Activities of Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ 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 (30)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes the Court’s recommendations for the Committee to implement a policy for dealing with sensitive functions; acknowledges the Committee’s replies explaining the steps envisaged and the fact that the preparatory activities started in the first semester of 2020;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. ANotes that the Committee launched a call for tender in October 2018 in order to analyse and propose improvements to the current system concerning cost reimbursements for Committee members, delegates and experts; asks the Committee to provide information on the results of a detailed report on possible improvements to the current travelling and reimbursements system including various possible scenarios; notes of the delays in the implementation due to the COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 8 #
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 provide specific and detailed information on this matter in its 2020 annual report;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Welcomes the fact that a series of measures have been implemented by the Committee to ensure adequate building security standards such as the installation of new equipment for access control; notes that the related security standards have reached the same level as the standards of Parliament and the Commission;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. WelcomNotes the fact that the VMA building is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements on asbestos applications and that an asbestos safe certificate was delivered in September 2019; notes that this certificate specifies thatexpresses its concerns over the health of the workers and the presence of asbestos in the VMA building contains asbestos bu, although the asbestos-safe certificate says that it does not represent any risks for the users of the building; welcomes the fact that all relevant information about asbestos in the Committees' buildings, such as asbestos policy, asbestos safe certificates and asbestos inventories, has been published on the intranet; notes that work to renovate the VMA building are planned to start in 2021;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Recalls that the cooperation agreement between Parliament and the Committee of 5 February 2014 provides for compensation for the loss of translation capacity by providing additional amounts for both the Committee and the CoR; notes that an amount of EUR 2 million has been provided for the externalisation of translation with the possibility that a potential surplus can be used for further political work and an additional amount of EUR 1,1 million for increased political work; notes that the transfers took place in 2015 and 2016 with a reduction already being made during the conciliation process in 2017; notes that yearly savings resulting from the transfer of 36 posts can be estimated at EUR 3,42 million; is aware of the requests of both the Committee and the CoR in the frame of the discharge procedure for the ongoing cooperation agreement to be respected so that these committees are compensated for the posts transferred to the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS); asks the three parties to jointly report to the Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on the ongoing revision of the agreement;
Amendment 21 #
25. Encourages the Committee to explore the possibility of joining the transparency registry on the basis of a service level agreement; 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 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Agrees with the need to further enhance political cooperation with respect to the annual and multi-annual programming, the joint declaration of Parliament, the Council and the Commission on legislative priorities and the monitoring of the annual work programme; encourages the Committee to work on concrete recommendations, such as better communication at the level of the Committee and Parliament rapporteurs, to develop a more systematic approach to political cooperation;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Notes that in 2019 an exercise to assess compliance with the internal control standards took place which showed improvements as compared to 2018; notes, however, that not all standards were fully implemented and that follow-up actions were defined such as; notes that two follow-up actions were postponed to 2020, namely a formal assessment of sensitive functions and the implementation of a multiannual internal communication strategy in order to further improve compliance with the control standards;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. CNotes that the Committee implemented a third follow-up action to the aforementioned exercise consisting of the harmonisation of processes and procedures across directorates and units; calls on the Committee to set up a centralised registry of processes and procedures to ensure harmonised written documentation; reiterates that this approach helps to enhance the respect for existing processes and procedures, and supports the covering of all main activities by a procedure;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. RemindNotes that in 2019 two audits were finalised by the internal audit service (IAS), one on compliance with institutional deadlines and one on interpretation; notes that, regarding the first audit suggests that, the Committee is in the process of implementing administrative measures set out in the action plan, such as making institutional deadlines should appear prominently in the documents used by the Committee in order to better organise its work and that statistics be compiled on the Committee's compliance with deadlines in a consistent manner; notes the importance of the audit on interpretationwelcomes all the continued efforts made by the Committee to better contribute to the Union legislative process; notes the importance of the audit on interpretation as it is an instrumental component of Union decision-making, due both to significant budget cuts and to the higher costs of interpretation, as today the Committee can afford only around 75 % of the interpretation it could afford in 2014; notes that the purpose of this operational audit iwas to examine procedures, in particular whether any cost savings can be made without compromising