Activities of Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ related to 2019/2057(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 II – European Council and Council
Amendments (14)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
- having regard to the Recommendation of the European Ombudsman in case 1069/2019/MIG on sponsorship of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
- having regard to the Special Report of the European Ombudsman in strategic inquiry OI/2/2017/TE on the transparency of the Council legislative process,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the CouncilRegrets that the request to separate the budget of the European Council and the Council into one budget for each of the two instituinstitution, made by Parliament in previous discharge resolutions, has not been considered; calls on the Council do this separations for transparency reasons and to improve accountability and expenditure efficiency for both institutions;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that appropriations carried over from 2018 to 2019 amounted to a total of EUR 56 599 584, equivalent to 10,7 % (compared to EUR 60 576 175 or 11,5 % in 2017), coming mainly from categories such as computer systems (EUR 18,3 million), buildings (EUR 16,0 million) and interpretation (EUR 11,9 million); takes note of the cancelled appropriations in 2018 of EUR 46 348 862 (compared to EUR 35 025 789 in 2017); reminds the Council that carry-overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality and should reflect actual needs and, thus, calls on the Council to strengthen its efforts to avoid budget over-estimates;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the Council’s efforts in the implementation of the ‘Action Plan for a more dynamic, flexible and collaborative General Secretariat of the Council (GSC)’; notes the steps to further improve the Council’s financial management and performance by measures such as the establishment of an Advisory Management Board, the adoption of guidelines for a Common Project & Task Force Management Framework (CPMF) and, the creation of a task force “Reorganisation”, etc. and the review of the internal rules following the publication of the new Financial Regulation;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Expresses its concerns about the alarming information reported by the media regarding the construction of the new building Europa; calls on the Council thoroughly research the main contractor and the whole chain of subcontractors (up to 12 according to the media), as well as the working conditions of the workers employed, and to provide the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control with all the findings;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that related to the proposal for a new Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register for interest representatives covering the Parliament, the Council and the Commission two negotiating rounds took place in 2018 under the Bulgarian Presidency and one in 2019 under the Romanian Presidency; calls on the Council to follow-up negotiations to reach a successful outcome which will finally include the Council in the registry; calls on the Council to demonstrate a real commitment to the principles of transparency and accountability by adopting concrete measures, such as publishing the meetings held by the Member States' permanent representatives and their deputies and ministers when dealing with Union atters during their Presidency, building on the example set by the Finnish Presidency;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. AReiterates its support to the recommendations of the European Ombudsman on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council1a; asks the Council to strengthen its efforts to make the legislative process more traceable and reader friendly, to centre transparency around milestones in the legislative process and to normalise the publicationidentification and publication in due time of Member States' inputs (statements, proposals for amendments) into legislative debates either at Council meetings, preparatory discussions in the Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives or in any of the preparatory bodies; acknowledges the Council’s efforts to improve transparency with ongoing changes to its website and the activities of its internal transparency team; encourages the Council to introduce further measures in order to reach a successful transparency policy allowing the public to follow the Union legislative process with greater ease; _________________ 1a European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0045).
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Expresses its deep concerns about the information reported by the European media regarding the corporate sponsorship of Member States hosting the Union Presidency and echoes the concerns expressed by Union citizens and Members of Parliament on the matter; acknowledges that the Member States are expected to finance their own Presidencies and regrets that resorting to corporate sponsorship to cover some of their expenses in this regards has become common practice in recent years; is highly concerned about the possible reputational damage and the risk of loss of trust that this practice may afflict to the Union, its institutions and especially to the Council in the eyes of the citizens of the Union; fully supports the Ombudsman's assessment and recommendation1a for the Council to issue guidance to Member States on the issue; moreover, strongly recommends the Council to envisage budgetisation of the Presidencies; requests the Council to forward this concern to the Member States, in particular to the current trio Presidency; _________________ 1aRecommendation of the European Ombudsman in case 1069/2019/MIG on sponsorship of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. NoteRecalls that according to TFEU, the institutions enjoy administrative autonomy and their expenditure is set out in separate parts of the budget; notes that according to the Financial Regulation, the institutions are individually responsible for the implementation of their budgets; underlines the importance of the institutions acting responsibly and professionally in the implementation of their budgets;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes that during the course of almost twenty years Parliament has developed the practice of granting discharge to all Union institutions and bodies; recalls that Parliament grants discharge to them after considering the documents provided, their replies given to the written questionnaires and after hearing their Secretaries General; notes that all Union institutions and bodies accept to participate in Parliament’s discharge procedure, with the only exception being the Council;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. NoteRegrets the lack of cooperation form the Council in the discharge procedure which has resulted in Parliament’s refusal to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council since the financial year 2009;