Activities of Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ related to 2021/2107(DEC)
Plenary speeches (2)
Discharge 2020 (debate)
Discharge 2020 (debate)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises that the Court examined more in particular the EU Institutions’ public procurement procedures for the purchase of personal protective equipment for their members of staff in 2020; notes that the Court checked three procurement procedures organised by Parliament to purchase protective masks, temperature detectors and COVID-19 tests; regrets the cost caused by successive decisions to purchase and use different models of temperature detectors until the most suitable one for the current needs was found; stresses that the Court, in one case related to the purchase of fabric masks, found that the requirements set by Parliament in the tender specifications were too broad to allow assessment of compliance, and that the successful bidders did not include full evidence in their offer that all minimum quality requirements were met at the time of contracting, such as evidence related to compliance with technical specifications or to the durability of masks; highlights that the offers were accepted nonetheless; acknowledges that the urgent procurement of equipment in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging due to surging demand and competition between contracting authorities and countries;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Asks the Secretary-General to forward this resolution to the Bureau, highlighting all requests for action or decisions by the Bureau; calls on the Secretary-General to establish a plan of action and a timetable enabling the Bureau to follow-up and/or to respond to the demands and recommendations contained in Parliament’s discharge resolutions and to include the actions taken and implemented in the annual monitoring document; asks the Secretary-General and the Vice-President responsible for budget to hold regular discussions with Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on issues concerning the implementation of the said action plan;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Notes that the presence of Parliament’s officials in EU delegations or other bodies aims to strengthen Parliament’s relations with regional organisation; reiterates, however, the concern about the Bureau decision of 11 February 2019 regarding parliamentary support to the European Union Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, the European Union delegation to the African Union in Addis Ababa and the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in New York; calls for a thorough cost-benefit analysis to justify any new decision, measurable indicators to assess annual performance, and that Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control be kept informed;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Regrets the continuous changes of criteria in health and safety rules not always justified by a change in the pandemic situation, aggravated by the lack of a genuine communication strategy on the part of the administration, especially considering the vast amounts of resources allocated to communication activities; believes that, especially in this kind of crisis situations, it is essential to speak with one single voice and to address clear, unequivocal and motivational messages addressed to the whole staff;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Regrets the situation of the Schuman trainees with a traineeship from March to July 2020, who were teleworking since the second week of their traineeship; notes that the Commission and the Council had given to their trainees the option to come back in October to re-start a full 5-month traineeship; regrets the decision of the DG for Personnel to give the Schuman trainees that option only if they interrupt their current internship; calls on the DG for Personnel to ensure an equal treatment to its trainees in similar situations;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Calls on the Secretary-General, in the general context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to require all external companies providing their services in Parliament to guarantee the employment rights and working conditions of their staff and to strictly comply with the measures adopted by the government in the context of the pandemic;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Regrets that, as a result of the health measures, working conditions in certain services have worsened significantly, with the prominent example of members of staff employed in the copy shop being forced to work in isolation for months; calls for the applicable measures to be adapted for similar situations in the interest of workers' mental health;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 a (new)
Paragraph 61 a (new)
61 a. Recalls that current rules on the termination of contract for APAs do not foresee the possibility of a termination by ‘mutual consent’, which would be a way to recognise the special political relation between Members and assistants, where both parties can acknowledge the mutual trust no longer exists, and can benefit from a common solution without undermining the APAs’ social rights; regrets that this request has been included in several Parliament discharge resolutions without receiving a satisfactory response, and expects action to be taken as soon as possible;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 b (new)
Paragraph 61 b (new)
61 b. Reiterates its demand for the APAs to receive the same subsistence allowance as the statutory personnel for their missions to attend the part-sessions in Strasbourg; acknowledges that any change to the legal framework, namely the Bureau decision on 2 October 2017, would require a revision of the applicable rules and thus, instructions the Secretary- General to submit this request for decision to the Bureau;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 c (new)
Paragraph 61 c (new)
61 c. Asks the Bureau to reconsider the possibility for APAs, under certain conditions to be determined, to accompany Members on official Parliament delegations and missions, as already requested by several Members; takes note of the estimated financial impact included in the follow-up to the 2018 discharge resolution and, nevertheless, insists on a new discussion at the level of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents to examine this request with exceptional nature;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 d (new)
Paragraph 61 d (new)
61 d. Rejects the compulsory appointment of APAs as representatives to deal with the Belgian authorities for the processing of the residence permit of third country trainees in Members' offices; calls for an immediate revision of the applicable rules so that the administration takes over this function;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 e (new)
Paragraph 61 e (new)
