleblowing and on harassment (adopted in December 2021 and March 2022 respectively), the service-level agreement with the Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission to professionalise the administrative inquiries, the mandatory training on ethics for all staff, the set up and training of a new team of ethics counsellors, the ongoing renewal of the network of confidential counsellors, and the new guide for staff ‘Respect at work at the EESC’ (published in May 2022); notes that the joint working group also conducted preparatory work for the ongoing revision of the decision on disciplinary procedures and administrative inquiries; asks the Committee to regularly monitor the adequate staff awareness on the ethics framework with ad hoc surveys; regrets that the revision of the decisions mentioned were extremely delayed with the one on harassment being adopted only after Parliament's decision to postpone the 2020 discharge, showing a lack of willingness to act; expresses concerns that no specific procedure for harassment involving a Member and an official (within the definition of Decision 090/22 A) is in place with the consequence that no uniform procedures for dealing with cases of harassment is applied, leading to different treatment of victims; reiterates again that the fact the Staff Regulation cannot be imposed on a member of the Committee cannot be regarded as an excuse for inaction; calls on the Committee to immediately provide for a specific procedure that will grant everyone a proper and long due protection against harassment;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Requests that all internal procedures and decisions, including the ones on ethics, be published in a specific column of the Committee’s website;