Activities of Mikuláš PEKSA related to 2019/2064(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018, Section X – European External Action Service
Amendments (19)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes with appreciation the simplification of budget management with the entire financing of the common overhead costs relating to all delegations’ offices in 2018, (rent, security, cleaning and other overheads), including European Development Fund delegations, from the budget lines of the EEAS for the third consecutive year; supports the EEAS efforts to modernise and simplify its administration through the “Innovative 2019” project, which includes 20 proposals under examination; asks the EEAS to report back to the Budgetary Control Committee on the proposals under examination;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Observes that gender and geographic balance should also be respected with regard to the EU special representatives, two out of eight EU special representatives being women; considers also that ethical standards have to be taken into account to avoid potential conflicts of interests; supports the EEAS’ preparation of a decision on ethics, taking the specificities of work in delegation into account;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Highlights the same situation in the staff overall distribution by gender in management posts, while noting an slight improvement in 2018 with 27,1 % compared to 24,5 % in 2017, representing 71 women, i.e. 60 out of 211 positions at middle management positions (or 28,4 % compared to 26 % in 2017) and 11 out of 51 senior management posts (or 21,57 % compared to 18 % in 2017);
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Observes that the number of seconded national experts (SNE) from Member States has been stabilised to 449 with the same number as 2017 and following a regular increase since 2011; notes that 87,31 % of seconded national experts are posted at EEAS headquarters with the rationale that they reply to very specialised needs within the EEAS structure; recalls that SNE should not exceed a certain proportion of the overall staff of the EEAS in order to preserve a strong and sustainable team spirit and asks the EEAS again to set such a threshold; calls on also the EEAS to pay particular attention to the potential issue of conflict of interest in its recruitment policy for seconded national experts; is of the opinion that additional budget is necessary to replace SNEs with staff in order to ensure a high-level of independence;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35a. Recalls the importance of cooling- off periods for officials formerly employed by the Union institutions or agencies as unaddressed conflict-of-interest situations may compromise the enforcement of high ethical standards throughout the European administration; underlines that Article 16 enables Union institutions and agencies, including the EEAS, to turn down a former official’s request to take a specific job if restrictions are not sufficient to protect the legitimate interests of the institutions; fears that it is often not possible to enforce conditions imposed upon post-public employment activities; encourages the EEAS, all other agencies and Union institutions, therefore, to consider the full range of tools made available under Article 16 of the Staff Regulations, in particular when they are notified of a transfer to an organisation or company which has registered in the transparency register in order to exclude any risk of former officials lobbying the Union institutions within two years after their termination of office; stresses that, for example, in the case of former EEAS official Mr Gerhard Sabathil leaving directly to the lobby firm EUTOP, prohibition of a direct move to EUTOP might have been considered under Article 21(3)(b) of Commission Decision C(2018)4048, in that EUTOP can be seen as an ‘opposing party’ or representing opposing party’s interests; further calls on all institutions and agencies, including the EEAS, to strictly publish their assessment of each case as required under Article 16 of the Staff Regulations;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Paragraph 35 b (new)
35b. Considers the further pooling of experience in enforcement and supervision of Article 16 of the Staff Regulations and related ethics rules across all Union institutions necessary; welcomes the commitment of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a Union ethics body common to the Union institutions;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 b (new)
Paragraph 38 b (new)
38b. Welcomes the progress made on reducing the number of delegations exceeding the maximum space of 35 m2 per person, following the Court's recommendation in order to make the best use of EEAS premises and avoid unnecessary spending;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Reiterates that the Union took a step towards fair remuneration for all within its institutions; stresses that the EEAS should ensure its trainees in headquarters and in delegations to receive a decent remuneration infor all types of internships (Blue Book, Bruges and Other); welcomes the implementation of paid traineeships in delegations and the termination of offering unpaid traineeships on the Ombudsman’s recommendations; notes that the number of trainees in delegations have more than quadrupled, from 26 in 2017 to 109 in 2018; however, regrets that out of the total 404 traineeships offered by the EEAS in 2018, 126 were not remunerated, as they were part of a compulsory training for students; calls on the EEAS to guarantee an appropriate allowance to all EEAS trainees in order to avoid the reinforcement of discrimination on economic