61 e. Reiterates its call to remove the possibility of appointing APAs as head of group in order to make the financial responsibility of sponsored visitors’ groups fall exclusively to a member of the group or to professionals, i.e. paying agents or travel agencies;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
Paragraph 65
65. Welcomes the possibility offered by the Secretary-General’s decision of 31 March 2021 to work away from the place of employment; regrets, however, that this was only possible on a part-time basis with the corresponding reduction of the salary; regrets that such decision forced staff and APAs out of Belgium at that time to choose between returning to Parliament’s places of work, at a time traveling was strongly discouraged, or the said loss of earnings; notes with satisfaction that the Bureau on 17 April acknowledged the unsound nature of this decision and established a series of criteria under which staff would be able to telework full time (including medical conditions, travel restrictions and border closures); notes with great concern that the obligation to telework from the place of employment during periods of near-complete lockdown has increased feelings of isolation and fueled mental health problems among members of staff; calls on the administration to lift the obligation for all categories of staff, including trainees, in the future to telework from their place of employment in such exceptional and time- limited periods such as periods of near- complete lockdowns in place during parts of 2020;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
Paragraph 68
68. Notes that two Ddirectorates- Ggeneral (DGs) put in place specific policies framing the right to disconnect while five others raised awareness among managers of the right to disconnect; calls upon the Parliament to adopt guidelines on the right to disconnect for every DG and make sure all DGs put themincluding every category of staff for every directorate-general and make sure all directorates-general put such guidelines in place;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69
Paragraph 69
69. Welcomes the achievements made so far as a result Parliament’s gender mainstreaming policy, in reaching gender parity at the level of Directors and 40% of women employed at the level of Heads of Unit; notes that there is still significant room for improvement at the level of Directors-General with currently 23% of women employed at this level; calls on Parliament to aim to reach gender parity at all three levels by 2024; Reiterates that it is essential for staff representatives to be heard when the Bureau discusses general matters affecting its staff policy, and repeats its request to the Secretary-General to take the appropriate measures to implement this key approach; reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to take further steps to ensure transparency and fairness during senior management appointment procedures, in particular in light of the Court of Justice’s judgment from 14 July 2021 in case T670 / 19 against the European Parliament; asks for the full implementation of the measures recommended in Parliament’s resolution of 18 April 2018, notably that officials from staff representative bodies sit on Parliament’s senior management selection panels, even if that means a modification of the Staff Regulations; calls, furthermore, to ensure consistency when it comes to external publications of senior management posts and diligence in the publication of these posts as and when they fall vacant;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
70. Regrets that political, rather than competency criteria seem to determine the internal “passerelle” competitions; calls on Parliament to ensure in future competitions that candidates are chosen based on skills and competence rather than political affiliation; points out the staff committee’s resolution of 18 October on a new scheme put in place to offer contract agent posts to trainees; is of the opinion that recruitment procedures must be merit- based, competitive, fair and transparent while there must be no privileged access to contract agent posts or discrimination against staff and APAs; asks the administration to reconsider the new scheme involving the staff in the process;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
77. Welcomes the completion of the new wing at the Wayenberg creche; regrets the successive changes and prolonged closures of sections due to the internal COVID-19 protocol which are also communicated with minimal notice and without time to react; calls for a review of the COVID-19 health protocols to bring them in line with national protocols and to ensure that this important service continues to be provided as far as possible; calls on DG PERS to make sure that changes in the creche’s working time arrangements are introduced and communicated to parents in due time to allow them to perform their working obligations with minimum interruptions; reiterates its call to DG PERS to conduct a satisfaction survey among both the creche’s employees and children’s parents to regularly get relevant feedback on the provider; takes note of the new call for tender in relation to the future management of the Wayenberg Creche before the summer 2022; calls on DG PERS to closely follow the quality of services of the current provider, so they stay at the same level until the expiry date of their contract and to do the same in respect of the services of the new provider, which would retain existing workers to avoid the detriment to the children that staff turnover can cause; calls for a constant monitoring to ensure that the new provided offers good working conditions that help retain quality personnel;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77 a (new)
Paragraph 77 a (new)
77 a. Calls for Parliament's staff timetables to be taken into account in order to adapt the opening hours of the gym to provide service beyond peak working hours;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79
Paragraph 79
79. Calls for a debate on the space needs of Parliament in light of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, current and future increase in teleworking and, if appropriate, for the adaptation of its long- term building strategy; requests, in particular, that the building policy be reviewed to ensure a dedicated office space for each staff member, as this policy would result in significant office space being unused during large parts of the working week; considers that e.g. two staff members teleworking for 3three days a week should be able to share one work station; points out, in addition, that consideration should be given to the detrimental effects on health and staff satisfaction of practices such as open spaces, collaborative spaces and ‘hot desking’;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 87
Paragraph 87
87. Welcomes the fact that the extension of the WAYENBERGayenberg nursery in Brussels was completed in September 2020, and that the new facilities have been gradually put to use; regrets that the works have continued while children and their families have been attending school, in some cases having to pass very close to the works, considering the danger that this entailed;