15 Amendments of Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU related to 2020/2142(DEC)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Observes that the Council’s budget is mostly administrative with a large amount being used for expenditure concerning persons, buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous running costs; calls onregrets that the request to separate the budget of the European Council and the Council into one budget for each institution that has been made by Parliament in previous discharge resolutions has not been considered and urges the Council, as it has done in previous discharge resolutions, to separate the budget of the European Council and the Council into one budget for each institution for reasons of transparency and to improve accountability and expenditure efficiency for both institutions;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recognises a slight reduction in the carry-over rate, amounting to 9,8 %, from 2019 to 2020 (as compared to a carry-over of 10,7 % from 2018 to 2019 and 11,5 % from 2017 to 2018); reminds the Council of the need, however, that carry-overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality and calls on the Council to strengthen its efforts to avoid budget over-estimates;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes, in the context of modernisation, the creation of a flatter management structure, by removing layers of hierarchy, with the aim of improving communication, making decision-making easier and empowering staff by allowing greater ownership of files; notes the introduction of a well-tested HR IT tool (SYSPER) and other IT tools used for managing the mission lifecycle; appreciates these steps and invites the Council to continue such efforts;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Council to report on its gender action plan, the related procedures put in place and the actions taken to achieve a balance between women and men on all hierarchical levels; calls further on the Council to be provided with information on the geographical balance among its staff and the measures taken in order to ensure such balance;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Is concerned not to find any chapter on an ethical framework on the official website of the Council consisting of rules to prevent, identify and avoid potential conflict of interests; calls on the Council to align with other Union institutions in this respect such as with the European Court of Justice’s website which has a dedicated section on transparency; calls on the Council to present a plan to introduce such measures with clearly set deadlines;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Recalls that Parliament in its 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 overwhelmingly supported the Ombudsman’s proposals on legislative transparency and encourages the Council to continue its efforts to improve legislative transparency, particularly by recording and publishing member state positions and making available more trilogue documents; invites the Council to report on other measures taken in order to improve legislative transparency;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Draws attention to a complaint- based inquiry in which the Ombudsman asked the General Secretariat of the Council to keep a full record of any meetings held between lobbyists and the President of the European Council or members of his cabinet; echoes the Ombudsman’s statement that members of the President’s cabinet should only meet with, or attend events organised by, interest representatives that are registered in the transparency register; is concerned that this statement goes unnoticed and calls for a reply to the Ombudsman;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 8 a (new)
Subheading 8 a (new)
Council’s role in appointing the European prosecutors to the EPPO
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 8 b (new)
Subheading 8 b (new)
Recalls that Council implementing decision 14830/19 of 22 July 2020 on appointing the European prosecutors of the European Public Prosecutor's Office states that regarding the 'candidates nominated by Belgium, Bulgaria and Portugal, the Council did not follow the non-binding order of preference of the selection panel, on the basis of a different assessment of the merits of those candidates which was carried out in the relevant preparatory bodies of the Council';
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 b (new)
Paragraph 34 b (new)
34 b. Recalls that on 27 July 2020, Austria, Estonia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands published a statement that 'a competition between rankings of national selection panels and the ranking of the European selection panel must be avoided, at the risk of eroding the European component of the appointment procedure';
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 c (new)
Paragraph 34 c (new)
34 c. Regrets that Council did not properly reply to several parliamentary written questions between July and September 2020 asking Council to explain why it decided not to follow there commendations by the European selection panel and asking for elaborations on the assessment for arriving at the decision not to follow the recommendations of the European selection panel;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 d (new)
Paragraph 34 d (new)
34 d. Is very concerned about media revelations that the Portuguese government provided Council with wrongful information about the title and experience of the candidate ranked second by the European selection panel leading to his appointment as Portuguese European prosecutor;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 e (new)
Paragraph 34 e (new)
34 e. Recalls that the European prosecutors must be independent and any suspicion of an intervention by a national government in favour of a candidate against the recommendation of the European selection panel would have a severe negative impact on the reputation, integrity and independence of the EPPO as an institution;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Advises that the positive trend of this process has been interrupted by the COVID-19-epidemic; recallsnotes with concern, however, that in autumn 2020 all attempts from Parliament’s side to meet for a first preliminary exchange with the Council failed;