Activities of Mikuláš PEKSA related to 2020/2145(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2019, Section VI – European Economic and Social Committee
Amendments (21)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Regrets that the bureau of the Committee in 2020 adopted a decision allowing for the reimbursement of expenses for remote participation in cases where a member was prevented from travelling to Brussels as a result of COVID-19 related issues.; calls on the Committee to withdraw this decision, which is not proportionate to the real cost of participation but does represent a serious cost for the Union budget and damages the reputation of the Committee; asks the Committee to look into new remuneration practices to ensure a fair and proportionate remuneration for members, which is not based mostly on travel expenses and does not rely solely on physical presence of members in Brussels;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Welcomes that the Committee uses free and open source software whenever possible; notes that for 2019 39 open source software applications were included in the inventory of software packages, encourages the Committee to prioritise open source technologies in order to prevent vendor lock-in, retain control over its own technical systems, provide stronger safeguards for the privacy and data protection of the users as well as increase security and transparency for the public;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Encourages the Committee to follow the EDPS recommendations to renegotiate the Inter-Institutional Licensing Agreement and implementation contract, signed between the Union institutions and Microsoft in 2018, with the objective of achieving digital sovereignty, avoid vendor lock-in and lack of control and ensure the protection of personal data;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Asks the Committee to develop a global sustainability plan; congratulates the Committee on the ongoing efforts in the framework of the environmental management system as regards the lowering of the carbon footprint and plastic, food and paper waste; agrees that the reduction of the carbon footprint is among the most important objectives for the coming years; calls on the Committee to pay due attention to the energy mix of its sources of electricity and encourages the procurement of electricity generated by wind, solar, bio and hydroplants; encourages the Committee to participate in related projects with the other Union bodies and to arrive at a comprehensive plan for the Committee to implement the principles and recommendations presented in the European Green Deal, with the general objective of becoming climate neutral by 2030;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Encourages the Committee to explore the possibility of joining the tjoin the Union Transparency rRegistry on the basis of a service level agreement in order to increase transparency of lobby meetings; acknowledges the inter- institutional cooperation through service level agreements between the Committee and other Union institutions and bodies such as with the Commission to further optimise processes in HR, finance, IT and other administrative areas; is interested in being informed if cost benefit analysis takes place before entering into any agreement;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Remarks that at the end of 2019 the Committee's main Twitter account had 43.300 followers, while the main Facebook account had 32.600 followers; notes that the Committee’s fastest growing social media presence is on LinkedIn, which saw an increase during 2019 of 54 % in the number of followers to 14.500 followers at the end of 2019; notes that with this combination of channels, the Committee reaches a well-balanceencourages the Committee to establish a presence on free and open source social media networks, such as Mastodon, to achieve further transparency and gbroup of followersader outreach;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Is highly concerned that in 2019 there were 15 unpaid trainees at the Committee; calls on the Committee to always hire trainees on a paid contract with an allowance that covers at least their living costs;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Welcomes the fact that the Committee continuesstarted to promote respect in the workplace with the aim of ensuring that all staff are familiar with the current ethical framework; notes that a wide-ranging awareness-raising campaign started in 2019, called respect@work and which takes on board a number of proposals from the Report of the European Ombudsman on dignity at work in the EU institutions and agencies (SI/2/2018/AMF); welcomes the fact that the network of confidential counsellors was reinforced; notes that following a decision of the European Ombudsman the Committee adopted its guidelines on managing conflicts of interest of staff in the performance of their duties and provided relevant information to all staff; notes that the guidelines are intended to serve as a practical handbook for staff in cases where they need to perform overlapping duties, such as management duties in parallel with staff representation activities;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Recalls that several members of staff have suffered acts of psychological harassment by the then president of Group I for an long period of time; regretcondemns that the anti-harassment measures in place in the Committee failed to tackle and remedy this case sooner because of the senior position of the member concerned; regrets that the measures taken to protect the victims until the end of the investigation by OLAF seem to have been improvised and insufficient, especially in light of the judgement of the Civil Service Tribunal of 12 May 2016 in in Case F-50/157 1a, FS v European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which should have served as a lesson for the Committee; notes with concern that shortcomings in the internal proceedings resulted in the inaction by the Committee's administration which translated into a breach of the duty of care and of the obligation to report to OLAF; regretcondemns the length of time that the Committee took to take the necessary measures to adapt the Committee's rules of procedure and code of conduct in order to avoid such situation in the future; notes that the four victims and multiple whistle- blowers were calling on the administration, especially on the Secretary General, to act immediately against Mr Krawczyk already in 2018; _________________ 71aJudgment of the Civil Service Tribunal (Third Chamber) of 12 May 2016, FS v European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), F-50/15, ECLI:EU:F:2016:119.
