335 Amendments of Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Underlines the need to safeguard the principle of unity of the budget; stresses the need to ensure parliamentary oversight over all EU expenditures;

2018/10/11
Committee: BUDG

2018/2093(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Sees as a necessary step towards curbing this 'galaxy', the adoption of the MFF Regulation through the ordinary legislative procedure, thus aligning its decision-making procedure with that of EU multiannual programmes and the EU annual budget; believes that the consent procedure deprives Parliament of the decision-making power that it exercises over the adoption of the annual budgets, while the unanimity rule in the Council means that the agreement represents the lowest common denominator, based on the need to avoid the veto of a single Member State, is convinced, moreover, that qualified majority voting should replace the unanimity rule in the Council;

2018/10/11
Committee: BUDG

2018/2093(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the Commission to prepare an annual report to accompany the general budget of the Union, bringing together available and non-confidential information relating to the expenditure incurred by Member States in the framework of enhanced cooperation, to the extent that this is not included in the general budget of the Union;

2018/10/11
Committee: BUDG

2018/2093(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Reiterates its opinion that, drawing inspiration from the status of the Berlin members of the German Bundesrat before reunification, and in order to preserve a single institutional set-up in the European Parliament, only the votes of MEPs from within the relevant perimeter of integration should be taken into account, while votes of other MEPs should be considered non-binding advisory votes;deleted

2018/10/11
Committee: BUDG

2018/2093(INI)

Henna VIRKKUNEN, Krišjānis KARIŅŠ, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Gunnar HÖKMARK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Considers that in order to reinforce common rules in core areas, the existing performance reserve set on ESI funds could evolve into a solidarity and performance reserve set on all EU funds with national envelopes (and representing 10 % of these), so that criteria for allocating funds in this reserve would be based on respect by Member States of fundamental rights, solidarity and the fair sharing of responsibility.deleted

2018/10/11
Committee: BUDG

2018/0228(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13

(13) In order to improve the completion of transport projects in less developed parts of the network, a Cohesion Fund allocation should be transferred to the Programme to finance transport projects in the Member States eligible for financing from the Cohesion Fund. In an initial phase and within a limit of 760% of the transferred envelope, the selection of projects eligible for financing should respect the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund. The remaining 340% of the transferred envelope should be allocated on a competitive basis to projects located in the Member States eligible for financing from the Cohesion Fund with priority to cross-border links and missing links. The Commission should support Member States eligible for financing from the Cohesion Fund in their efforts to develop an appropriate pipeline of projects, in particular by strengthening the institutional capacity of the public administrations concerned.

2018/09/21
Committee: ITRE TRAN

2018/0228(COD)

Henna VIRKKUNEN, Krišjānis KARIŅŠ, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 8

8. As regards the amounts transferred from the Cohesion Fund, 340% of these amounts shall be made available immediately to all Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund to finance transport infrastructure projects in accordance with this Regulation, with priority to cross-border and missing links. Until 31 December 20232, the selection of projects eligible for financing shall respect the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund with regard to 760% of the resources transferred. As of 1 January 20243, resources transferred to the Programme which have not been committed to a transport infrastructure project shall be made available to all Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund to finance transport infrastructure projects in accordance with this Regulation.

2018/09/21
Committee: ITRE TRAN

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)

(1 a) Synergies between the European Social Fund Plus, the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the European Investment Stabilisation Function, InvestEU and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund should be exploited.

2018/10/02
Committee: BUDG

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32

(32) ESF+ lays down provisions intended to achieve freedom of movement for workers on a non-discriminatory basis by ensuring the close cooperation of the central employment services of Member States with one another and with the Commission. The European network of employment services (EURES) should promote a better functioning of the labour markets by facilitating the cross-border mobility of workers and a greater transparency of information on the labour markets. The ESF+ scope also includes developing and supporting targeted mobility schemes with a view to filling vacancies where labour market shortcomings have been identified.

2018/10/02
Committee: BUDG

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32

(32) “ESF+ lays down provisions intended to achieve freedom of movement for workers on a non-discriminatory basis by ensuring the close cooperation of the central employment services of Member States with one another and with the Commission. The European network of employment services (EURES) should promote a better functioning of the labour markets by facilitating the cross-border mobility of workers and a greater transparency of information on the labour markets. The ESF+ scope also includes developing and supporting targeted mobility schemes with a view to filling vacancies where labour market shortcomings have been identified.’

2018/10/02
Committee: BUDG

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32

(32) ESF+ lays down provisions intended to achieve freedom of movement for workers on a non-discriminatory basis by ensuring the close cooperation of the central employment services of Member States with one another and with the Commission. The European network of employment services (EURES) should promote a better functioning of the labour markets by facilitating the cross-border mobility of workers and a greater transparency of information on the labour markets. The ESF+ scope also includes developing and supporting targeted mobility schemes with a view to filling vacancies where labour market shortcomings have been identified.

2018/10/02
Committee: BUDG

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point i

(i) improving access to quality employment of all jobseekers, in particular youth and long- term unemployed, and of inactive people, promoting self-employment and the social economy;

2018/10/02
Committee: BUDG

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12

(12) This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for the ESF+. ~~Parts of this financial envelope should be used~~It specifies the allocations for actionvities to be implemented ~~in direct and indirect~~under shared management uander the ~~Employment and Social Innovation and Health strands~~allocations for actions to be implemented in direct and indirect management.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)

(3a) ‘beneficiary’ means a legal entity carrying out activities or providing support to meet objectives as laid down in Article 4(1);

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0206(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point i

(i) improving access to quality employment of all jobseekers, in particular youth and long- term unemployed, and of inactive people, promoting self- employment and the social economy;

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8

(8) Globalisation and technological change is likely to further increase the interconnectedness and interdependence of world economies. Labour reallocation is an integral and inevitable part of such economic change. If the benefits of change are to be distributed fairly, offering assistance to displaced workers and those threatened by displacement or cessation of activity is of utmost importance. The ‘EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring’22 , is the Union policy instrument that sets the framework of best practice for anticipating and dealing with corporate restructuring. It offers a comprehensive framework on how the challenges of economic adjustment and restructuring and their employment and social impact should be addressed by adequate policy means. It also calls upon Member States to use EU and national funding in a way to ensure that the social impact of restructuring, especially the adverse effects on employment, can be cushioned more effectively. The main Union instruments to assist workers affected are the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), which is designed to offer assistance in an anticipatory way, and the EGF, which is designed to offer assistance in the case of unexpected major restructuring events in a reactive manner. _________________ 22 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring, (COM(2013)882 final, 13.12.2013).

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2

2. The specific objective of the EGF is to offer assistance in case of unexpected major restructuring events, particularly those caused by globalisation-related challenges, such as changes in world trade patterns, trade disputes, financial or economic crises, the transition to low- carbon economy or as a consequence of ~~digitisation or automation~~technological change. Particular emphasis shall lie on measures that help the most disadvantaged groups.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a

(a) 'displaced worker' means a worker whose employment is ended prematurely by redundancy, or whose contract is not renewed, due to ~~economic reasons~~unexpected major restructuring event;

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c

(c) 'beneficiary' means' a person participating in EGF co-funded measures.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point b

(b) the cessation of activity of more than 250 displaced workers or self- employed persons, over a reference period of six months, particularly in SMEs, where all operate in the same economic sector defined at NACE Revision 2 division level and located in one region or two contiguous regions defined at NUTS 2 level in the same or neighbouring Member States or in more than two contiguous regions defined at NUTS 2 level in the same or neighbouring Member States provided that there are more than 250 workers or self-employed persons affected in two of the regions combined;

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 4

4. The EGF may not be mobilised when workers are dismissed as a result of budget cuts taken by a Member State, which affect sectors that depend on public financing and due to structural reforms in a Member State.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 a (new)

Article 5 a The Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 25 stating criteria to define the sectors that depend on public financing listed in Article 5.4.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 6

The design of the coordinated package of personalised services shall anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills. The coordinated package shall be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy, and shall also focus on the dissemination of skills required in the digital industrial age ~~and take into account the demand on the local labour market~~.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2

The measures supported by the EGF shall not substitute passive social protection measures and active labour market measures.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 5 – point l

(l) a statement of compliance of the requested EGF support with the procedural and material Union rules on State aid as well as a statement outlining why the coordinated package of personalised services does not replace measures that are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements and measures to be provided by competent authorities for active labour market measures and passive social protection measures;

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 a (new)

Article 16 a In exceptional cases and if the remaining financial resources available in the Fund in the year of the occurrence of the major restructuring event are not sufficient to cover the amount of assistance deemed necessary by the budgetary authority, the Commission may propose that the difference be financed through the next year's Fund. The annual budgetary ceiling of the Fund in the year of the occurrence of the major restructuring event and the following year shall under all circumstances be respected.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

5. The Member State concerned shall have the flexibility to re-allocate amounts between the budget items laid down in the decision on a financial contribution pursuant to Article 16(3) providing that Article 8(1) limit on the costs structure is respected. Should a reallocation exceed a 20 % increase for one or more of the items specified, the Member State shall notify the Commission beforehand.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 a (new)

Article 19 a Member States shall, when data are available in registers or equivalent sources, enable the bodies entrusted with data collection necessary for the monitoring and the evaluation of the EGF to obtain those data from data registers or equivalent sources, in accordance with points (c) and (e) of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 b (new)

Article 19 b The beneficiary survey listed in point (d) of Article 20(1) shall be based on the model which shall be established by the Commission by means of an implementing act. The Commission shall adopt an implementing act establishing the model to be used for the beneficiary survey in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 26(2) in order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2018/0202(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 2

2. Not later than at the end of the nineteenth month after the expiry of the period specified in Article 15(3), the Member State concerned shall submit the complete and duly verified simple dataset informing on the longer- term result indicator specified in point (3) of the Annex.

2018/10/23
Committee: CONT

2017/2286(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that~~, contrary to populist narrative,~~ EU citizens expect the Union to do more, and to protect them from the consequences of global competition, climate change and international security threats; believes that in order to fulfil these expectations, the EU must, within the remit of its competences, perform better, so as to narrow the gap in living standards between EU citizens, to prepare the European economy and EU citizens to face up to the challenge of digitalisation, to manage migration flows, and to put an end to various kinds of discrimination~~, such as discrimination against women or LGBTI people,~~ while fully adhering to the EU 2020 strategy and UN Sustainable Development Goals;

2018/02/06
Committee: BUDG

2017/2286(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Believes that the 2019 EU budget must ~~primarily~~ answer to the challenges the EU youth is facing; stresses that youth unemployment is one of the biggest challenges with high social impact at European level;

2018/02/06
Committee: BUDG

2017/2286(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Believes that both the EU and the Member States should demonstrate solidarity towards migrants arriving in Europe in facing up to this challenge; believes that EU agencies and policies involved in or relating to the management of migration flows should be adequately financed to meet this challenge and that the EU, in order to mitigate the cost in the long term and by acting in a manner befitting its values, should also demonstrate solidarity in creating conditions for peace and prosperity in the countries of origin by placing greater emphasis on development policies; recalls that the redeployment of funding from development to security and defence objectives must be avoidedprovided with adequate financial and human resources;

2018/02/06
Committee: BUDG

2017/2279(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the crucial role cohesion policy has played in the achievement of economic and social convergence in the EU; expresses concern, however, that inequalities persist between rich and poor regions and between the salaries of the social categories of citizens; stresses that neither the objectives nor the EU funding of cohesion policy should be watered down; further stresses that none of them must be conditioned by other EU policies or agendas;

2018/02/23
Committee: BUDG

2017/2279(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Stresses that financial instruments in EU cohesion policy should not replace direct grants and aid, but should be treated as complementary tools; nevertheless asks that the possibilities for new financial instruments in cohesion policy should be explored;

2018/02/23
Committee: BUDG

2017/2279(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Stress~~Urges that the legislative proposals for the next MFF should be submitted as soon as possible to avoid delays in the programming for the next period; Takes the view that cohesion policy ceilings should be raised so that the EU can finally have all the funds it needs to meet its objectives and priorities, as set out under the Treaties;

2018/02/23
Committee: BUDG

2017/2279(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Takes the view that cohesion policy should benefit all regions, in particular those with the greatest development delays and the Outermost Regions, and that in the most developed regions it should be directed towards the peripheral areas, which are most affected by poverty and are the least attractive in terms of development and working opportunities; .