grounds;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Notes with concern the 135 mediation cases treated in 2018 concerning delegations and headquarters; calls on the EEAS, in particular the mediation service now reporting directly to the secretariat general, to continue giving the highest priority to this issue in the resource management; reiterates the importance of developing a culture of zero tolerance towards harassment with a strict following up on reported cases; welcomes the anti- harassment awareness raising initiative launched in 2018 by the EEAS Secretary General with the aim of providing more information on the EEAS anti- harassment policy;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Invites also, in this context, the EEAS to extend the network of confidential counsellors, currently representing 6 people, especially in the network of delegations by possibly increasing the number of trained volunteer counsellors in delegations; encourages the EEAS to foster the social dialogue regardless the origin of the staff and the different status of the staff;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Observes that the EEAS, after having updated its administrative arrangement with the European Anti-Fraud Office and reinforced its cooperation on fraud related issues with directorates- general acting in external affairs, such as Directorate-General for Foreign Policy Instruments (DG FPI), Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) in 2017, has continued its efforts to refine its anti-fraud strategy; stresses that further cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office and Commission (the directorates-general acting in external affairs, such as DG FPI, DG NEAR and DG DEVCO) should be implemented; notes with appreciation the awareness raising of the heads of delegation in agreement with DG DEVCO an DG NEAR on fraud prevention and reporting via its internal control principle ‘Prevention of fraud’; welcomes the fact that the EEAS is a member of the Fraud and Detection Network chaired by OLAF;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 a (new)
Paragraph 45 a (new)
45a. Notes that in 2018 there was one reported case of alleged whistleblowing by an external person against a staff member of the Commission in an EU delegation; asks the EEAS to provide the Parliament with information concerning the policy and procedures it has in place, especially in delegations, when facing a case of whistleblowing;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 b (new)
Paragraph 45 b (new)
45b. Supports the EEAS efforts to improve transparency by promoting and improving the e-EEAS Register, through which citizens can request access to documents; notes with satisfaction that citizens used the e-EEAS Register on a higher frequency compared to 2017;asks the EEAS to ensure a quick response to citizens 'requests;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49a. Welcomes the creation of the Rapid Alert System, set up among the EU institutions and Member States to facilitate the sharing of best practises related to disinformation campaigns and coordinate responses based on open- source information provided by academia, fact-checkers, online platforms and international partners; encourages the EEAS to develop a long-term vision for the Rapid Alert System and foster coordination with Members States and other key partners; further, encourages the EEAS to promote the EU vs Disinfo.eu website, which contains over5,000 disinformation cases but generated only 1.2 million page views in 2018;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Supports the EEAS’s efforts in order to reinforce the all range of physical and IT security issues from the staff and buildings security with the purchasing of new security equipment, to the training of regional security officers to preserve the EEAS’s security interests and provide further security know-how by implementing a formal security risk management policy as well as the cybersecurity challengeand cybersecurity policy; particularly welcomes the launch of the Security Awareness Programme to reduce risks in the headquarters, based on2018 staff survey, and the Security Risk Management system in the delegations to standardise the reporting of local security threats, including risks regarding health and safety;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50a. Recognises the added value that Free and Open Source Software can bring to the EEAS; underlines in particular their role in increasing transparency and avoiding vendor lock-in effects; recognises also their potential for security improvements as they permit to identify and fix the weaknesses; strongly recommends any software developed for the institution to be made publicly available under free and open-source software licence;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Welcomes new initiatives to improve the communication in relation with Union citizens concerning the importance of public diplomacy and strategic communications as an integral aspect of the Union's external relations; encourages the EEAS to invest in digital communications, through social media and its websites; commends that the EEAS starteds engaging multipliers to running Europe- wide public campaigns.-awareness campaigns; further encourages the use of free open-source self-hosted social network platforms having special regards to users data protection;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52a. Regrets that the EEAS does not yet have an Environmental Management System; notes that efforts were made to promote the use of video conference; however asks the EEAS to put in place a concrete action plan in order to lower its environmental footprint its headquarter and delegations;