Activities of Manuel dos SANTOS related to 2017/2022(BUD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2018 PDF (1 MB) DOC (122 KB)
Amendments (32)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas additional extraordinary investments of EUR 47,6 million are requiredhave been proposed by the Secretary-General to reinforce security projects, provide lease payments to the ADENAUER building project and launch the communication campaign in preparation for the 2019 elections;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Pursuant to paragraph 15 of its resolution of 14 April 2016 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2017 and to paragraph 97 of its report of 13 October 2016 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017 requiring that the method of establishment of the budget of the Parliament on the basis of the current needs and not on the basis of a system of coefficients is used for the first time during the budgetary procedure for the financial year 2018, calls for the fulfilment of those requests;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Highlights Parliament's role in building European political awareness and promoting the Union values;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that savings compared to the proposal of the Secretary-General are required in areas which are not related to these key functions, and all efforts to strive for a more efficient use of public money are strongly encouraged;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Takes note of the ongoing measures to continue to empower Parliament's security, relating to buildings, equipment and staff, cyber- security and communication security; requests the Secretary-General and the Bureau to carry on the Global Security Concept to continue to provide structural, operational and cultural improvements in Parliament's security;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for more information on the project to renovate the Paul Henri Spaak (PHS) building, specifically any opinions from external contractors on the necessity to renovate the building, which has had a short 25-year lifespan; notes the level of appropriations proposed by the Secretary- General in 2018 concerning studies, preparatory projects and works, and the provision of assistance to the project management team; expresses concern at the possible confusion regarding the amounts to be spent on studies and removals; urges the Bureau and Secretary- General to inform the Committee on Budgets on all subsequent steps and provide a clear breakdown of costs as soon as possible and not later than July 2017;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers 2018 to be a critical year for the Konrad Adenauer (KAD) building, as it will mark the end of the work on the East site and the start of work on the West site; notes with concern that the budget allocated to cover the management of this large-scale project has had to be revised in order to strengthen the teams which monitor the progress of the work; notes the on-going practice of using the year-end ‘'mopping up transfer’' (ramassage) to contribute to current building projects; considers that while this may be a pragmatic solution to reduce interest rate payments, it nevertheless exists in tension with the transparency of building projects within the Parliament’'s budget and could even incentivise over-budgeting in certain areas;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the communication campaign as a helpful effort to explain the purpose of the Union and the Parliament to the citizens; underlines, however, that this campaign should be limited to explaining the role of the European Union and the Parliament;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. ConsidersTakes note of the total amount proposed for the communication campaign for the 2019 elections to be too high, with EUR 25 million of expenditure in 2018 and EUR 8,33 million in 2019; notes that with a higher amount of financial commitments are required in 2018, nevertheless considers that the distribution of appropriations could be adjusted by lowering spending in 2018;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Welcomes in particular the ever increasing quality of advice and research provided to Members and committees throughRecalls that a mid-term evaluation of the efficacy of the cooperation between the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and the policy departments; approves of the was provided for when EPRS was created in 2013; four specific projects being developed over the medium-term in the European Parliament library, namely the digital library, improved resourcthermore, emphasises a request to proceed to such evaluation and for the presentation of its results to the Committee on Budgets by the end of 2016 was adopted in the plenary on 14 April 2016 as part of Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2017for; recalls that such an evaluation should have contained proposals as to how to ensure that the support provided by EPRS is better articulated with developments in the respective thematic committees and does not overlap with their activities fnor research, comparative law sources and open library; considers these projects as a means to improve support to both Members and staff, as well as facilitating access to the externalencourage competition between services; expects that the evaluation will include detailed information on the external expertise, external studies and external support for Parliament's research activities including the number and the costs of studies and expertise provided by Parliament's internal services and external providers; requests the results of the evaluation to be provided to the Committee on Budgets by mid-2017 at the latest; takes note of the four specific projects being proposed by the Secretary-General to develop over the medium-term in the Parliament library, namely the digital library, improved resources for research, community and citizens; parative law sources and open library;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Disagrees with the need to change the furniture in the offices of Members and their assistants in Brussels; considers that the majority of this furniture is in proper condition and that therefore there is no reason to hange it; considers that furniture should only be changed when there is a justified reason;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Considers that the current envelope of EUR 24 164 per month for parliamentary assistance per Member is madequate to supporet than adequatee current needs and should not be increased without prejudice to indexation of salaries and the alignment of mission expenses between Parliament's working places to the rules that apply to the rest the staff;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Recalls in this regard the request, adopted by the plenary in its abovementioned resolution of 14 April 2016 on Parliament’s estimates for 2017, that the rules governing the reimbursement of mission expenses related to travels between the Parliament's working places and incurred by accredited parliamentary assistants be revised in order to align them with the rules applicable to the rest of the staff and regrets that no action has been taken to date; calls on the Bureau to swiftly address this issue; meanwhile underlines that the current mission reimbursements ceilings for APAs (EUR 120/140/160) have not been adjusted since 2009 and that the discrepancy between APAs and other staff has further increased up to at least 40 % following the introduction of new ceilings approved by the Council on 9 September 2016 and so far only applied to staff officials as from 10 September 2016; calls therefore on the Bureau to take the necessary measures to remedy this inequality;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes the proposal to reduce the establishment plan of Parliament’s Secretariat by 60 posts in order to comply withPursuant to Point 27 of the IIA of 2 December 2013, namely, on a progressive 5 % staff reduction inapplying to all institutions, bodies and agencies between 2013 and 2017;, highlights that owing to specific needs arising in Parliament in 2014 and 2016, an agreement was reached with the Council on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 201613, in which Parliament’'s annual staff reduction measures are set to continue until 2019; __________________ 13 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0407. Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0407.