2018/02/23
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Regret~~Emphasizes that the quantity and lack of flexibility and coherence of EU funding in Heading 4 of the current MFF have been indicative of the EU’s limited ambition to act as a global player, in particular with a view to the provision of global public goods, humanitarian aid and dEU is the biggest provider of external assistance in the world. Recalls that Development cCooperation~~; recalls the need for long-term programming and predictability, which is of particular importance for developm~~ Instrument (DCI) remains the largest external financing instrument in the current ~~aid~~MFF;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Recalls the need for long-term programming and predictability, which is of particular importance for development aid; notes though the insufficient focus on the results as well as inadequate level of monitoring and evaluation of development related external financing instruments;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Emphasizes the importance of complementing assistance from public funds with flexible and adaptable instruments that would trigger private investments in developing countries;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Recalls the importance of these instruments for the provision of global public goods ~~such as climate change, conflict prevention, stability~~and challenges such as human development, climate change, conflict prevention, support to peace and stability, migration and asylum and the Sustainable Development Goals;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that ~~the objectives of~~ development policy ~~are distinct from and may not be conflated with or subordinated to general foreign policy or migration management~~should complement EU foreign policy and migration management while guaranteeing that development money should only be used for development objectives and purposes;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2258(INI)

Dennis de JONG, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Emphasises the importance of ensuring coherence and synergies between development and humanitarian aid; considers that well managed and used development aid is an important element in strengthening capacity of developing countries to better cope with humanitarian crisis;

2018/02/20
Committee: BUDG

2017/2178(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Notes that the Management Committee of the Agency has approved its Guidelines on Whistleblowing on 23 May 2016 and that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) gave a positive opinion on the text; notes, however, that the Directorate-General for Human Resources of the Commission was not in favour of it and informed the Agency that the Commission is working on new guidelines; notes with satisfaction that in the meantime the Agency has published the general principles relevant for whistleblowing in its code of conduct published on its website; reiterates that transparency is a key issue for creating and maintaining a trusting relationship between the citizens, the Union and its institutions;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2169(DEC)

Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Notes with satisfaction that Europol continued to cooperate with a number of international partners as well as other Union agencies and bodies, and in particular, in view to the migration crisis, Europol further strengthened its cooperation with Frontex;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2158(DEC)

Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a. Welcomes the Agency’s 2018-2022 European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS), with the purpose to provide a transparent framework for safety aviation and to identify major risks and defining the actions to be taken; furthermore calls upon the Member States to develop and implement increased safety programs and share best practices;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2154(DEC)

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Dennis de JONG, Richard SULÍK, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Notes with satisfaction that the CVs and declarations of interests of all Management Board members are published on the Agency's website; notes that no breach of trust procedures were initiated for Management Board members in 2016;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2146(DEC)

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Dennis de JONG, Richard SULÍK, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63 a (new)

63a. Further invites the Commission to increase its commitment in the fight against tax evasion and tax abuse by decreasing its financial support of blacklisted tax havens through the means of the EDF in order to create an incentive for the listed countries, that encourage abusive tax practices, to comply with the EU´s fair-tax criteria;

2018/03/06
Committee: CONT

2017/2141(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Deplores the fact that neither the President, nor the Vice-Presidents and the Secretariat have published declarations of interest on the Committee’s website and urges the Committee to publish them by the end of June 2018 listing membership to any other organisations; deplores the fact that members declarations of interest are published in various languages and different formats limiting the public access to them; urges the Committee to publish them in an unique format and in one of the three languages of the Union by the end of June 2018;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2141(DEC)

Dennis de JONG, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Regrets the case linked to harassment in the Committee which cost it EUR 55 772; regrets that 20 other staff members contacted the Committee's network of confidential counsellors with a perceived harassment-related issue; calls on the Committee to improve its policy in this regard in order to further prevent any form of psychological and sexual harassment.; asks the Committee to report the discharge authority on the measures envisaged to implement in improving this aspect;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2139(DEC)

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Dennis de JONG, Richard SULÍK, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Urges the CJEU to publish curricula vitae and declarations of interest for all CJEU members, listing membership to any other organisations;

2018/03/02
Committee: CONT

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Andor DELI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Franck PROUST

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Reiterates the importance of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding instrument for the completion of the TEN- T network~~; stresses that the budgetary cuts to the CEF made in the past, due to the funding of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) initiative, should be avoided in the future~~ and for achieving a Single European Transport Area; calls on the Commission to come forward with the new initiatives and financial rules to apply to combinations of grants from CEF-Transport and European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) financing; stresses that the budgetary cuts to the CEF made in the past, due to the funding of the EFSI initiative, should be avoided in the future; regrets that it had not yet been possible to achieve a full recovery of funds for the CEF; believes that CEF is a vital instrument with significant Union- added value to optimise the transport network across the Union, linking and/or modernising new and existing transport infrastructures and ensuring interoperability of transport services; stresses the need to further promote the high speed railway projects connecting Western and Eastern parts of Europe;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Considers that necessary funds should be safeguarded in order to achieve the primary scope of CEF-Transport, targeting the core network;stresses the need for an improved coordination between Member States in order to ensure consistency of the cross-border projects as part of the core rail, air and road infrastructure;reiterates the importance of completing missing links at dismantled regional cross-border rail connections and of upgrading and maintaining existing transport infrastructure;calls on the Commission to allocate any amounts not used by the end of 2018 to projects for cross-border connections between or to developing regions;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. Asks the Commission to submit a report on the implementation and take-up level of structural and cohesion funds in infrastructure projects, specifying which ones contribute to the development of the core network, the corridors and the comprehensive network;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

2 c. Underlines the importance of securing funding for optimising the multimodal connections and for shifting to digital transport services and to sustainable transport modes, including inland waterways;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)

2 d. Reiterates the importance of enhancing a low carbon transport economy through the development of rail freight corridors, representing an essential element for shifting freight from road to rail and for improving the rail sustainability;considers that the European Rail Transport Management System (ERTMS) should be deployed in order to maximise the benefits for interoperability in the Single European Rail Area;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)

2 e. Emphasises the importance of investing in regional airports as a catalyst for business efficiency and productivity and regional economic development;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the critical role of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) – Galileo and EGNOS – for the transport system, particularly for safety, including in the aviation, road, railway and maritime transport sectors as well as for the development and exploitation of multi-modal transport systems; reiterates the importance of sufficient financial support of downstream and upstream applications within the budgets for European GNSS programmes and Horizon 2020; highlights the crucial tasks of European GNSS agency (GSA) as regards to Galileo and EGNOS; believes that it is necessary for GSA to be adequately staffed in order to safeguard smooth functioning and exploitation of the European GNSS programmes;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Recognises the contribution GSA is making to the Union's economic competitiveness, technological innovation, and security and expresses concern that insufficient resources have been allocated to the GSA in order for it to fulfil its mandate and to support the proper and efficient future management of Galileo, including the need to recruit and maintain highly specialised experts and to plan for future roles and responsibilities;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Regrets the decrease of 7,6 % in resources for the European GNSS - Galileo and EGNOS; urges restoring the budgetary lines dedicated to the European space programmes to the primary level and continuing to adequately financing of space programmes, whose costs should not be underestimated; calls on the Commission to safeguard the financing for ~~the Galileo and EGNOS infrastructure~~developing and providing global satellite-based radio navigation infrastructure and services for Galileo and EGNOS;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Considers that necessary funding should be safeguarded for EGNOS in order to enable the extension of EGNOS coverage to South-Eastern and Eastern Europe as a priority and further to Africa and Middle East, and for the purpose of acquiring the necessary EGNOS Ranging Integrity Monitoring Stations (RIMS) and their interconnection to the system;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5 b. Reiterates the importance of allocating sufficient funding for 2018 for Galileo and EGNOS in order to secure swiftly uninterrupted GNSS services for smart roads and connected vehicles, smart fleet and cargo and traffic management such us Air Traffic Management (ATM), The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), eCall;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Highlights the importance of Horizon 2020 to foster and support projects related to innovation in smart transport management and autonomous driving; ~~welcomes the increase in commitments and payments appropriations through the Horizon 2020~~reiterates the importance of securing appropriate funding for Joint Undertakings, among others SESAR and SHIFT2RAIL;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Regrets the decrease of financing in Horizon 2020 related to research and innovation for transport and considers that achieving a safe and seamless intelligent integrated transport represents a significant Union-added value for enhancing the European transport system;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Stresses the need for accurate funding for the implementation of the components of SESAR in order to ensure the deployment of Air Traffic Management (ATM) functionalities that are considered essential for the improvement of the Union's ATM system performance;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6 c. Considers that SHIFT2RAIL Joint Undertaking should prioritise interoperability projects and maximise the benefits for interoperability in the Single European Rail Area;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Considers that InterRail could have a significant added-value enabling the younger generation to explore freedom of movement, offering the chance to travel in an environmentally- friendly way to those who are travelling the least and also contributing to the improvement of social conditions;asks the Commission to come up with a thorough assessment of the financial impact and the administrative modalities of the programme;reiterates its previous call on the Commission to put forward relevant proposals in this regard;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Stresses the importance of shifting towards sustainable tourism, which entails better coordination between tourism and infrastructure projects;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2044(BUD)

Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Patricija ŠULIN, Renaud MUSELIER, Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI, Georges BACH, Franck PROUST, Andor DELI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Asks the Commission to present the state-of-play of the pilot project on cleaner space through deorbiting and innovative materials for space equipment, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the future Joint Technology Initiative applied to the space sector;

2017/07/19
Committee: TRAN

2017/2039(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas young people require special attention because of the long term negative scarring effects of unemployment, Member States and the Commission should pay due attention to challenges that other vulnerable groups, like disabled, long-term unemployed, people in precarious employment or bogus self-employment, experience in labour markets.

2017/10/26
Committee: BUDG

2017/2039(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Underlines, that budgetary support to young people must be complemented with educational, labour market and growth supporting reforms in Member States in order to ensure long term and sustainable integration of young people in the labour market.

