Activities of Saskia BRICMONT related to 2023/2172(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency for the financial year 2022
Amendments (16)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes that serious problems affecting Frontex’ internal oversight mechanisms, and the Agency’s serious shortcomings regarding fundamental rights protection of asylum seekers and migrants, transparency, data protection, alleged sexual harassment and maladministration within Frontex, led the Parliament to refuse discharge of the Agency’s 2020 budget;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Calls on the Agency to fully implement, as a matter of priority, all pending recommendations from European audit and scrutiny bodies, in particular those of the European Parliament’s Frontex Scrutiny Working Group, the European Ombudsman, the European Court of Auditors and the Frontex’s Working Group Fundamental Rights and Legal Operational Aspects of Operations (WG FRaLO) as well as all the actions required extracted from the European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) report following its relevant investigation, and remedy all the issues highlighted therein;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Notes that the FRO has concluded in his opinion of 1 September 2022 that “well-founded allegations of fundamental rights violations in Greece have reached the level at which the conditions for triggering Article 46(4) of the EBCG regulation are met”, reiterating this position in June 2023 when he concluded that the conditions triggering Article 46 are fully met and advocated a suspension of activities; urges the Executive Director to start complying with the Frontex Regulation by suspending operations in Greece without further delay; takes note of the own-initiative inquiry by the EU Ombudsman to clarify the role of the Agency in the drowning of hundreds of people off the coast of Greece on 14 June;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Takes note of CJEU judgements related to the fundamental rights situation in both Lithuania and Hungary; urges the Agency to suspend operations in both countries without further delay to ensure full compliance with Union law;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Urges the Commission to conduct fundamental rights impact assessments prior to concluding the negotiations for a Status Agreement with a third country in order to be able to fully consider the fundamental rights impact of cooperating with that country; calls on the Agency to share periodical evaluations of joint operations in third countries and continuously assess the impact and scope of active operations, including on fundamental rights;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1 f. Notes the Court's emphasis on matters related to related to the Agency inability to validate its accounting system for the second year in a row and its incorrect calculation of the contributions from Schengen associated countries;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Appreciates the Frontex’s prompt response and support provided to Member States to deal with the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine particularly the vital role of Frontex against the instrumentalisation of migrants by the Belarussian and Russian regimes; welcomes the deployment of about 500 standing corps officers working along the eastern border from Finland to Romania, including more than 350 officers working at the EU- Ukraine borders and the signature of a grant agreement worth EUR 12 million between Frontex and the State Border Guard Service to support Ukrainian border officers in performing their duties;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that Frontex is the largest EU agency which received more significant budget increases in the last years, in line with its new responsibilities; recalls that EU contributed EUR 788 million in 2023 in comparison to EUR 704 million in 2022; recalls that Frontex has been strengthenincreased in terms of staff and technical equipment with its new mandate in 2019; notstresses that in view of the complex geopolitical situation highlighted by unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine, the importance of Frontex in supporting Member States increased significantly and efforts must continue in terms of human and material resourcesFrontex is by large the agency that received more significant budget increases in the last years; recalls that the Agency budget has skyrocketed from €118 million in 2011 to €1017 million in 2021, and to an annual average of €900 million for the 2021-2027 period; stresses that such increases in responsibility and budget for the Agency need to be accompanied by a corresponding increase in accountability and transparency, and an increased scrutiny of the Agency's respect for to Union law;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Considers that the second OLAF investigation into management practices at the Agency which is underway, only nine months after the first OLAF investigation was closed, demonstrates the need for change in the culture of the Agency;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes that Frontex implemented 99,4% of its 2022 budget demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of internal controls put in place and the significant improvements made in the budget management; notes however that many observations from previous years from the Court have not been solved yet including on high levels of carry-overs and cancellations, as well as delays in the payments process which are, according to the Agency, a serious deficiency in Frontex's internal controls;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomNotes that in 2022 the Frontex went through significant managerial changes, including a new fundamentaover the course of the last two years the Agency has seen significant managerial changes and expects that the change in management will brights officer (FRO), a new chair of its Management Board, three new deputy executive directors and a new executive director; further welcomes steps taken by Frontex to undergo a transition process and to improveng about the necessary change in culture with regard to respect for the Union’s principles and values, most notably fundamental rights, to transparency and efficiency in internal procedures, and to increased accountability towards the Parliament and Council in accordance with the applicable legal framework; calls upon the new leadership to undertake the reforms that are needed and the mManagement culture and promote staff well-beingBoard to evaluate how it can step up its involvement and scrutiny of the running of the Agency;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Expresses disappointment that one of the candidates proposed for the post of Executive-Director of the Agency was - during the appointment procedure, and unknown to Members of Parliament - a person of interest in the second ongoing OLAF investigation; takes the view that this failure constitutes a breach of the principle of mutual and sincere cooperation which governs relationships between institutions, agencies, bodies and offices of the Union;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes with satisfaction that in order to improve accountability, regularity, and legality of all FroAcknowledges that the Agency finally has 46 fundamental rights monitors (FROMs) in place, despite the significant delay in complying with the requirements of the updated mandate; notes that 31 FROMs have been appointexd activities additional 22t AD level; continues to stress that those Fundamental Rights Mmonitors (FROMs) were externally recruited, exceeding the obligation of 40 FROMs required by Article 110(6) of the Regulationwho were hired at the lower AST grade should be upgraded to higher AD level as soon possible through the appropriate procedures; points out that, based on the Agency’s updated mandate, the number of FROMs should continue to grow as the overall size of the standing corps increases; Looks forward, in that regard, to receiving details of the Agency’s plans to increase the number of Fundamental Rights monitors; welcomes that the Fundamental Rights Office conducted 1 183 deployment days visiting 50 countries which is a substantial increase in comparison to the previous year; further appreciates that the monitors took place in in 37 return missions contributing to the full compliance of the activities with the legal framework in place;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. WEndorses the Ombudsman’s recommendation1a that Frontex should take a more proactive approach to transparency with a view to ensuring greater accountability for its operations; supports the most recent recommendations from the Ombudsman in relation to the practices of the Agency in dealing with requests for access to documents where it considers those requests imprecise or that concern a large amount of document or large documents1b; welcomes Frontex’ measures on transparency and scrutiny, namely providing Parliament and the Council with an overview of its activities through a new reporting tool called the ‘dashboard’; encourages the chairpersons of the Management Board to continue inviting Parliament observers to its meetings and to consider extending the invitations to all agenda items, including in camera points, and to continue providing all supporting documents without exception and, if deemed necessary, in a confidential manner; _________________ 1a Case OI/4/2021/MHZ 1b Case OI/4/2022/PB
Amendment 44 #
7 a. Notes with concern the observation by the Court regarding the lack of mitigating measures to address potential conflict of interest for recruitment; recalls that these weaknesses undermine the principles of transparency and equal treatment of candidates in recruitment procedures, and may expose Frontex to reputational and legal risks; calls on the Agency to address those issues;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Encourages the Agency to step up ongoing efforts and take all actions needed to ensure full respect of EU standards, in particular in the field of budgetary and financial management, fundamental rights, organisational culture and transparency; reiterates its call upon the Agency to present a detailed roadmap on how it intends to fulfil the outstanding concerns, together with a clear and detailed timeframe for those actions;