Activities of Saskia BRICMONT related to 2021/2140(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) for the financial year 2020
Amendments (6)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges that the Court issued a qualified audit opinion with respect to the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts of the Agency for the 2020; notes the Court’s explanation that the qualified opinion was issued in relation to two payments that were considered not compliant to the provisions of framework contracts, amounting in total to EUR 10 405 074 in 2020, representing 4,1 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2020; stresses that once of the payments that contravenes the provisions of the framework contract is related to an order form for maintenance services covering a period of four years signed by the Agency, whereas the contract framework only allowed services to be invoiced in advance for one year; takes note of the Agency’s reply that the largest irregular payment was connected to an administrative omission regarding the acquisition of software different from the software offered by the contractor in the tender for the associated framework contract; notes the Agency’s explanation that the needits intention was to change one of the auxiliary software products used in the operation of the shared biometric matching System (sBMS) was of a pureand was thus of an operational nature, with the purpose of reducing the duplication of training and support efforts, ultimately reducing the overall operational costs for the Agency; stresses the importance of compliance with framework contracts to avoid reputational risks and considers that any suggestion to reduce the overall operational costs of the Agency should be planned in advance; underlines that following the issuance of the Court’s observation, the Agency responded promptly, signing an amendment to the framework contract in order to rectify the initial omission; points out that shortcomings in dedicated administrative positions may have a negative impact on the functioning of the procurement procedures within the Agency; invites the Commission and the Agency to engage in an active dialogue on improving the Agency’s establishment plan, especially with respect to the level at which posts are allocated;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Regrets that several of the Court's observations previous years are still outstanding; calls on the Agency to step up its efforts to implement corrective measures regarding the Court’s outstanding observations;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the significant decrease in carry- overs as compared to the Agency’s very low budget implementation in 2019 (55 % of appropriations in the final adopted budget); regrets that, according to the Court, the excessive amount of carry-overs is indicative of various structural issues affecting compliance with Articles 9, 12 and 28 of the Agency's financial rules; further regrets that the rate of carry-overs remain substantial compared to the total budget, especially with regards to Title II (59,4 %) and Title III (23 %); calls on the Agency to further ensure the respect of the principle of annuality;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomNotes that despite the COVID- 19 pandemic, the Agency ensured the uninterrupted availability of the existing large-scale IT systems (SIS, VIS, Eurodac) and made further progress with the implementation of EES, ETIAS and the interoperability package;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the Agency to take measures to ensure full compliance with Union transparency rules as well as with fundamental rights and data protection standards; considers that the disclosure of meetings and interactions between the Agency and third parties is required to ensure enhanced transparency;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Regrets the lack of gender balance and diversity in the Management board and within the staff of the Agency;