2017/10/26
Committee: BUDG

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the implementation of the political agreement leading to early parliamentary elections on 11 December 2016 and the respect for fundamental freedoms shown at the elections ~~of 11 December 2016~~; urges all political parties to accept its results in the interest of domestic stability and underlines their responsibility to ensure that there is no backsliding into political crisis; calls for a swift formation of a new government in order to make use of the mandate to carry on with necessary reforms; considers cross- party cooperation essential for addressing pressing domestic and EU-related challenges;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the strategic importance of supporting further progress in the process of EU integration and urges once again that the political will be shown to fully implement the Urgent Reform Priorities and the Przhino Agreement; calls on the Commission to assess, at its earliest convenience but before the end of 2017, the country’s progress on implementation and to report back to Parliament; while recalling that long overdue reforms need to be launched and implemented, supports the continuation of the High Level Accession Dialogue (HLAD) for systematically assisting the country in this endeavour; draws attention to the potential negative consequences of further delays in the country’s accession process;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Takes note of the recommendation by the Commission to open accession negotiations with Macedonia and calls on the Council to address the issue at the earliest convenience after the early parliamentary elections have been held;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Underlines the significant progress country has made in the process of EU integration and emphasizes the negative consequences of further delaying the process of integration, including the threat to the credibility of the EU enlargement policy and the risk of instability in the region;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Points out that the current challenges the European Union is facing (BREXIT, migration, radicalism, etc.) should not hinder the enlargement process, rather these challenges have demonstrated the necessity to fully integrate the Western Balkans into EU structures in order to enhance and deepen partnership to overcome international crises;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Welcomes the high level of legislative alignment with the acquis communautaire and acknowledges the priority given to the effective implementation and enforcement of existing legal and policy frameworks, as in the case of countries already engaged in the accession negotiations;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4 e. Congratulates Macedonia for its continuous fulfilment of its commitments under the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA); calls on the Council to adopt the Commission's 2009 proposal to move to the second stage of the SAA, in line with the relevant provisions;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes ~~some~~promising progress in reforming public administration including the steps to implement the new legal framework on human resources management; ~~remains concerned about the politicisation of public administration and that civil servants are subject to political pressure;~~ urges the new government to enhance professionalism, neutrality and independence at all levels; stresses the need to complete the 2017-2022 public administration reform strategy, including by making sufficient budget allocations for its implementation, and to strengthen relevant administrative capacity;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Welcomes the adoption of the national strategy for equality and non- discrimination 2016-2020; is concerned about impartiality and the independence of the Commission for Protection from Discrimination; reiterates its condemnation of hate speech against discriminated groups; is concerned that intolerance against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people persists; reiterates its call for the Anti- Discrimination Law to be aligned with the acquis as regards discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation; underlines again the need to combat discrimination against the Roma, and to facilitate their integration and their access to the education system and the labour market; is concerned about the inhumane physical conditions in prisons, despite a significant increase in the prison budget;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Is concerned about the lack of implementation of the Law on Equal Opportunities and the limited effectiveness of institutional mechanisms to advance ~~gender~~ equality between men and women; urges the competent authorities to make sufficient budget allocations for its implementation and to improve support services to victims of domestic violence;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Commends the co~~untry for constructive cooperation in addressing the migration crisis~~nstructive role the country has played in dealing with the challenges of the migration crisis and adhering to the decision of the European Council to close the Western Balkan migration route in March 2016; recommends further actions to ensure capacities to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation as a tool to drive the process of EU integration forward and commends country's constructive efforts and proactive contributions in promoting bilateral relations with all countries from the region;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ, László TŐKÉS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Welcomes Macedonia’s continued constructive role in regional and international cooperation; commends the increased alignment with EU foreign policy (73 %); ~~reiterates the importance of finalising the negotiations on a bilateral treaty with~~commends also the positive focus on bilateral projects in areas of infrastructure, economy and interconnectivity and country's efforts to hold European standards and values at the heart of bilateral relations; encourages the continuation and finalization of the talks on the Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness and Cooperation; emphasizes the necessity to respect the history, sovereignty and national and linguistic identity of both Macedonia and Bulgaria;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Alojz PETERLE, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. ~~Welcomes the tangible results from~~Commends the positive approach which has been applied to strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially in the context of European integration, for increasing mutual trust and promoting good neighborliness in concrete terms; acknowledges positive developments regarding the implementation of the confidence- building measures ~~with Greece~~, including the visit of Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs to Skopje in August 2016; strongly reiterates its invitation to the Vice- President/High Representative (VP/HR) and the Commission to develop new initiatives to overcome the remaining differences and to work, in cooperation with the two countries and the UN Special Representative, on a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue and to report back to Parliament thereon; calls upon the UN to intensify the mediation process in order to find a mutually acceptable solution regarding the naming dispute with Greece and to request that Greece respects International Law and the 2011 ICJ ruling;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, László TŐKÉS, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a. Welcomes the efforts of the Berlin Process, which demonstrated strong political support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans and that will continue to encourage further reforms in key areas and promote economic developments through core connectivity investments, providing concrete results for the citizens and the entire region; welcomes the establishment of the RYCO (Regional Youth Cooperation Office) and the Western Balkans Fund and requests the EU to take into account the initiatives and projects which have been proposed by Macedonia;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2310(INI)

Marijana PETIR, Patricija ŠULIN, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, Željana ZOVKO, Ivica TOLIĆ, Sandra KALNIETE, Ivana MALETIĆ, László TŐKÉS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)

23 b. Commends the country on its chairmanship of the CEI, focusing on economic cooperation and business opportunities, infrastructure and general economic development, including rural development and tourism, as well as on bridging macro-regions throughout 2015;

2017/02/09
Committee: AFET

2016/2235(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Welcomes the very first EGF application tabled by Estonia; believes that the EGF could be particularly valuable tool to help workers from countries with small and more vulnerable Union economies;

2016/10/13
Committee: BUDG

2016/2235(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Notes the ~~reason of the~~ relatively low number of redundant workers expected to participate in the measures (800 o~~ver~~ut of 1 550), which can be explained by the will to target the most vulnerable workers on the job market and also the fact that some workers had declared that they were not available for participation in the measures foreseen by Estonia; notes the ~~relatively~~ highest percentage ever of non-EU citizens (63,3 %) as targeted beneficiaries;

2016/10/13
Committee: BUDG

2016/2235(BUD)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Notes that actions under Article 7(4) of the EGF Regulation - preparatory activities, management, information and publicity and control and reporting - represent a rather high share of the total costs (7,7 %);

2016/10/13
Committee: BUDG

2016/2224(INI)

Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Barbara SPINELLI, Dennis de JONG, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Underlines that the EU institutions must be interested and show strong willingness to support the role of whistle- blowers and the benefits they bring in correcting wrongdoing; reminds the lack of follow-up and proper settlement regarding whistle-blowing cases at this level; considers a matter of urgency, before a Directive on the protection of whistle-blowers would be adopted, that the Commission Guidelines on the protection of whistle-blowers within the EU institutions are properly implemented and urges all institutions, including Agencies, to establish clear rules for the protection of whistle-blowers, as well as measures against ´´revolving doors´´;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Siegfried MUREŞAN, Barbara SPINELLI, Dennis de JONG, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Urges the European Court of Auditors and the European Ombudsman to publish, each, by the end of 2017: 1) special reports containing statistics and a clear track record of whistle-blowing cases identified in the European institutions, businesses, associations, organisations and other bodies registered in the Union; 2) the follow-up of the institutions concerned in relation to the cases revealed, based on the current Commission guidelines and rules; 3) the outcome of each investigation open as a result of the information received from whistle-blowers; 4) the measures foreseen in every case for the whistle-blowers´ protection;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Benedek JÁVOR, Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Barbara SPINELLI, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Expresses its concern at retaliation against whistle-blowers in their personal and professional lives, and at the possibility of initiating criminal and civil judicial proceedings against whistle- blowers; considers that people who want to reveal irregularities, mismanagement, misuse of funds, maladministration or potential corruption related to the activity of public and private bodies within the Union are not truly protected and do not feel protected; this is why many of them use other means to reveal the wrongdoing or even refrain from acting; therefore, calls for the creation of a clear horizontal legal framework that includes definitions, protection against different forms of reprisals, and exemptions from criminal and civil proceedings, according to criteria to be established; strongly believes that this will increase the citizens´ trust in their European and national bodies;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Benedek JÁVOR, Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Siegfried MUREŞAN, Barbara SPINELLI, Dennis de JONG, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls for the creation of legal and secure disclosure channels at national and European level to facilitate reporting to the competent authorities of information on threats to the public interest; underlines the importance of confidentiality in all whistle-blowing related files and recalls that basic rules for the protection of anonymous whistle-blowers should be put in place, in cases where such protection is required;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Siegfried MUREŞAN, Barbara SPINELLI, Dennis de JONG, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Reminds the crucial role played by investigative journalists in revealing wrongdoing and stresses that they are an exposed group of professionals, often paying with their jobs, freedom and even their lives disclosures of massive irregularities and corruption schemes; calls for the inclusion of special measures to protect investigative journalists in a horizontal Proposal for the protection of whistle-blowers;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Benedek JÁVOR, Siegfried MUREŞAN, Barbara SPINELLI, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Ana GOMES, Patricija ŠULIN, Sven GIEGOLD, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Calls for the establishment of an independent advisory and referral Unit within the European Ombudsman in a position to receive reports, complaints, gather information and adequately advise on the protection of whistle-blowers;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2224(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Emphasises that non- governmental organisations are not excepted from attempts of maladministration, fraud, misuse of funds and other irregularities and considers that rules for whistle-blowers in the public and private sector should equally apply to NGOs;

2017/07/06
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises that the agencies have significant influence on policy and decision making and programme implementation in areas of vital importance to European citizens, such as health, the environment, human and social rights, migration, refugees, innovation, financial supervision, safety and security; reiterates the importance of the tasks performed by agencies and their direct impact on the daily lives of Union citizens; insists on the ~~positive impact~~essential role that agencies have in enhancing the visibility of the Union in the Member States; reiterates also the importance of the autonomy of the agencies, in particular of the regulatory agencies and those with the function of independent information collection; recalls that the main reason for establishing agencies was for the purpose of making independent technical or scientific assessments;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2206(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Underlines that as noted in 2014 and in 2015 Court of Auditors' reports, the agencies in the areas of freedom, security and justice have not provided information needed to allow the discharge authority to properly evaluate the cost- benefit analysis of the operations and activities of these agencies; for instance 13.000 law enforcement officers were trained by CEPOL in 2015 and there is no evaluation report on the cost-efficiency of this training; urges the agencies and the Court of Auditors to perform cost-benefits analysis for agencies' activities and publish them; stresses the need of analysis and transparency of the use of the tax payers money;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. Regrets that in spite of the request made in the previous reports, for some agencies the declaration of interests are incomplete or missing; calls on the Members of the Management Board of Frontex from Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Portugal and the representative of the European Commission to publish their statements of commitments to the Agency including their declarations of interests; calls on the Members of the Management Board of EASO from Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia to publish their declaration of interests; calls on the agencies to draft and submit to the discharge authority a track record of cases of conflict of interest identified;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

2 c. In several agencies the members of the Management Board and the Executives published "declaration of absence of conflict of interest" instead of "declaration of interest"; underlines that it is not for the Management Board or for the Executives to declare themselves out of the conflict of interest; stresses that this constitutes in itself a conflict of interest; calls for an independent verification of the "declarations of interest"; reiterates that transparency is key to mitigating the risks of conflicts of interest; deplores the fact that not all agencies have established clear rules regarding the protection of whistle-blowers and "revolving doors" and urges them to put in place such rules as a matter of urgency;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Acknowledges the administrative burden that the implementation of the Roadmap has caused to the agencies, as well as the “outsourcing” of several tasks related to collecting and consolidating agencies’ data and input to the Network, in particular with regard to the budgetary and discharge procedure; calls on the Commission and the budgetary authority to recognise these efforts~~, and to provide additional resources in the establishment plan of the agencies, in particular related to the functions of the Network’s permanent secretariat~~;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2206(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)

2 d. Welcomes the efforts made by several agencies to improve their budgetary management by optimizing the use of their budgets and by implementing a better budgetary planning process; regrets however that some agencies do not mind the principle of annuality as one of the three basic accounting principles; calls on the agencies to improve the budget planning against activities and reduce the carry overs;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Patricija ŠULIN, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)