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Notes that, while political groups have been exempted from these annual staff reduction measures since 201414 , the conciliation agreement on the 2017 budget included an increase of 76 posts for political groups, fully compensathas led byto a decrease in posts from the establishment plan of Parliament's Secretariat because of the non-respect of the gentleman's agreement by the Council; __________________ 14 Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0437; Texts adopted, P8_TA(2014)0036; Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0376; Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0411.
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Recalls that the total level of staff in political groups is exempted from the 5 % staff reduction target in line with the decisions taken in respect of the financial years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Welcomes, in light of these staff reduction measures, the proposal to convert 50 permanent AST posts into 50 permanent AD posts, which has a negligent budgetary impact; notes in addition, the proposal to convert three temporary AST posts into three temporary AD post’s in the President’'s cabinet;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Underlines that European political parties and foundations play a key role in building European political awareness and increasing citizens' understanding of the connection between the political processes at the national and European levels;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Paragraph 35 b (new)
35 b. Recalls that European political parties and foundations contribute to forming European political awareness and expressing the will of citizens of the Union, and that those principles are rooted in Article 10 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 12(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 c (new)
Paragraph 35 c (new)
35 c. Stresses that European political parties and foundations must respect in their programmes and in their activities the values on which the Union is funded, namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36 a. Recalls that public financing provided for European political parties and foundations contributes to the stability and continuity of their activities;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Believes that the entry into force of Regulations (EU) No 1141/201415 and (EU) No 1142/201416 will provide additional control mechanisms, such as the requirement to register with the Authority for European political parties and political foundations; considers however that there is further room for improvement to these measures; notes that parties and foundations will begin to apply for funding under the new rules in the budgetary year 2018; __________________ 15 Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 1). 16 Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1142/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 as regards the financing of European political parties (OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 28).
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Highlights that a number of issues have been identified with the current system of co-financing, in which contributions and grants from the Parliament’s budget for both parties and foundations cannot exceed 85% of eligible expenditure, with the remaining 15% to be covered by own resources; notes for instance that shortfalls in membership contributions and donations are often balanced by contributions-in-kind, despite difficulties in determining both their value and their necessity in realising the work programme of a party or foundation;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Notes the request for external studies and opinions in order to support the work of committees and other political bodies in analysing the possible impact of Brexit, including the budgetary consequences for Parliament; questions the necessity to call for external studies and opinions instead of having recourse to the wealth of research services within the Parliament; emphasises that until the negotiations on the UK’'s exit from the Union are concluded the UK remains a full member of the Union and all the rights and obligations of membership remain in force; underlines therefore that the decision of the UK to withdraw from the Union is unlikely to have an impact on the Parliament’'s 2018 budget;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Calls upon the Secretary-General and the Bureau to instil a culture of performance-based budgeting across Parliament’'s administration, following the positive example already put into practice by the Directorate-General for Finance (DG FINS); urges all parties involved in the drafting of the Parliament's estimates to identify negative priorities in order to free up spending for the Parliament's core responsibilities; considers this exercise particularly vital in the context of Parliament key funcin line with the lean management approach in order to enhance efficiency and quality in the institution's to legislate, represent citizens and scrutinise the work of other institutionsinternal work;