the quantity and the quality of interpretation provided; observes that an analysis of selected cases showed that the procedures for provision of interpretation were well established, and that interpretation was provided as requested; notes that the overall satisfaction among end-users is high; notes that an agreed action plan is currently being implemented and includes ongoing identification of areas with potential for cost-saving;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Observes that an audit on ethics and well-being at work was envisaged in the 2019 work programme but was postponed to the 2020 work programme; notes that the audit started in 2019, but the approach was altered following the Court’s special report on ethics published on 19 July 2019; notes it is the intention of the IAS to follow the approach chosen by the Court when assessing the ethical framework established within the Committee; advises the Committee’s IAS to also include in the audit the implementation of the currently reformed ethical frameworks;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Is aware that the Committee continues to implement its action plan 2017-2020 for equal opportunities and diversity; notes that gender balance among the Committee's managerial staff already reached parity in 2018 and remains relatively stable; welcomes the ‘united in diversity’ conference on communication in a multicultural environment with the aim of fostering respectful relations at work while taking diversity into accountregrets that the new political leadership of the Committee does not reflect this trend with only one out of seven section presidents and none of the three group presidents being women, especially when the Committee’s 2020- 2025 term of office has the highest number of new and female members since 2010; welcomes the awareness raising events organised in favour of diversity, such as the ‘united in diversity’ conference on communication in a multicultural environment with the aim of fostering respectful relations at work while taking diversity into account; welcomes in particular the specific activities and measures linked to disability; encourages the Committee to also put in place concrete measures such as mandatory gender equality or training to avoid unconscious bias in selection panels; observes the slight improvement in the geographical balance compared to 2018 with 19 % of the Committee’s managers currently being from Member States who joined the Union after 2004 (compared to 16 % in 2017 and 18,5 % in 2018);
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Recognises the measures put in place related to well-being such as the relaunch of a mentoring scheme for newcomers, which is part of a preventative approach to manage psychosocial risks; notes the exchanges of best practice to continuously improve the scheme; notes the extensive updating of the rules on teleworking that offer more flexibility for teleworkers; encourages the Committee to complete the flexible working arrangements with a protection of the staff members’ right to disconnect;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 c (new)
Paragraph 41 c (new)
41 c. Notes that in 2019 the Committee hosted 54 long-term trainees who received a monthly maintenance grant, 15 short- term trainees who did not receive a grant from the Committee, and one trainee who received a grant awarded by an outside public body; underlines the fact that the possibility of hosting unpaid trainees should only be maintained in the case where such trainees receive payments from other sources;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Notes with satisfaction the actions related to long-term sick leave, in particular those aimed to facilitate a return to work;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)
Paragraph 41 b (new)
41 b. Expresses serious concerns about the public allegations caused by certain recruitment procedures used by the Committee; calls on the Committee to elaborate clear internal guidelines regarding the publication of vacancies and a clear definition of the interest of the service for temporary moves of staff members; stresses the importance of strictly ensuring the accomplishment in fully transparency of each and all phases, without exception, as established in the Committee’s rules of procedure and in the Staff Regulations throughout the whole procedure (publication, selection, appointment and establishment) in order to avoid any reputational risks not only for the Committee but for all the Union institutions;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Expresses its concern with respect to the investigations carried out by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in 2019; notes that two cases were closed concerning members and misappropriation of Union funds; acknowledgesnotes with satisfaction that the amounts have been recovered by the Committee; notes that two cases were opened (one in relation to a member and one in relation to a staff member) and that, of which the first case is ongoing and the second case was closed in 2020 with no infraction found; notes that in 2020 atwo case s were open, of which one (from 2018 - confirming fraudulent action by a member) was closed, within the same year and one is ongoing; notes that another case against a member has been opened and is ongoing; notes that to the best of the Committee’s knowledge there are currently two open OLAF investigations, both concerning members and not related to harassment;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Asks the Committee to continue to inform the discharge authority onabout the procedures and processes the Committee has rolled out or intends to roll out as to howin order to avoid cases of harassment or similar issues concerning staff will be avoided in the future in order to ensure that comparable regrettable developments which have caused negative publicitysuffering to the victims and damaged the reputation of the Committee and the Union at large will not be repeated;
Amendment 53 #