2 e. Deplores that the Court of Auditors failed to present since 2012 a special report on the conflict of interest in all agencies, in particular in those related to industries; urges the Court of Auditors to undertake the effective verifications of this matter and to produce such special reports on conflict of interests until the end of June 2017.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20a. Notes from the Court that the agencies generally award and pay grants in compliance with rules, however most agencies have not addressed alternative funding options, while grants do not always represent the most effective option to achieve agencies´ objectives; invites the agencies to improve their grant management and to focus on measuring the effectiveness of the grants awarded;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2206(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the commitment of all JHA Agencies to continue to further fine- tune budgetary procedures but stresses, however, that their priority should be to improve operational efficiency on the ground and to address the rather structural issues identified by the Court of Auditors and the IAS; requests that FRONTEX streamline its financial management procedures by obtaining rights of using “simplified cost options” for the reimbursement of Member States’ expenditure and by using “other funding mechanisms” in addition to grants; requests that EU-LISA better address the risks involved with the implementation of high cost infrastructure projects by fully adopting the financial regulation of the Union; requests that EUROJUST avoid sub-optimal budget management due to uncertainties as to the availability of funds in order to implement its on-going projects and to procure its essential services;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes with concern that the Commission applied an additional levy of 5 % of staff to the agencies in order to create a redeployment pool from which it would allocate the posts to the agencies with new tasks entrusted to them or in a start-up phase; is particularly concerned that with the additional staff reduction, fulfilment of the Agency’s mandates and annual work programmes proves increasingly difficult, particularly for the agencies classified by the Commission as “cruising speed agencies”; calls on the Commission and the budgetary authority to ~~look into other options in order~~ensure that potential further cost saving measures do not to hinder ~~the~~ agencies’´ abilityies to fulfil their mandates effectively;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Takes note that the CVs and declarations of interests of the management board members, management staff and in house experts were published by 84 % of the agencies, compared to 74 % in the previous year; notes moreover that 60 % of the agencies check the factual correctness of the given declarations of interests of experts, management board and staff at least once a year; ~~encourages the~~calls on the remaining agencies which have not yet introduced such policy to verify the declarations on regular basis~~, if their resources allow for it~~;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2206(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33a. Encourages the agencies to further strengthen their visibility and to continue to develop various communication channels that would present their work and activities to wide public;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2193(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Regrets that the agency outsourced procurement of non-operational training services to a third party without ensuring that it acted in compliance with the financial regulation of the Union when subcontracting; regrets that a call for expression of interest for participation in a negotiated procedure took place without a formal delegation by the authorising officer; ~~regrets that the agency engaged in contractual agreements or negotiations with a single contractor without precisely defining the services requested;~~ acknowledges that the agency acted in compliance with its own financial regulation; requests however that given the very high financial amounts involved with the development and maintenance of JHA systems and the associated risks, the agency ~~fully~~should continue to develop its internal control system in order to continue to ensure compliances with the financial regulation of the Union;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Notes that the EASO committed only 93,7 % of its approved budget and that 36,9 % of committed appropriations were carried over for administrative expenditure; acknowledges that these sub- optimal figures do not reflect structural issues within the EASO but are indirectly related to rapid staff and budget increases in 2015 due to its key role in assisting Member States, in particular through emergency support, in the context of the current migration flow; deplores that both the share of late payments and the average delay have further increased in relation to previous years; calls on EASO to improve the timeliness of the payments made in compliance with the Financial Regulation; welcomes the approval of a new policy for the recruitment of temporary and contract agents that addresses most issues identified by the Court of Auditors in past audits;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that, according to a decision by the Executive Director, participants in meetings organised by the Office are classified in one of the three categories (A, B, C) for cost reimbursements; takes note that category “A” participants, who are supposed to assume a specific duty in the meetings, receive a flat rate reimbursement for travel and daily subsistence costs, category “B” participants receive a flat rate reimbursement for travel costs only and category “C” participants are not eligible for any reimbursement; points out that the number of participants classified as recipients of category “A” reimbursements decreased from 69 % in 2014 to 52 % in 2015; notes, however, that although the Office confirmed it will ensure that letters of invitation state more clearly the applicable reimbursement category, the status of the corrective action in the Court’s report is still marked as “ongoing”; calls on the Office to report to the discharge authority on the measures implemented in order to rectify this issue that the action on clarification of the applicable reimbursement category in the invitation letters has been completed;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2192(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Notes with satisfaction ~~from~~ that, according to the Court’s report, the Executive Director of the Office approved a new policy for the recruitment of temporary and contract agents, which addresses most issues identified by the Court in its past audits;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2192(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Recalls that in 2015, a record number of ~~more than 1 392 155~~almost 1 400 000 applications for international protection were made; recognises that the EASO invested significant efforts in implementing the activities assigned to it in the European Agenda on Migration, in particular as part of the development of the ‘hotspots’ approach; notes the efforts made by EASO in managing the migrant crisis; calls upon EASO to submit to the discharge authority a plan with reforms to improve its budgetary and management performance parameters;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Notes that the conclusion of 9. internal rules on whistleblowing is foreseen by the Office at the beginning of 2017; asks the Office to report to the discharge authority on the establishment and implementation of itsOffice has implemented a Management Board Decision on the prevention of fraud as well as an anti-fraud strategy; notes that a whistleblowing procedure was signed on 23 February 2017 and is in line with the Commission´s guidelines on whistleblowing ~~rules~~;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2192(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 (new)

Urges EASO to publish the Court of Auditors' annual report in addition to its annual activity report; urges EASO to adopt a policy and a practice guide on institutional management and one on prevention of conflict of interests; calls upon EASO to adopt internal binding rules for the protection of whistle-blowers, in accordance with Article 22c of the Staff Regulations of the Officials of the European Union, which came into force on 1 January 2014;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Welcomes the ~~very~~ solid output of ~~the Agency~~EASO, with over 117 meetings and workshops organised, 3 764 national staff trained, 272 persons relocated and more than 100 civil society organisations consulted; acknowledges the results of the independent audit of EY and the commitment of the EASO to develop a corresponding action plan; agrees on the need for the EASO to better communicate on the effects and impacts of its activities.; welcomes the development of a better web interface for Country of Origin (COI)- related documents; notes that there were 17 000 COI-related documents currently linked via the portal at the end of 2015;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 – point a (new)

(a) Regrets that some of the Management Board members from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece and Ireland published incomplete declarations of interest; regrets that the Management Board members from Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia did not publish their declarations of interest at all; reiterates that preventing and managing the conflicts of interest is vital for the health of the organization; transparency is a key element for upholding the trust of citizens of the Union in the Union institutions;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2192(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes with concern that 7 staff members participated in an away day in 2015 for which the cost was EUR 4 000 (EUR 571 per person);

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2192(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Acknowledges that, according to ~~from~~ the Office’s annual report, in 2014 it started the development of a combined content management system and database, the Information and Documentation System (IDS), in the form of an IT tool which will provide a detailed and up-to- date overview of the practical functioning of the Common European Asylum System;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2191(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Notes from the Court that for the selection of external experts evaluating KIC proposals and business plans, the Institute makes use of Article 89 of the Financial Regulation to derogate from the obligation of launching a call for expression of interest; notes, however, that Institute has not fully established internal procedures to regulate implementation of this derogation; notes that in practice, Institute established its pool of experts using existing expert lists and databases of other institutions of the Union and individuals not on these lists following recommendations from the Institute governing board and staff members; calls on the Institute to ensure maximum transparency and integrity in the expert selection procedure by setting relevant internal measures, while ensuring absence of potential conflict of interest;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2191(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Notes from the Court that despite a valid rationale, the Institute´s complex operational framework and management problems have impeded its overall effectiveness; notes that the Institute has an ability to support the entire innovation scheme from start-ups to innovation- driven projects run by multiple KIC partners, however, it lacks coordination at Union level with the relevant Commission´s DGs, and the interaction between the KICs and other Union initiatives is insufficient;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2191(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20a. Notes with concern that general visibility of the Institute is low and some of the KICs´ partners are not aware of their affiliation with the Institute; calls for a better visibility and promotion of the Institute brand as a unique innovation community; welcomes the recent success in listing 18 Institute Community Members in the Forbes 30 under 30 list, featuring Europe´s best young innovators and entrepreneurs;

2017/03/06
Committee: CONT

2016/2184(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes the high implementation rate of the budget of 99,8 % for commitment appropriations and 89 % for payment appropriations; notes, however, that carry-overs of committed appropriations reached 41 % for administrative expenditure; stresses the importance of the respect of the principle of annuality of the budget; reminds that the principle of annuality is one of the three basic accounting principles; welcomes the commitment of the Agency to continue its efforts to ensure efficient and compliant budget implementation;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2184(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Welcomes the publication of the Europol Consolidated Activity Annual Report for 2015 and recommends in this respect Europol to also publish the European Court of Auditors report; welcomes the publication of whistleblowing rules and notes Europol's commitment to complement the existing rules with additional arrangements; reiterates that transparency is a key issue in upholding the Union citizens' trust in the Union and Union institutions;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2184(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Notes that the members of the Directorate published "declarations of absence of conflict of interest"; calls upon Europol to publish "declarations of interest" instead of "declarations of absence of conflict of interest" as it is not for the members of the Directorate to declare themselves out of the conflict of interest and ensure the independent verification of the declarations of interest; notes that the members of the Management Board did not publish the declaration of interest but welcomes the upcoming new Europol Regulation which is foreseen to enter into force on 1 May 2017, with new provisions on rules for prevention and management of conflicts of interest;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2184(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Highlights that, in response to terrorist attacks and the migration crisis and in light of the Commission’s Agenda on Security and Migration, Europol’s mandate was strengthened, its budget increased and its staff reinforced; welcomes the successful efforts of the aAgency in setting up the EU Internet Referral Unit, the European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) and the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC); encourages the Agency to focus on development of this three new instruments;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2184(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Monika HOHLMEIER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Encourages Europol to continue to improve information sharing among its partners ~~for the purposes of counter- terrorism~~as well as cooperation with Member States, national law enforcement and Eurojust for the purposes of counter- terrorism; invites the Agency to pay more attention to the presentation of its work via online platforms.

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2179(DEC)

Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Regrets that the Agency reimbursed depreciation charges for a vessel that had exceeded its useful life; notes that the Agency recovered only the payments from 2015; notes the Agency’s statement that this cost recovery was made in line with the principle of proportionality; highlights the risk of double funding for the reimbursement of vessels and fuel consumption under “Commission ISF Borders” and “Frontex joint operations”; notes that rules for reimbursing costs are complex and calculated differently for every Member State; encourages the Agency to ~~obtain rights to use~~make use of simplified cost options and other funding mechanisms in addition to grants where possible to increase the cost-effectiveness;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2179(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Notes that, according to the Court's report, Frontex did not sufficiently address the potential for conflicts of interest when setting up negotiation teams managing the negotiations of joint operation grants; notes with concern that the negotiation teams have the power to accept or renegotiate the resources proposed by the participating states, while neither the decision on team composition nor on the appointment and resources requested is taken by the Director or by the management board; notes with concern that such a procedure can result in granting finances for joint operations that do not fully safeguard the principles of transparency and equal treatment; further notes that there is no formal requirement for staff to declare an absence of conflicts of interest before participating in bilateral negotiation teams; calls on the Agency to introduce measures and an appropriate conflict of interest policy that will ensure the transparency of the procedure and the absence of conflicts of interest on the part of the negotiators;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2179(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19 a. Calls for a greater exchange of information between Frontex, Union justice and home affairs agencies and the Member States, in full respect of data protection rules and, in particular, the principle of purpose limitation, in order to improve the effectiveness of Frontex grant-funded joint operations; regrets that the actual impact of joint operations is difficult to assess;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2179(DEC)

Patricija ŠULIN, Monika HOHLMEIER, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)

19 b. Notes that, according to the Court's report, the majority of Frontex operational programmes lack quantitative objectives and specific target values for the joint operations; notes with concern that this, together with insufficient documentation from cooperating countries, might hamper the ex post evaluation of the effectiveness of joint operations in the long term; invites Frontex to improve its strategic programme planning, to set relevant strategic objectives for its grant activities and to establish an effective result- oriented monitoring and reporting system with relevant and measurable key performance indicators;

2017/03/07
Committee: CONT

2016/2179(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Welcomes the support provided to national authorities in hotspot areas in relation to identification and registration of migrants, return-related activities and Union internal security; welcomes the signature of an operational cooperation agreement with Europol to deter cross- border crime and migrant smuggling; calls for further and more effective cooperation with Europol and other agencies in the area of justice and home affairs.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2179(DEC)

Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Regrets that the Agency continues to operate on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with its host Member State Poland; calls on both parties to conclude a comprehensive headquarters agreement as soon as possible to enhance transparency regarding the conditions under which the Agency and its staff operate;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2178(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes the high implementation rate of the 2015 budget that reached 95.5% out of which 79% has been paid; notes, however, that according to the Court of Auditors, the level of committed appropriations for administrative expenditure carried over from 2014 to 2015 reached 49 % at the end of 2015, which is relatively high, although lower than in 2014 (59%); welcomes, therefore, the commitment of CEPOL to continue to improve its budget management procedures and to better comply with the budgetary principle of annuity provided in the Financial Regulation; notes that the relocation of the College from the UK to Hungary in September 2014 is the main reason for the level of committed appropriations carried over from 2014 to 2015;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2178(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Welcomes the solid output of CEPOL; a~~Acknowledges the training of 12 992 law enforcement officers, which represents an increase of over 25% in comparison with 2014; welcomes the ~~very~~ high level of satisfaction of train~~ing~~ed participants~~, which reached 93% for residential courses, 94% for webinars and 94% for European Police Exchange Programmes~~; acknowledges that the ~~number~~ residential activities ~~(85) exceeded the target one (80) and that they~~ have brought together 3 073 law enforcement participants, representing a 12 % increase from the originally forecasted number ~~(2755); encourages, however, CEPOL to better report effects of its activities~~; calls on CEPOL to draft cost- efficiency reports for its trainings as well their impact on the security of the Union.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2178(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Deplores that, despite the adoption of CEPOL's policy on the prevention and management of conflict of interests in November 2014, the curricula vitae and declarations of interest of its experts are not published on CEPOL's website; reminds CEPOL that it should make them available for the public in order to ensure transparency and uphold EU citizen's trust in the European institutions; calls upon CEPOL to adopt a clear and solid whistleblowing strategy and rules against "revolving doors" according to Article 22c of the EU Staff Regulations, which came into force on 1 January 2014;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2170(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Encourages Eurojust to continue to treat terrorism, irregular migration and cybercrime as priorities; welcomes the fact that Member States increasingly made use of coordination meetings and coordination centres and that they value the increased involvement of third countries in joint investigation teams; ~~acknowledges~~welcomes the fact that the number of cases for which Member States requested Eurojust's assistance continues to grow and increased by 23 % compared to 2014;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2170(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Regrets that in its 2015 annual report, Eurojust stated that corruption is not among EU priorities; notes that this statement was contradicted by the 90 corruption cases for which Eurojust expertise was requested in 2015 (twice as much as in 2014) according to the Eurojust annual report; acknowledges that Greece, Romania and Croatia were the most requesting Member States in corruption related cases;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2170(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. RNotes the high rate of Eurojust budget implementation of 99.86 percent for 2015 from its EUR 33 818 million annual budget; regrets that Eurojust faced budgetary availability issues due to known structural problems with its funding; stresses that for the second successive year, Eurojust was forced to resort to mitigation measures subject to an amending budget; regrets that the financial uncertainty with which Eurojust was confronted required the postponement of some of its on-going activities and the deferral of valuable technological developments; requests that Eurojust and the Commission solve these known structural problems and secure a proper level of funding for the coming years;

