BETA

Activities of Saskia BRICMONT related to 2021/2144(DEC)

Shadow opinions (1)

OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) for the financial year 2020
2022/02/17
Committee: LIBE
Dossiers: 2021/2144(DEC)
Documents: PDF(135 KB) DOC(71 KB)
Authors: [{'name': 'Ramona STRUGARIU', 'mepid': 134605}]

Amendments (7)

Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
2. Deeply regrets the observation by the Court that the Agency failed to make payments within prescribed terms as laid down in the Financial Regulation; notes with regret that late payments were issued by the Agency in 33% of the cases in 2020 and that EUR 12 000 of interest was incurred as a consequence of those late payments; expresses concern that, according to the Court, similar levels of delays were observed in 2019, 2018 and 2017; notes that the Agency has explained this issue in the context of continued understaffing, affecting infrastructure areas in particular; notes that the Agency is currently taking actions regarding this outstanding observation; calls on the Agency to increase its efforts in this area in order to avoid reputational risk;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
3. NoteRegrets that the Agency ishas not yet addressinged the 2019 Court’s finding relating to the weaknesses in contract management and ex ante controls linked to the fact that the Agency irregularly prolonged again the duration of a framework contract for the provision of business travel services by signing an amendment after the contract had expired; recalls that this was a further amendment signed to the same contract in 2018 and notes that although a new framework contract for business travel services entered in force in 2019, the Agency decided to extend the old contract; takes note of the Agency's commitment to have an internal audit on contract management in 2021 with a view to obtaining additional assurance on its contract management arrangements; calls on the Agency to improvensure the regularity of transactions;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the creation of the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre to support activities of national authorities by providing operational and strategic assistance and the creation of the Europol Innovation Lab;deleted
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
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; strongly regrets that the Agency would carry on meetings and invite firms currently under judicial prosecution and whose activities are deemed illegal by national data protection authorities to its events and conferences;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls on the Agency to ensure gender balance and diversity on the Management board and amongst the staff of the Agency;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Expresses deep concern about the EDPS admonishment of September 2020 on the Agency's “bigdata challenge”, according to which, there was a “high likelihood that Europol continually processes personal data on individuals for whom it is not allowed to do so”, and that this is in breach of the Agency’s regulation; recalls that, according to the order issued by the EDPS as a follow-up action and given the unsatisfactory answer by the Agency, the Agency must delete personal data that cannot be linked to a criminal investigation; recognises the important role of the EDPS in monitoring and ensuring compliance with data protection rules by Union institutions, bodies and agencies such the Agency; regrets that the answer by the Agency to the EDPS admonishment was unsatisfactory and recalls the importance of complying with applicable legislation; notes with concern the allegations that the Agency keeps at least 4 petabytes of personal data, which is equivalent to 3m CD-Roms or a fifth of the entire contents of the US Library of Congress; underlines the concerns raised by data protection advocates regarding the volume of information held on the Agency’s systems, which according to them, amounts to mass surveillance and, therefore, similar practices compared to the US National Security Agency (NSA); urges the Agency to ensure compliance with the EDPS’ order and recommendations;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Recommends the Committee on Budgetary Control to postpone granting the discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2020, until the Agency provides a satisfactory answer to the EDPS regarding the big data challenge and presents the European Parliament with a clear explanation about the facts as well as an action plan to address those concerns;
2022/01/19
Committee: LIBE