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; regrets 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 , 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, including an unclear division of reporting responsibilities at the senior management level, 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; regrets 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; _________________ 7Judgment 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 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47 a. Reminds that OLAF identified the victims of harassment in its 2018 investigation; regrets that the victims were forced to compensate by their own means the lack of action by the Committee's administration to initiate the process; notes that the follow-up of the formal requests initiated by the victims under Article 24 of the Staff Regulations started in January 2020; notes with concern that the formal recognition of the status of victim only occurred on 2 October 2020, although the Committee alleges having implicitly recognised their status months before; notes the detailed explanations provided by the Committee President regarding the communication and the assistance offered to the victims (legal, medical and psychological support); notes that the discussions with the victims are ongoing and asks the Committee to promptly inform the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control on the resolution of all the cases; reminds the Committee of its obligations to protect whistle-blowers;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 b (new)
Paragraph 47 b (new)
47 b. Considers it appropriate to recall that Parliament refused to grant the Committee's secretary-general discharge in respect of the financial year 2018, among other causes on the ground of a flagrant breach of the duty of care and the lack of action by the administration, along with the financial consequences; deeply regrets the lack of decisive action, in particular prevention and reparation measures, by the former director of HR and finance and now secretary-general until the refuse of 2018 discharge; notes that during the 2018 and part of the 2019 discharge procedures the secretary- general was unable to provide sufficient, transparent and reliable information to Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control as evidenced by the number of times that the information provided was refuted by whistleblowers, the Committee's trade unions, the defence of the victims or the perpetrator himself; reminds the Committee's leadership that no ethical framework can exist without enabling effective accountability;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Acknowledges that the Committee 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 situationsunethical behaviour; notes that a detailed action plan willas to be endorsed at the latest by the end of 2020; agrees that the Committee continues to raise staff and management awareness through better targeted internal communication on the existing structures available to help cope with any kind of difficult situation in the workplace; asks the Committee to make the training sessions on ethics and integrity mandatory for its members;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Underlines that on the basis of the observations made by Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, the reportcommendations issued by OLAF and the reflections of the Committee’s advisory committee on the conduct of members, the Committee set up a joint internal working group on the ethical framework with a mandate to review all potential gaps in the current framework with a view to recommending improvements; notes that the advisory committee also has the opportunity to liaise with the joint internal working group in order to ensure coherence of the overall ethical framework within the Committee and to explore possible synergies;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Calls on the Committee to report on the current situation of the victims identified as well as on implementation of the Committee’s revised code of conduct and rules of procedure following the 2018 OLAF investigation; notes that the bureau has decided on a partial and light revision of the rules of procedure and a more comprehensive revision of the code of conduct, with a particular view to strengthening sanctions; notes that the revision of the code of conduct should be ready by December 2020;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. notes that the proposal for revision of the code of conduct should include elements such as stronger sanctions, support mechanisms for victims, automatically informing the Council and the Commission of the names of Committee members who have been found to be responsible for breaching the code of conduct and an annual review of the functioning of the code of conduct; nNotes that the decision on harassment and the decision on administrative investigations are currently being revised in order to further improve the mechanisms allowing staff to make formal harassment complaints; notes in relation to the informal procedure and the possibility for staff members to share their concerns on any perceived situation of harassment that the number of confidential counsellors has been increased and that the entire network of confidential counsellors receives continuous support through regular supervision and training; notes that the confidential counsellors are part of an inter-institutional network, which allows for the exchange of best practices;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Values 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; expects a robust and reliable set of measures regarding the protection, prohibition of retaliation, and support of the victims; 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 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Emphasises in relation to the OLAF findings of harassment against a member of the Committee and pursuant to the decision of 9 June 2020 of the Committee’s bureau that the member in question iwas fully discharged from all tasks related to the management and administration of the Group I secretariat's staff until the end of his mandate; notes that as ofon 7 September 2020, the member is no longer awithdrew his candidatecy for the Committee’s presidencyposition of the president of the Committee; is concerned that the has been Council appointed as memberhim again as a member of the Committee for a new mandate;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55 a (new)
Paragraph 55 a (new)
55 a. Reiterates its concern over the fact that the Committee's website still features a statement by the member concerned in his capacity as president of Group I that is in reality a personal self-defence testimony with the aggravating factor that the cases mentioned are either pending or expected before the Union judicial authorities and the Belgian authorities;