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2170(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Regrets that the administration and the members of the independent Joint Supervisory Body did not publish their declarations of interest; calls for the immediate publication of these declarations; calls upon Eurojust to adopt a practical guide on institutional management and one on conflicts of interest, according to the guidelines published by the Commission on December 2013 and to establish clear rules against "revolving doors"; reminds Eurojust to adopt internal binding rules for the protection of whistle-blowers, in accordance with Article 22c of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, which came into force on 1 January 2014.

2017/01/20
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – point a (new)

(a) Regrets the high level of carry- over of committed appropriations for administrative expenditure (26,6%); acknowledges that they mainly relate to an accelerated implementation of the multi-annual ICT strategy, arising from resources initially planned for salary increases but not needed following a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – point b (new)

(b) Regrets that by the end of 2015 the Agency did not respect the ceiling of EUR 250 000 imposed in 2012 for its framework contract; regrets that by the end of 2015 the total payments made amounted to EUR 382 181, which means that the Agency exceeded that ceiling by 50 %; urges the Agency to improve its procedure for monitoring framework contracts;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Regrets that expenses on a given framework contract exceeded the estimate published by more than 50 %; welcomes, therefore, the cancellation of that contract and the launch of a new public procurement procedure; acknowledges the commitment of the Agency to improve the central planning and monitoring of its procurements; welcomes its overall performance with its limited budget;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Recognises that the Agency was successful~~Highlights the success of the Agency in its different missions; welcomes the new strategy and work programme for 2016–2018; encourages, however, the development and implementation of a much longer-term strategy as committed by its Director;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Emphasises the important role of the Agency in detecting new trends ~~and~~, assessing threats and developing prevention strategies posed by drugs to the health and security of young Europeans; welcomes the notification 98 new psychoactive substances (NPS); encourages sustained efforts to monitor the use of the internet as a vehicle for drug supply;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2164(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – point 1 (new)

(1) Urges the Agency to publish all the declarations of interests and CVs of its executive, administrative and scientific directors as well as its experts; urges the Agency to ensure the independent verification of all "declarations of interests"; reiterates that transparency is key to alleviating the risks of conflicts of interest; calls upon the Agency to establish clear rules regarding the protection of whistle-blowers and "revolving doors";

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2163(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes the ~~very~~ low level of cancelled carry-overs (less than 2 %) and the ~~very~~ high level of consumption of its Union subsidies (99 %); agrees that this is an indicator of good planning and management if the consumption includes beneficial and necessary activities; notes, however, that the level of carry-overs of committed appropriations ~~was high~~ (70 %) for expenditures ~~but acknowledges that this is as a result of the nature of activities of the Agency that involve procuring~~was high; a multi-annual funding planning would cover the activities and studies that span over m~~any m~~ore years; calls on th~~s, often beyond year-end~~e Agency to eliminate any ineffective budget planning;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2163(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes the solid output of the Agency; notes that it organised 60 events bringing together its key partners and stakeholders to discuss fundamental rights issues in various thematic areas; acknowledges that the Agency offered its expertise at 240 presentations and hearings and that it published its research in 32 reports and papers; recalls that the Agency formulated 122 opinions in response to requests from Member States, Union institutions and other international organisations; further welcomes its pro- active approach towards the European Parliament;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2163(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 – point a (new)

(a) Calls on the Agency to adopt internal binding rules for the protection of whistle-blowers according to Article 22c of the EU Staff Regulations which came into force on 1 January 2014.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2163(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 – point b (new)

(b) Welcomes the publication of declaration of interests and CVs of its Management Board members and deplores that the CVs of the alternate members of the Management Board from Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Netherlands, Poland, Council of Europe, UK and the European Commission are not publicly available; recalls that the transparency is a key element for upholding the trust of the Union citizens in Union institutions; calls on the Agency to draft and submit to the discharge authority a track record of cases of conflict of interest identified;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2159(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Welcomes especially~~Notes the advisory role played by the EDPS during the development of legislation in the data protection package (the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Directive), the Europol reform and the PNR Directive, as well as its involvement in the setting-up of the European Data Protection Board;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the conclusion of the Court of Auditors that the consolidated accounts of the Union present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Union as at 31 December 2015; notes that payments were materially affected by an estimated error rate of 3,8 %; welcomes the reduction from ~~the figure of 4,4 % in 2014~~4,4 % in 2014; stresses that although improved, the overall estimated level of error continues to exceed significantly ECA's benchmark; notes that a large part of the variation in the estimated level of error results from the difference between requests and cost reimbursements; encourages the future simplification of the financial regulation of the Union in order to succeed in attaining the target rate of 2 %; urges the Commission to better improve its quantification of amounts at risk and corrective capacity;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a (new)

(a) Notes that 12 cases of suspected fraud were forwarded to OLAF; notes with concern that the most frequent instances of suspected fraud concerned conflicts of interest and the artificial creation of conditions to receive subsidy followed by declarations of costs not meeting the eligibility criteria; regrets however that ECA failed to provide concrete information on the Member States where most suspected fraud cases were found and the results of these investigations; urges the European Commission to draft special reports on fraud and conflict of interests.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)

Urges the Commission to strengthen its rules against "revolving doors" by providing and applying dissuasive penalties; calls upon Commission to set up a mandatory lobby register for all EU institutions, aimed at closing all loopholes concerning the activities of individuals and companies working on influencing EU decision-taking; urges the Commission to make all information on lobby influence available free of charge and easily accessible to the public through an online database.

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Monika HOHLMEIER, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b (new)

(b) Calls on the Commission to draft and submit to the discharge authority a track record of cases of conflicts of interest identified;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Encourages the development of clearer and long-term political priorities with more concrete translation into operational priorities; in this respect stresses the importance of closer cooperation with other bodies, especially the Agencies;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2151(DEC)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Stresses~~Notes with concern that financial amounts due to be paid in the coming years are high; recalls that the Commission has not yet provided a cash flow forecast for the next 7 to 10 years and ~~enco~~urages the Commission to do so;

2017/01/23
Committee: LIBE

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas the Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016-2019 published in December 2015 reaffirmed commitment to continue work to promote equality between men and women;

2016/12/15
Committee: CONT

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas one of the most telling measures of gender equality is equal pay; but equally important are EU efforts and their results in increasing female labour- market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men; in promoting equality between women and men in decision-making; combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims; and promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world;

2016/12/15
Committee: CONT

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the lack of specific gender indicators and of collection of ~~gender-~~data disaggregated ~~data~~by sex makes it impossible to achieve correct financial and budgetary accountability with a view to evaluating the gender equality impact of EU policies;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

D a. recalls the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 that supports establishing monitoring requirements including measurable indicators as a basis on which to collect evidence of the effects of legislation on the ground and to support further action while avoiding administrative burdens;

2016/12/15
Committee: CONT

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

D a. Recalls the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016, especially articles 20 to 24 on ex-post evaluation of existing legislation as a basis for further action

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

D b. Welcomes efforts done in introducing gender specific indicators and collection of gender-disaggregated data in some EU legislative and policies, like e.g. in the ESF

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls for ~~all~~ budget ~~titles~~ to pursue equally ~~strong~~ gender targets and gender mainstreaming standards, and to specify the amount to be allocated to individual policy objectives and actions in order to become more transparent and not to overshadow gender objectives;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls for gender-specific indicators to be applied in the project selection, monitoring and evaluation phases of all actions that receive funding from the EU budget, and for the systematic collection of gender-disaggregated data on beneficiaries and participants but avoiding overregulation and administrative burdens;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Looks upon the EU-level funding of EUR 6.17 billion allocated in the current MFF to achieving the objectives of this gender-strategic engagement as a first step, ~~and asks for an increase in this amount in the next MFF;~~ while the future actions including funding allocation should be guided based on the evaluation of existing legislation as agreed in the Interinstitutional Agreement between the EP, the Council and the European Commission on Better Law- Making ;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls for ~~strong~~effective gender budgeting and gender mainstreaming to be taken into account in preparing the post-2020 generation of EU funding programmes.

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2016/2144(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Regrets the lack of gender- aggregated data and gender-specific indicators required to monitor and evaluate the action receiving funding from the EU budget to tackle gender equality; welcomes efforts done in introducing gender specific indicators and collection of gender-dissaggreated data in some EU legislative and policies, like e.g. in the ESF; believes it is important to intensify efforts to develop those indicators to monitor all key areas of EU of gender- equality policy; welcomes and supports committment in the Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016-2019 2016 to improve data collection with the support of Eurostat, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), Eurofound, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA);

2016/12/15
Committee: CONT

2016/2114(REG)

Ashley FOX, Kateřina KONEČNÁ, Andrew LEWER, Ian DUNCAN, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Vicky FORD, Anders VISTISEN, Branislav ŠKRIPEK, Beatrix von STORCH, Morten MESSERSCHMIDT, Helga STEVENS, Christofer FJELLNER, Anneleen VAN BOSSUYT, Raymond FINCH, Roger HELMER, Gunnar HÖKMARK, Roberts ZĪLE, Kosma ZŁOTOWSKI, Geoffrey VAN ORDEN, Amjad BASHIR, Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER, Ramona Nicole MĂNESCU, Molly SCOTT CATO, Krišjānis KARIŅŠ, Bas BELDER, Ulrike TREBESIUS, Alberto CIRIO, Patricija ŠULIN, Angel DZHAMBAZKI, Eleftherios SYNADINOS, Maurice PONGA, Emma McCLARKIN, Lara COMI, Anthea McINTYRE, Carolina PUNSET, Timothy Charles Ayrton TANNOCK, Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE, Constance LE GRIP, Fulvio MARTUSCIELLO, Bernd LUCKE, Georgios EPITIDEIOS, Amjad BASHIR, David CAMPBELL BANNERMAN, Daniel DALTON, Hans-Olaf HENKEL, Bernd KÖLMEL, Bernd LUCKE, Alojz PETERLE, Markus PIEPER, Mirosław PIOTROWSKI, Joachim STARBATTY, Peter van DALEN, Ivan ŠTEFANEC, Jana ŽITŇANSKÁ

Parliament's Rules of Procedure
Rule 15 – paragraph 1

The President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors shall be elected by secret ballot, in accordance with Rule 182. Nominations shall be with consent. They may only be made by a political group or by at least 40 Members. However, if the number of nominations does not exceed the number of seats to be filled, the candidates may be elected by acclamation. Members shall be permitted to serve a maximum of two terms in the office of President pursuant to Rule 19(1), regardless of whether they are served consecutively or not.

