Activities of Mikuláš PEKSA related to 2020/2147(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 VIII – European Ombudsman
Amendments (11)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Recalls the Ombudsman’s repeated request to enhance the Union institutions' work ethics and transparency; calls for an enhanced mutual cooperation with the future Independent Ethics Body (IEB), generating a steady information exchange within their respective mandates;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Invites the Ombudsman to tackle personnel-related issues and look into ways of improving the recruitment processes, so that the vacant posts do not remain unfilled for an excessive period of time, which has a direct negative impact on the workload distribution and could - combined with the decrease in the number of contract agents - harm the efficiency of the institution;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Notes that the categories of complaints that saw the biggest increase are: respect for fundamental rights, proper use of discretion(including infringement procedures), culture of service, transparency and respect for procedural rights; encourages the Ombudsman to continue reporting to the Parliament on the recommendations made to Union institutions in this regard;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Takes the opportunity to congratulate the Ombudsman on the opening of an investigation (OI/2/2017) on the transparency of the Council’s legislative work in 2017 in order to allow citizens to more easily follow the legislative process of the Union; welcomes the recent positive echoing by the Ombudsman of the new transparency steps taken by the Council, for example by proactively publishing progress reports on negotiations on draft laws, a development which is in line with proposals made by the Ombudsman as a result of her inquiries; nevertheless, recalls the Ombudsman’s opinion that the Council should further step up its transparency efforts by, inter alia, publishing Council legislative documents including minutes of Working Group meetings, trilogue and other milestone working documents;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Appreciates the Ombudsman’s efforts to increase the transparency of Union public spending; deeply regrets that the Parliament’s leadership rejected the Ombudsman’s recommendation to grant public access to documents related to the revision of the list of expenses that may be covered by the General Expenditure Allowance granted to Members;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Welcomes that the Ombudsman automatically publishes inquiries on its website unless a complainant specifically requested confidentiality or a case contains personal data;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Welcomes that the Ombudsman uses and promotes the use of free and open-source software whenever possible for external and internal communication; appreciates that the Ombudsman recognizes the added value of open-source software to increase transparency and gives it priority when developing new IT projects;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28 b. Encourages the Ombudsman 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 to achieve digital sovereignty, avoid vendor lock-in and lack of control, as well as to ensure the protection of personal data;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Appreciates the Ombudsman’s efforts to keep developing its digital presence and online communication tools; encourages the Ombudsman to continue with its project to establish a presence on additional free and open- source social media networks, such as Mastodon, to achieve further transparency and broader outreach;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Welcomes the Ombudsman’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint via concrete actions such as the extensive use of videoconference facilities for internal and inter-institutional meetings, and which have made it possible to reduce missions; notes the teleworking policy, which is used by many members of staff (and by all staff during the COVID-19 crisis), which limits individual transportation; encourages the Ombudsman to continue undertaking actions aiming at reducing the carbon footprint as well as to pay close attention to the energy mix used by the institution, with emphasis on promoting clean and renewable sources.