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47 a. welcomes the efforts made by the new leadership of the Committee to follow Parliament’s recommendations regarding the reinforcement of the ethics and integrity framework by facilitating dialogue with the staff and ensuring proper measures to penalise misconduct at all levels of seniority with the aid of the newly adopted code of conduct; recommends that the new leadership of the Committee gets full access to the OLAF conclusions regarding the case of Mr Krawczyk and that it takes a more active role in negotiations on settlement agreements with the victims of harassment and misconduct with the aim of reaching a fair and satisfactory agreement supported by all sides, as well as to avoid any conflict of interests;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. AcknowledgNotes that the Committee informed Parliament that it is well aware of the political impact of the refusal of the 2018 discharge and is striving to further strengthen its capacity to tackle harassment situations; condemns the internal communication that was given orally to the staff saying that the 2018 discharge refusal by Parliament was only “an orange light for warning”; notes that a detailed action plan will be endorsed at the latest by the end of 2020; agreurges that the Committee continues to raise staff and management awareness through better targeted internal communication; reminds the Committee that being refused discharge is a serious matter which requires immediate actions;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49 a. Calls on the Committee to take notice of the damages caused to the victims and whistle-blowers, both in material and moral terms, resulting from insufficient support and lack of rightful rehabilitation and compensation; is deeply concerned that the victims filed a complaint because of the inaction of the Committee’s administration in the rehabilitation procedure; calls on the Committee to swiftly reach a settlement agreement with the victims and report in detail on the protective and compensatory measures offered;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 b (new)
Paragraph 49 b (new)
49 b. Expects settlements with the victims to be based on the principles of transparency and decency and to include a public apology, fair conditions of the settlement, full rehabilitation of the victims to their working environment and guaranteed protection against further consequences from the case; emphasises that the Committee should not prevent the victims from disclosing any details of the final settlement and therefore strongly opposes any pressure applied on the victims to sign clauses of non-disclosure and preventing them from confidentially providing any information regarding the settlement to Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
51 a. Notes that the mandate given by the bureau in June 2020 to draft proposals to revise the code of conduct and the provisions of the rules of procedure concerning the code of conduct was postponed by the bureau on 15 September 2020 because of Mr Krawczyk, active as president of Group 1, advised to carry over the advisory committee's decision on the rules of procedure to after October 2020; is concerned that a member who was found responsible for harassment was still active in the bureau after the OLAF recommendation and managed to delay the adoption of the new code of conduct for members;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52 a. Welcomes the new strengthened code of conduct for members adopted on 28 January 2021, based on the recommendations of the European Ombudsman and Parliament's observations in the context of the refusal to grant discharge for the 2018 budget, in order to better tackle issues related to fraud and misconduct, such as harassment; notes that in the most severe cases, it will be possible to expel a member from the Committee; is however deeply concerned that there is no clause mentioning the immediate expulsion of a member found responsible by OLAF of harassment; asks the Committee to start the necessary procedure to expel Mr Krawczyk, who has been found responsible by OLAF of harassment and misconduct relating to several staff members for a number of years and whose immunity has been lifted for prosecution by the Belgian authorities;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 b (new)
Paragraph 52 b (new)
52 b. Is concerned that despite the bureau decision of July 2020, the bureau approved on 1 December 2020 the establishment of Mr Krawczyk as representative of Group 1 for the category on transport, automatically putting Mr Krawczyk in contact with staff of Group 1, including his victims;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 c (new)
Paragraph 52 c (new)
52 c. Asks the Committee to provide its legal service with a formalised working strategy to ensure that it is officially and systematically involved in the most important matters of the Committee without leaving the decision on whether to consult it up to the different services; considers the replies to the questions in this regard insufficient and asks the Committee to report to Parliament on what has been done to include its legal service in a more systematic and independent manner;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 d (new)
Paragraph 52 d (new)
52 d. Asks the Committee to inform the Council and the Member States representatives, in due time before any re- appointment, about members who are under investigation by OLAF, have been found responsible by OLAF of breaching the code of conduct, or are subject to disciplinary sanctions by the Committee; believes that the Committee should do everything it legally can to avoid the re- appointment of a member found responsible for harassment and misconduct towards its staff;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. ValuNotes the Committee’s commitment to tacklinge harassment in the working environment and to fostering a culture of zero tolerance with regard to harassment by working on the revision of the ethics and integrity framework and the revision of the Committee’s decisions on harassment, whistleblowing and administrative enquiries; welcomes that a related, detailed action plan is supposed to be endorsed by the end of 2020 and covers a number of measures such as the revision of the code of conduct for members, the possible creation of an independent internal ombudsman function, a brochure focusing on respect and dignity at work, the establishment of a dedicated compulsory learning path before entrusting staff management responsibilities, whether on Committee’s managers or on members, and regular awareness-raising activities,; appreciates that an internal audit on ethics and integrity will take the form of a mapping exercise followed by an analysis aimed at establishing a comprehensive overview of rules, standards and measures in relation to ethics and integrity; notes that the audit will also tackle issues such as gifts and entertainment, outside activities and assignments, conflicts of interest and post-Union employment;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Emphasises in relation to the OLAF findings of harassment against Mr Krawczyk, a member of the Committee, and pursuant to the decision of 9 June 2020 of the Committee’s bureau that the member in question is fully discharged from all tasks related to the management and administration of the Group I secretariat's staff; notes that as of 7 September 2020, the member is no longer a candidate for the Committee’s presidency; is, however, strongly concerned that he has been appointed as member for a new mandate and that victims and whistle- blowers risk facing retaliation by him or by people supporting him in the Committee;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Notes that the plenary session of the Committee on 15 and 16 July 2020 confirmed the decision of 9 June 2020 of the bureau as regards joining as a civil party in the procedure that will be opened by the Brussels Labour Auditor before the Brussels Criminal Court; notes that the Brussels Labour Auditor has been informed of the waiving of the memberMr Krawczyk 's immunity, but no further information about the proceedings have been received to date.