2016/09/27
Committee: AFCO

2016/2100(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises that competition policy must attach the same importance to defending the interests of agricultural producers as it does to defending consumers’ interests, ensuring that the conditions for competition are fair so as to foster investment, employment and innovation in agricultural markets, delivering a more equitable and targeted support towards small farmers and active farmers;

2016/10/20
Committee: AGRI

2016/2100(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Believes that the current crisis situation in farming calls for fresh initiatives to ensure that competition policy takes better account of the specific nature of agriculture, putting in place policies that promote easier access to the market for young farmers;

2016/10/20
Committee: AGRI

2016/2100(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Considers that the collective activities of producer organisations and their associations, such as production planning and sales negotiation of products obtained mainly from the cultivation of the soil, are necessary for achieving the aims of the CAP and that they should benefit from a presumption of compatibility with Articles 39 and 101 TFEU;

2016/10/20
Committee: AGRI

2016/2100(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

9. Believes that full and satisfactory implementation of the ‘Milk Package’ is essential in order to strengthen the dairy sector, putting in place adequate measures in order to preserve the production and consumption of homegrown milk; asks the Commission to propose that the ‘Milk Package’ should continue to apply beyond mid-2020 and to examine whether its rules could be extended to other sectors of agriculture;

2016/10/20
Committee: AGRI

2016/2099(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes Commission President Juncker’s plan to increase the capacity of the Investment Plan for Europe from EUR 315 billion to EUR 630 billion; underlines, however, that it should not lead to a reduction in the number and amount of well-functioning sources of transport infrastructure funding; stresses the need to complete the TEN-T core network by 2030;

2016/10/17
Committee: TRAN

2016/2099(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the EIB, in its financing of transport projects, to take into account and seek synergies with tourism in order to promote its development and competitiveness in the EU;

2016/10/17
Committee: TRAN

2016/2099(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses the need to ensure good coordination between the relevant actors, such as exists between the EIB, the Commission and the Member States, in the use of various sources of funding;

2016/10/17
Committee: TRAN

2016/2099(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Notes that the EIB uses a wide range of products, such as loans, guarantees, project bonds and public- private partnerships to support public and private investment in transport; stresses that it is important to coordinate various types of EU funding in order to ensure that EU transport policy objectives are met in the most effective way possible.

2016/10/17
Committee: TRAN

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)

- having regard to the Commission Implementing Regulation 1337/2013 laying down the procedure for implementing the Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 in the indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of the meat,

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. whereas equidae are social animals with cognitive abilities and strong affiliative ties; whereas they are used in a range of therapies and rehabilitation programmes~~, including~~ - autistic spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, cerebral vascular incident, learning or language disabilities and difficulties, offender rehabilitation, psychotherapy, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction programmes;

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Calls on the Member States to make efforts to recognize equidae as company animals;

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Recognises the ~~considerable economic and social~~quantifiable social and economic contribution equidae make throughout the EU;

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Calls on the Commission to formulate guidance for the Food and Veterinary Office on the welfare of equidae at the time of husbandry, transportation and slaughter;

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2078(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Calls on the Member States to commit to inspections of the slaughterhouses on their territory that are licenced to take equidae, to ensure they are able to meet the specific welfare needs of equidae, and avoid brutal slaughter techniques;

2016/11/16
Committee: AGRI

2016/2074(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Notes that workers in the 55 - 64 age group make up 35,9 % of the targeted beneficiaries ; considers that they are at a higher risk of long-term unemployment and social exclusion and have specific needs when it comes to providing them with personalised approach in accordance with the Article 7 of the EGF Regulation;

2016/06/02
Committee: BUDG

2016/2074(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Calls on the Commission to provide information on the results of on- going support for the redundant workers of Caterpillar, as the part of current application is a follow-up to the EGF/2014/011 BE/Caterpillar application;

2016/06/02
Committee: BUDG

2016/2074(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Recalls that, in line with Article 7 of the EGF Regulation, the design of the coordinated package of personalised services supported by the EGF should anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills and should be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy; and take into account the experience gained so far in supporting the dismissed workers under EGF/2014/011 BE/Caterpillar application;

2016/06/02
Committee: BUDG

2016/2074(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Recalls the importance of improving the employability of all workers by means of adapted training and the recognition of skills and competences gained throughout a worker's professional career; expects the training on offer in the coordinated package to be adapted not only to the needs of the dismissed workers but also to the actual and anticipated business environment in the region and in the neighbouring regions;

2016/06/02
Committee: BUDG

2016/2074(BUD)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Asks the Commission to further detail, in future proposals, the sectors in which the workers are likely to find employment and whether the training on offer is aligned to the future economic prospects and labour market needs in the regions concerned by the dismissals and the neighbouring regions;

2016/06/02
Committee: BUDG

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Reminds the Commission to act on enhancing the effectiveness of VAT tax systems and on ensuring better compliance with VAT rules; w~~Welcomes the application of the ‘country of destination’ of the goods as the underlying principle of the definitive EU VAT system which will lead to the reduction of cross-border VAT fraud by EUR 40 billion per year; encourages the Commission to amend the VAT Directive to hold the importer jointly liable for VAT loss in the Member State of destination;

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Notes that the current VAT system remains fragmented and creates significant administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs and online companies; calls on the Commission to propose amendments to the VAT Directive to enable a technologically neutral application of VAT rules, which will ensure that the physical and digital versions of a given product are treated in the same way;deleted

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Calls on Member States to better coordinate their policies on reverse charge mechanisms in order to facilitate the exchange of information; calls on the Commission to further explore possibilities for extending the application of the VAT reverse charge mechanism to business-to-business supplies of goods, as it already applies to digital products and services;.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

9. ~~Points out that the VAT gap and the estimated losses on VAT collection within the Union amounted to EUR 170 billion in 2015; c~~Calls on the Commission to make full use of its executive powers in order to both control and help the Member States; points out that effective action to reduce the VAT gap requires a concerted and multidisciplinary approach as this gap results not only from fraud but from a combination of factors, including bankruptcy and insolvency, statistical errors, late payment, tax evasion and tax avoidance;

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Regrets that VAT fraud, and in particular the so-called ‘carousel’ or missing trader fraud, distorts competition and deprives national budgets of significant resources as well as being detrimental to the Union budget; is concerned that the Commission has no reliable data on VAT carousel fraud; therefore, calls on the Commission to launch a coordinated effort by Member States to establish a joint system of collecting statistics on VAT carousel fraud. This system could build upon the already-used practices in some Member States.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 12

12. Urges the Commission to initiate the establishment of a common system to refine the estimation of the size of intra-EU VAT fraud, which would allow Member States to evaluate their performance ~~against precise and reliable indicators related to the reduction~~in terms of reducing the incidence of intra- EU VAT fraud and the increasing of fraud detection and correlative tax recovery; takes the view that new auditing approaches such as the single audit or joint audits should be further extended for cross- border operations;

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 13

13. ~~Stresses the importance of implementing new strategies and making more efficient use of existing EU structures in order to combat VAT fraud more vigorously; u~~Underlines the fact that greater transparency allowing for proper scrutiny and the adoption of a more structured and ‘risk-based’ approach are key to detecting and preventing fraud schemes and corruption;

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 14

14. Regrets that administrative cooperation between Member States on fighting VAT fraud is still not sufficient to cope with intra-EU VAT evasion and fraud mechanisms and to manage cross-border transactions or trading; Therefore, requests the Commission to carry out more monitoring visits to Member States selected on a risk basis when assessing administrative cooperation agreements. Furthermore, asks the Commission to focus in the context of its evaluation of the administrative arrangements on removing legal obstacles preventing the exchange of information between administrative, judicial and law enforce-ment authorities at national and EU level. In addition, calls on the Commission to recommend to Member States to introduce a common risk analysis including the use of social network analysis to ensure that the informa-tion exchanged through Eurofisc is well targeted to fraud;

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Asks the Commission to encourage Member States which have not already done so, to implement a two-tier VAT ID No (VAT ID No allo-cated to traders wishing to take part on intra-Community trade which is different than domestic VAT ID No) and conduct the checks foreseen in Article 22 of Regulation No 904/2010 while providing free advice to traders.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 b (new)

16 b. Urges the Commission to propose an amendment to the VAT directive with a view to achieving further harmonisation of Member States' VAT reporting require-ments for intra-Community supplies of goods and services.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 c (new)

16 c. Regrets that the proposal of the Commission about joint and several liability in cases of cross-border trade has not been adopted by the Council. This reduces the deterrence against doing business with fraudulent traders. The imple-mentation of the VAT directive con-cerning the period of submission of re-capitulative statements is not uniform among Member States, thus increasing the administrative burden on traders operating in more than one Member State. Therefore, urges the Council to approve the Com-mission's proposal on joint and several liability.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/2033(INI)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Anders VISTISEN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Barbara SPINELLI, Richard SULÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 d (new)

16 d. Stresses the need to grant OLAF clear competences and tools to investigate VAT fraud.

2016/06/13
Committee: CONT

2016/0379(COD)

Franc BOGOVIČ, Werner LANGEN, Milan ZVER, Alojz PETERLE, Romana TOMC, Patricija ŠULIN, Tanja FAJON, Igor ŠOLTES, Davor ŠKRLEC, Ivo VAJGL

Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1

The seat of the Agency ~~shall be~~is in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

2017/09/21
Committee: ITRE

2016/0379(COD)

Franc BOGOVIČ, Milan ZVER, Alojz PETERLE, Romana TOMC, Patricija ŠULIN, Tanja FAJON, Igor ŠOLTES, Ivo VAJGL

Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 1 – point k

(k) be responsible for deciding whether it is exceptionally necessary for the purpose of carrying out the Agency's tasks in an efficient and effective manner to locate one or more staff in one or more Member States for the purpose of carrying out the Agency's tasks in an efficient and effective manner. The decision to establish a local office requires the prior consent of the Commission, the Administrative Board, the Member State of the Seat and the Member State or Member States concerned. The decision shall specify the scope of the activities to be carried out at that local office in a manner that avoids unnecessary costs and duplication of administrative functions of the Agency and that fully respects Decision 2009/913/EU.

2017/09/21
Committee: ITRE

2016/0378(COD)

Werner LANGEN, Franc BOGOVIČ, Milan ZVER, Alojz PETERLE, Romana TOMC, Patricija ŠULIN, Tanja FAJON, Igor ŠOLTES, Davor ŠKRLEC, Ivo VAJGL

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37 a (new)

(37a) Decision 2009/913/EU taken by common agreement between the representatives of the governments of Member States of 7 December 2009 on the location of the seat of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators provides that the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators shall have its seat in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The seat of the Agency is the centre of its activities and the statutory functions of the Agency. Thus, the meetings of the statutory organs should take place at the seat.

2017/09/21
Committee: ITRE

2016/0378(COD)

Franc BOGOVIČ, Werner LANGEN, Milan ZVER, Alojz PETERLE, Romana TOMC, Patricija ŠULIN, Tanja FAJON, Igor ŠOLTES, Ivo VAJGL

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 38

(38) The Agency’s host Member State should provide the best possible conditions to ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the Agency, including multilingual, European- oriented schooling and appropriate transport connectionsSeat Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators was concluded on 26 November 2010 and entered into force on 10 January 2011. It is considered that the Seat Agreement and other specific arrangements fulfil the requirements of Regulations (EU) No 713/2009 and 863/2016.

