5 Amendments of Konstantinos ARVANITIS related to 2019/2098(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Takes note that the Court found that the payments underlying the accounts were legal and regular for all agencies except for EASO, for which a qualified opinion was issued due to irregularities on public procurement procedures and related payments; notes that corrective actions launched by EASO in response to the Court’s findings for the year 2017 regarding its governance and internal control arrangements were still ongoing at the end of 2018; highlights especially that the majority of vacancies opened in 2017 were still not filled at the end of 2018; notes that the Court has identified a horizontal trend across agencies in the use of external staff hired in IT consultancy roles; calls for this dependency on external recruitment in this important area to be addressed; deplores that the legality and regularity of payments only slowly improved in 2018 due to the lack of proper management attention; regrets that a major procurement procedure (EUR 50 million) carried out by EASO in 2018 was again irregular due to major procedural weaknesses; acknowledges that the new Executive Director has already taken actions to improve the management of EASO and shows strong commitment to address the organisational flaws within EASO as a matter of priority; urges EASO to uphold this commitment and to report back to the Parliament´s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on a regular basis;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights that transparency and citizens' awareness of the existence of the agencies are essential for their democratic accountability; considers that usability and ease of use of agency resources and data are of paramount importance; calls therefore for an assessment of how data and resources are currently presented and made available and of the degree to which citizens find them easy to identify, recognise and use;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Deplores the lack of ‘emphasis on the matter’ with regard to JHA agencies, with the exception of FRONTEX; notes that FRONTEX reimbursed EUR 60 million of equipment-related expenditure without proper ex ante controls; stresses that ex ante controls are rendered ineffective if expenses are reimbursed without prior verification of whether the expenses are justified; notes as well that FRONTEX did not carry out ex post verifications to compensate the weakness of its ex ante procedure; considers this proceeding highly problematic and calls for an immediate action to resolve this problem and to prevent it in the future, particularly in light of its significant budget increase in the coming years; urges FRONTEX to revisit its financing scheme for equipment- related expenditure and to significantly strengthen its internal controls to ensure that reimbursements are granted for expenses actually incurred;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Encourages the Union agencies to consider adopting a fundamental rights strategy, including a reference to fundamental rights in a code of conduct that could define the duties of their staff and training for staff; setting up mechanisms ensuring that any violation of fundamental rights be detected and reported, and that risks of such violations be swiftly brought to the attention of the main bodies of the agency concerned; establishing, whenever relevant, the position of a fundamental rights officer, reporting directly to the management board to ensure a certain degree of independence vis-a-vis other staff, in order to ensure that threats to fundamental rights are immediately addressed, and that a constant upgrading of the fundamental rights policy within the organisation takes place; developing a regular dialogue with civil society organisations and relevant international organisations on fundamental rights issues; making compliance with fundamental rights a central component of the terms of reference of the collaboration of the agency concerned with external actors, including in particular members of national administrations with whom they interact at operational level;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Agencies Network to develop a general policy to not replace permanent staff by more expensive external consultants.