2017/09/21
Committee: ITRE

2016/0282(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 105

(105) It is appropriate that different cases usually referred to as situations of conflict of interest be identified and treated distinctly. The notion of a ‘conflict of interest’ should be ~~solely~~ used for cases where an entity or person with responsibilities for budget implementation, audit or control or an official or an agent of a Union institution is in such a situation. All persons or entities potentially subject to conflict of interest should be encouraged to publish their declarations of interest, instead of a declaration of absence of conflict of interest. A self-evaluation of conflict of interest is a conflict of interest in itself. Therefore, the evaluation of conflict of interest should be done by an independent third party. In cases where an economic operator attempts to unduly influence a procedure or obtain confidential information, this should be treated as grave professional misconduct. In addition, economic operators may be in a situation where they should not be selected to implement a contract because of a professional conflicting interest. For instance, a company should not evaluate a project in which it has participated or an auditor should not be in a position to audit accounts it has previously certified. A record of all cases of conflict of interest and revolving door identified in the Union institutions should be published on a regular basis.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0282(COD)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Anders VISTISEN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Barbara SPINELLI, Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 108

(108) Union public procurement should ensure that Union funds are used in an effective, transparent, and appropriate way. In that regard, electronic procurement should contribute to the better use of Union funds and enhance access to contracts for all economic operators. All Union institutions conducting public procurement should publish clear rules on their websites regarding acquisition, expenditure and monitoring, as well as all contracts awarded, including their value.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0282(COD)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Anders VISTISEN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Barbara SPINELLI, Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 113

(113) A contracting authority should be able to cancel a procurement procedure before the contract is signed, including on grounds of suspicion of conflict of interest, revolving doors or grave professional misconduct, without the candidates or tenderers being entitled to claim compensation. This should be without prejudice to situations where the contracting authority has acted in such a way that it may be held liable for damages in accordance with the general principles of Union law.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0282(COD)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Barbara SPINELLI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 131 – paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. In order to have an efficient early detection and exclusion system, clear rules shall be put in place for a real protection of whistle-blowers. Regular reports on whistle-blowers cases handled and finalised shall be published by relevant bodies.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0282(COD)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Anders VISTISEN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Article 165 – paragraph 1

The contracting authority may, before the contract is signed, cancel the procurement procedure, including on grounds of suspicion of conflict of interest, revolving doors or grave professional misconduct, without the candidates or tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0282(COD)

Waldemar TOMASZEWSKI, Anders VISTISEN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Patricija ŠULIN, Barbara SPINELLI, Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Article 183 – paragraph 2

2. All grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 36. In addition, all Union institutions conducting public procurement shall publish on their websites clear rules regarding acquisition, expenditure and monitoring, as well as all contracts awarded, including their value.

2017/03/21
Committee: LIBE

2016/0275(COD)

Pina PICIERNO, Patricija ŠULIN, Fulvio MARTUSCIELLO

Proposal for a decision
Recital 17

(17) The list of eligible regions and countries and potentially eligible regions and countries should be modified in order to exclude high income countries with high credit rating (Brunei, Iceland, ~~Israel,~~ Singapore, Chile and South Korea)~~. In addition, Iran is to be added to the list of poten~~, except for countries where the EIB is involved in projects contributing to economic and political~~ly eligible regions and countrie~~ stability with their regions.

2017/03/07
Committee: BUDG

2016/0152(COD)

Herbert DORFMANN, Kinga GÁL, Nils TORVALDS, Josep-Maria TERRICABRAS, Andrejs MAMIKINS, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA, Csaba SÓGOR, Jill EVANS, Ian HUDGHTON, Ádám KÓSA, Andor DELI, Agnieszka KOZŁOWSKA, László TŐKÉS, Patricija ŠULIN, Julia REDA

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 3

3. This Regulation does not apply to the activities referred to in Article 2(2) of Directive 2006/123/EC with the exception of point (g) in Article 2(2) of Directive 2006/123/EC.

2017/02/16
Committee: IMCO

2016/0152(COD)

Herbert DORFMANN, Kinga GÁL, Nils TORVALDS, Patricija ŠULIN, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA, Csaba SÓGOR, Agnieszka KOZŁOWSKA, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Ádám KÓSA, József NAGY, Andrejs MAMIKINS, Ildikó GÁLL-PELCZ, Andor DELI, Ian HUDGHTON, Jill EVANS, Josep-Maria TERRICABRAS, László TŐKÉS, Pascal ARIMONT

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)

(ba) receive electronically supplied services, the main feature of which is the provision of access to and use of copyright-protected works or other protected subject matter, in respect of which the trader has the requisite rights for the territory from which the consumer seeks to receive such services;

2017/02/16
Committee: IMCO

2015/2344(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Observes that the European Economic and Monetary Union lacks the fiscal or budgetary adjustment mechanism required in order to absorb asymmetric shocks, as the crisis has demonstrated that self-corrective market forces alone cannot be relied on to prevent Member States from becoming over- indebted;

2016/06/07
Committee: CONT

2015/2328(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016, in particular Articles 20 to 24 on ex-post evaluation of existing legislation;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2015/2328(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Although the findings of the report on the implementation of the Regulation lead to the conclusion that the programme is needed, the basis for further action, both in terms of the amount of funds and the form of the programme, must be an evaluation of existing legislation as set out in the Interinstitutional Agreement between Parliament, the Council and the Commission on Better Law-Making;

2016/11/14
Committee: BUDG

2015/2163(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European External Action Service for the financial year 2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European External Action Service for the financial year 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2163(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Takes note of the new organisational chart and the corresponding rationalisation of a formerly top-heavy management structure in favour of fewer hierarchical layers; nevertheless notes with regret that the internal administrative and financial framework of the EEAS is still overly complex and rigid; observes that the current structure does not allow the institution to react on crisis in a timely manner, similarly the access to crucial information is lengthy; calls on the institution to prepare in cooperation with the Commission, Council and Member States a further reform in order to streamline its internal processes and simplify its structure;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2163(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a. Urges the EEAS to establish closer cooperation, coordination and synergies of activities between the Union delegations and Member States´ Embassies abroad;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2163(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. ~~Encoura~~Is concerned about efficiency and efforts of work of the Union delegations abroad; urges the EEAS to regularly pursue its evaluation programme of ~~Union~~the delegations and to provide in its annual activity report a synthesis of the main weaknesses and difficulties encountered in the functioning of the Union delegations on the basis of the action plan established for each delegation as a result of the evaluation mission;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2163(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36 a. Observes with regret that the EEAS is still missing an overarching strategy and vision for the institution which makes it difficult to react rapidly on unexpected events in the fast developing world; calls on the EEAS to clarify its vision for the future in order to give a direction to its otherwise weakly implemented mission and to provide a high-quality support to the EU institutions and Member States in pursuing foreign policy; in this regard calls on the EEAS to develop expertise on global issues such as climate change or energy security;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the European Ombudsman discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Ombudsman for the financial year ~~2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the European Ombudsman discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Ombudsman for the financial year~~ 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Welcomes that in line with the Strategy Towards 2019 the Ombudsman pursued Own Initiative Inquiries, taking up a more systematic and systemic approach towards complex issues falling within its mandate; considers this to be an effective tool; asks the Ombudsman to regularly inform the discharge authority about the impact of the inquiries;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Not~~Welcomes the creation of a new post designated as "own-initiative inquiry coordinator"; ~~finds the justification for that creation general and vague; invites the Ombudsman to indicate whether this is part of a broader structuring and to identify the coordinator's tasks~~considers it to be a step towards more efficient work of the institution; invites the Ombudsman to report to the discharge authority on the performance, impact and efficacy of this post;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Points out that the structure and organisation of the Ombudsman's office described in its annual activity report (AAR) does not correspond to the organigram displayed in its website; asks the Ombudsman to clarify how is the office currently organised;deleted

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Notes with concern that more than half of the targets set by the Ombudsman to assess its performance through key performance indicators were not reached; notes that the failure crosses all subject matters; expects the Ombudsman to correct those weaknesses in next year's exercisethat the Strategy Towards 2019 brings new Key Performance Indicators with very specific targets; understands from the KPI Scoreboard that some of the targets have not been reached; in this regard notes that the Ombudsman scored lower in terms of the proportion of inquiries closed within 12 and 18 months and furthermore in the proportion of cases in which the admissibility decision is taken within one month; encourages the Ombudsman to develop a strategy towards mitigation of any potential weaknesses and to inform the discharge authority on the development;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Welcomes the fact that the number of inquiries closed in relation to the number of ongoing inquiries at the end of the previous exercise reached the highest ever level (1,4, with a target of 1,1); stresses ~~however~~ that the proportion of inquiries closed within 12 and 18 months decreased in 2014; notes from the Ombudsman that the new strategy including the Own Initiative Inquiries had impact on the number of the cases closed;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Notes from the KPI Scoreboard that the level of satisfaction of the Ombudsman´s staff was lower than targeted; notes from the Ombudsman that this was mainly related to crucial changes in the institution and has since been remedied by number of measures; calls on the Ombudsman to continue in ensuring a high level of staff satisfaction;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Welcomes the well-structured, clear and reader-friendly AAR presented by the Ombudsman; welcomes the intensified external communication strategy and stronger presence on social media;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

~~12. Expects the Ombudsman to continue to strive for consistency in the AAR and to make it fully comprehensive, as it is an important tool for the assessment of its work;~~deleted

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

~~15. Points out that the annual report on the activities of the Ombudsman in 2014 is scheduled for adoption by Parliament on 24 February 2016.~~deleted

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2161(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Takes note of the Ombudsman´s calculations with regard to potential savings of EUR 195 000 should there be only one seat of the institution; takes into account that the seat of the Ombudsman is tied with the seat of the Parliament and therefore deems it necessary that the Ombudsman is included in any debate on centralisation of the Parliament´s seat; stresses that such centralization should be actively promoted;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2160(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Committee of the Regions for the financial year 2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary- General of the Committee of the Regions discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Committee of the Regions for the financial year 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2160(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Notes the increased use of videoconferencing by the Committee; regrets however the delay in developing portable videoconferencing facilities and asks for such facilities to be further developed; takes note from the Committee that the videoconferencing tool has been used in the meetings where no interpretation is needed; encourages the Committee to use the language training effectively in order to ensure that less interpretation is needed and thus the work of the institution is more effective and efficient; calls on the Committee to update the discharge authority in this regard by the end of June 2016;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2159(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Economic and Social Committee for the financial year 2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Economic and Social Committee for the financial year 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2159(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Takes into account that the number of meetings using the videoconferencing tool has doubled in comparison to the previous year; takes note from the EESC that the videoconferencing tool has been used in the meetings where no interpretation is needed; encourages the EESC to use the language training effectively in order to ensure that less interpretation is needed and thus the work of the institution is more efficient;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2159(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15b. Notes with concern that total reimbursement of travelling expenses and allowances paid to the EESC beneficiaries amounted to EUR 17 375 864; urges the institution to develop a systematic strategy to reduce these expenses substantially;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Secretary-General of the Court of Auditors discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Auditors for the financial year ~~2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the Court of Auditors discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Auditors for the financial year~~ 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Takes note of~~Welcomes the Court’'s reform project started in late 2014 aiming ato streamlineing of the audit process ~~and~~, transformation of the Court into a task-based organisation~~; is of the opinion that both projects need to be assessed during and af~~ and expanding the focus of the staff; inviters the Court~~'s strategy 2013-2017 to ensure that the objectives of the reform were achieved~~ to inform the discharge authority on the objectives achieved and identified impact with regard to this reform;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Takes note from the Court that the year 2014 set a record in the output delivered by the institution; welcomes new features such as the landscape review;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Calls on the Court to ensure, along with merit and expertise, the geographical balance of staff, in particular in management and directorial posts;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Takes note of the Court's first steps towards a paperless environment; supports the Court in its objectives but expects Parliament’'s Committee on Budgetary Control to continue to receive a few paper copies of the Court's reports; endorses the environmental strategy implemented by the Court up until now including its focus on reducing the energy consumption, higher utility of video-conferencing, installation of rain water recovery system, promoting of sustainable mobility and others;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2158(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a. Calls on the Member States to consider the financial impact of having a Member representative of the Court from every Member State and to reconsider whether a rotation system might not be more cost-efficient;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2157(DEC)

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Justice for the financial year ~~2014 / Postpones its decision on granting the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Justice for the financial year~~ 2014;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2157(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. RNotes that the Court of Justice has 75 official vehicles in its fleet at cost of 1 168 251 EUR; notes that the drivers´ salaries amounted to 2 434 599 EUR in 2014; considers this to be a critically high expense which is in contradiction with the overall trend in the Union institutions to limit the usage of official vehicles; reiterates its call on the Court of Justice to reduce the number of official cars at the disposal of its Members and staff; stresses that the cost of the extended private services provided by drivers is borne by Union taxpayers; recommends the Court to examine these matters in an interinstitutional context; urges the Court to actively promote green mobility;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2157(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Is concerned that the internal whistle- blowing rules are still not adopted; ~~calls on~~urges the Court of Justice to implement these without further delay in 2016.

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Calls on the Council to ~~inform Parliament whether it has adopted - or foresees the adoption of - a code of conduct~~adopt a code of conduct as soon as possible in order to ensure the integrity of the institution; reiterates its call on the Council to implement whistleblowing rules without further delay;

2016/09/06
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Calls on the Council to join the Union transparency register to ensure transparency and accountability of the institution;

2016/09/06
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11b. Reiterates its call on the Council to develop detailed anti-corruption guidelines and independent policies within its structures, as well as its call with regard to systematic increase of transparency of the legislative procedures and negotiations;

2016/09/06
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. ~~Believes that it is necessary to consider different possibilities to update the rules on granting discharge laid down~~Takes the stance that this constitutes a serious failure to comply with the obligations laid down by the Treaties and believes that the relevant stakeholders need to take the necessary steps to address this issue without further delay; stresses that a revision of the Treaties and of the Financial Regulations is needed in order to clarify the objectives and processes of the discharge procedure, and to define sanctions for failing to comply with the rules as stated in the T~~FEU~~reaties;

2016/09/06
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Notes with concern that there are no integrity rules, conflict of interest declarations and detailed biographical information for the President of the European Council and his Cabinet members; further notes that there are no common integrity rules for national representatives in the Council; calls on the Council to put in place measures that will remedy the situation and to report on this to the discharge authority;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)

14 b. Calls on the Council to develop detailed anti-corruption guidelines and independent policies within its structures;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)

14 c. Notes with concern that there is a worrying lack of transparency with regard to legislative process, negotiations, Member States´ positions and meetings; urges the Council to disclose relevant documents and to put in place clear reporting system that will enable the public to follow the legislative procedures in an open and transparent manner;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)

14 d. Is concerned by the lack of transparency of the trialogues and conciliation meetings; calls on the Council to systematically increase transparency and integrity with regard to the negotiations;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2156(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)

22 a. Calls on the Commission to amend the Financial Regulations in order to clarify the objectives of the discharge procedure and to clearly define sanctions for not respecting the regulations; highlights that this should be done in order to hold the European institutions accountable with the aim to protect the financial interests of the Union´s citizens; stresses that there should be no exceptions;

2016/03/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes with concern that, as price levels have risen, this has led to unjustified disadvantageous pricing, especially for assistants, interns and visitors; stresses that the increases mean that prices in Parliament are now practically equivalent to the ones in the surrounding restaurants and bars; moreover notes with concern that while the price has risen, the quality of the food decreased notably;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Notes that after considerable delay, internal whistleblowing rules have been adopted and are in force since January 2016; expresses concern at the protection afforded to whistleblowers and calls on Parliament to ensure that their rights are fully upheld; notes with concern that the accredited parliamentary assistants, representing a large group of potential whistleblowers, are not adequately covered by the new rules; calls on the Secretary General to remedy this issue as a matter of urgency;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that it was difficult to differentiate fully the President's political activities from his preparation as "Spitzenkandidat" to head the Party of European Socialists in the 2014 European elections; considers that an unequivocal distinction has not been made between the two roles; calls for a clear segregation of office holders' functions and candidates for European election campaigns; regrets the at least indirect use of Parliament staff to help prepare the campaign; regrets in this regard that the President transformed the Twitter profile of the European Parliament Presidency into his personal profile and used it in the campaign;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. ~~Regret~~Notes that the budget line for the provision of drinking water in meeting rooms will expire in July 2016; regards the availability of mineral water during long meetings as appropriate, both in summer and winter; criticises the excessive savings in service provision (such as paper, coffee, drinking water, canteens); calls for a rethinking of the saving targets for the committee weeks of the Parliament that doesn't harm its working environmentcalls on the Parliament´s administration to find a more effective way to ensure the provision of drinking water during long meetings and to do so in line with a general trend pursued in other Union bodies that would be more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly; suggests to proceed as in the case of coffee and to provide large water barrels with paper cups that would sufficiently supply meeting rooms with water and would serve as a more effective solution compared to the plastic bottles used until now;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)

28a. Notes that MEPs still use in big proportions official cars with drivers that are at their disposal; calls on the administration to provide MEPs with other options that would be in line with the trend of green mobility; calls on the administration to promote more actively the green mobility amongst all the staff of Parliament;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Supports the need for more transparency as regards the GEA; urges the Bureau to revise the list of expenses which may be defrayed from the GEA and to revise the rules applying to GEA in order to make them more strict; calls on bigger scrutiny and control with regard to spending of the GEA;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65

65. Notes that the average number of hours per week that staff interpreters spent in their booths in 2014 delivering interpretation services was 10,7 hours/week; notes however that the hours in the booth represent only a part of the interpreters´ job; calls on the DG INTE to take into account the peaks and troughs of Parliament´s calendar when considering the interpreters´ workload;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 c (new)

65c. Regrets that the interpreters are considered unproductive in the event of late cancellations of meetings they were assigned to and due to the fact that sick leaves under 30 consecutive days and annual leave are counted when compiling the statistical data on productivity of the interpreters;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 e (new)

65e. Notes with concern that the calculation method with regard to statistics has not been clarified and calls on the administration to better communicate its processes on the relevant representatives of the interpreters;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66

66. Reiterates the importance of multilingualism for the democratic legitimacy of the institution; ~~welcom~~notes the fact that as a result of the resource-efficient multilingualism policy adopted by the Bureau in 2011 and of subsequent organisational reforms, significant savings have been achieved in interpretation; however notes with concern that this had a significant negative impact on the work conditions of the interpreters;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)

66a. Regrets the worsening work conditions of the interpreters; stresses that high quality interpreting is crucial for the smooth running of Parliament and therefore calls on the administration to ensure better work conditions for the interpreters; urges the administration to commence an open dialogue with the relevant representatives of the interpreters on a possible solution for this issue;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67

67. Insists that large efficiency gains are still possible in the supply of interpretation, notably by enhancing the efficiency of a service currently hampered by rules dating from 2005 that are no longer compatible with the current meeting patterns of the institution; nevertheless stresses that this should be done in close cooperation with the interpreters´ representatives in order to ensure maximal effectiveness;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68

68. Calls upon the secretary general to modernise the framework for the management of interpretation, with a view to increasing individual productivity and to bringing the working practices of interpreters into line with the changed needs of the house; urges the Secretary- General to modernise the software dedicated to programming in order to address this issue;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 a (new)

69a. Observes that business class is booked automatically for Members when travelling between their constituencies and places of mission; calls on the agency to do so only on request; calls on the Parliament´s administration to actively promote travelling in economy class;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 e (new)

69e. Welcomes the new, stricter rules applying to local assistants and service providers; notes that some of the points of the new rules remain vague and are a source of misinterpretation; calls on further clarification of these points, especially with regard to side activities of local assistants and service providers; stresses that both groups should be under very strict scrutiny;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 f (new)

69f. Regrets that the Members were not notified in time about the upcoming changes to the Statute for Members regarding parliamentary assistance; is concerned that the relevant departments were not able to handle the workload with regard to new changes and the officers responsible received their training on the new rules only after their implementation; observes that this led to significant delays in processing of contracts and disinformation;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 g (new)

69g. Welcomes the creation of the Members´ e-Portal; considers this to be a cost-efficient and effective tool for review of finances in line with the paperless policy pursued by Parliament; calls on the DG FINS to actively promote its usage amongst all MEPs;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

2015/2104(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

A a. Whereas the EU and its Members States are the UN's largest financial contribution.

2015/09/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2104(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the EU's defence budget is important, and its financial contributions to UN peace missions are considerable.

2015/09/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2104(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Believes that the innovative approaches to financing offer an important way of maximising the availability and impact of development finance, by identifying new financing sources, mechanisms and financial engineering instruments. In particular, innovative approaches to financing can use public financing to help generate new financing flows, help catalyse private investment and market financing, as well as maximising the impact of existing public and private funds.

2015/09/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2104(INI)

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Insist that the future cooperation and framework should encourage and incentivise the further exploration and implementation of innovative sources, mechanisms and instruments by all relevant stakeholders, in close cooperation with multilateral banks and other donors, and ensure that these new financing sources fully comply with the principles of transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

2015/09/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2104(INI)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Barbara MATERA, Patricija ŠULIN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Underlines that the EU supports the notion that the United Nations must be 'fit for purpose' as well as increasingly more effective and efficient. Emerging and growing challenges impel new functions for the UN, which will in turn require a rethink of governance and funding modalities. It will continue to be an EU priority to ensure the sound management of UN financial resources and staff, including in the negotiations of the next UN regular budget and UN peacekeeping budgets.

2015/09/04
Committee: CONT

2015/2062(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Expresses its concern about prison conditions in certain Member States, particularly in Greece, France, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia and Romania; calls on Member States to comply with the rules on detention derived from the instruments of international law and Council of Europe standards;

2017/05/10
Committee: LIBE

2015/2062(INI)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Barbara MATERA, Patricija ŠULIN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that increasing prisons’ capacity is not the sole solution to overcrowding, as the prison population tends to rise at the same rate as prison capacity; calls nonetheless on Member States to allocate appropriate resources to refurbishment and modernisation of prisons in order to protect the rights of prisoners and to lay down their obligations; recalls that the Commission recently mentioned the possibility of drawing on the Structural Funds of the European Union;

2017/05/10
Committee: LIBE

2015/2062(INI)

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Barbara MATERA, Patricija ŠULIN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Recalls that ~~considera~~financial and social recognition ofor and systematic training of prison staff is essential in order to ensure good detention conditions in prison, and encourages Member States to share information and good practices; to this end, calls for a General Assembly of Prison Administrations to be convened;

2017/05/10
Committee: LIBE

2015/0093(COD)

Marijana PETIR, Norbert ERDŐS, Ivana MALETIĆ, Romana TOMC, Andrej PLENKOVIĆ, Alojz PETERLE, Patricija ŠULIN, Milan ZVER

Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Commission, within six months after the adoption of the decision of the European Parliament on this proposal, to submit a legislative proposal which would allow Member States to independently restrict or prohibit the use of genetically modified food and feed on their territory;

2015/09/18
Committee: ENVI

2015/0009(COD)

Siegfried MUREŞAN, Patricija ŠULIN

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10

(10) The purpose of the EFSI should be to help resolve the difficulties in financing and implementing productive investments in the Union and to ensure increased access to financing. It is intended that increased access to financing should be of particular benefit to small and medium enterprises. It is also appropriate to extend the benefit of such increased access to financing to mid- cap companies, which are companies having up to 3000 employees. Overcoming Europe's current investment difficulties and reducing regional disparities should contribute to strengthening the Union's economic, social and territorial cohesion.

2015/03/19
Committee: BUDG ECON

2015/0009(COD)

Siegfried MUREŞAN, Patricija ŠULIN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. The EFSI shall target projects with a higher risk profile than existing EIB and Union instruments so as to ensure additionality over existing normal operations. The EFSI shall support projects which fulfil the following criteria: a) the pursuit of the Union objective of smart, sustainable, long-term, cohesive and inclusive growth and having high societal and economic value, the highest possible positive impact on quality job creation, and EU added value; b) a focus on operations that could not have been carried out using the Union budget or by the normal activity of the EIB, nor financed by the market; c) be viable from an economic perspective, according to a comprehensive assessment in which not only the project itself but also its overall impact on the economy and its ability to trigger subsequent investments, such as from the private sector, is to be carried out; d) would not have received financing from any other existing Union fund due to a non-availability of the required financing in the market; e) has a higher risk profile than projects normally supported under existing EIB activity, taking account of the fact that real additionality can only be ensured when financial resources are concentrated on projects not financed otherwise; the design of the appropriate measures is to be elaborated under the procedures of Article 3(1);

2015/03/25
Committee: BUDG ECON

2014/2254(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union obliges the Union to "respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity",

2015/05/18
Committee: LIBE

2014/2254(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)

Gb. whereas fundamental freedoms, human rights and equal opportunities shall be provided for all citizens of the European Union including persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities;

2015/05/18
Committee: LIBE

Henna VIRKKUNEN, Wim van de CAMP, Georges BACH, Patricija ŠULIN, Ivo BELET, Cláudia MONTEIRO DE AGUIAR, Renaud MUSELIER, Markus PIEPER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Strongly supports research and innovation on behavioural changes in the area of vehicle ownership which result in a move towards sharing models; encourages the Commission to intensify its efforts to develop and support transport systems involving collective and public forms of mobility;deleted

2015/06/08
Committee: TRAN

2014/0180(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 3

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012
Article 108 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point b

~~(b) five years for the case referred to in point (d) of Article 106(1);~~deleted

2015/01/20
Committee: CONT

2014/0180(COD)