BETA

52 Amendments of Edit HERCZOG related to 2007/2049(DEC)

Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision on discharge
Paragraph 1
1. Postpones its decision on gGrantings the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (formerly European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2006;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision on the closure of accounts
Paragraph 2
2. PostponApproves the closure of the accounts of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (formerly European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia) for the financial year 2006;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
1.Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of the limited conferral of powers, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and which stipulates that the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors exercise their powers under the conditions and for the purposes provided for, on the one hand, by the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the subsequent Treaties and Acts modifying and supplementing them and, on the other hand, by the other provisions of the TEU;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of subsidiarity, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5, second paragraph, of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and which stipulates that in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence the Community shall take action only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality for any proposed Community legislation the reasons on which it is based must be stated with a view to justifying its compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and the reasons for concluding that a Community objective can be better achieved at Community level must be substantiated by qualitative or quantitative indicators;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 3 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality Community action within the limits of its powers can be either expanded or restricted or discontinued where it is no longer justified;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 9 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality due account must be taken of the need for any financial or administrative burden falling on the Community to be minimised and proportionate to the objective to be achieved;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of sound financial management, as laid down, inter alia, in Article 274 TEC, and, hence, the objective of achieving the best possible result with a given volume of appropriations or achieving a given result using the smallest possible volume of appropriations;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises, in that connection, that in its White Paper on the reform of the Commission the Commission laid down as guidelines for the formulation of an externalisation policy cost-effectiveness and the ability to exercise its powers to implement the budget, pursuant to Article 274 TEC;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
8. Emphasises that pursuant to Article 253 TEC regulations, directives and decisions adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council and such acts adopted by the Council or the Commission must state the reasons on which they are based and refer to any proposals or opinions which were required to be obtained pursuant to the TEC;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that decentralisation and devolution were key results of the process of reforming the Commission started in 1999, but that to date the Commission has submitted neither a study, nor an activity report nor an interim assessment of this form of administration; by the same token, the Commission has never given a convincing explanation of the added value provided by the agencies and of why their tasks could not equally well be performed within the Commission itself;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
14. Emphasises, in that connection, that between the year 2000 (publication of the White Paper on the Reform of the Commission) and 2007 the staff complement of the Commission and agencies (excluding executive agencies) increased by a total of 85%;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
15. Notes, in that connection, that in recent years the pace at which decentralised agencies are being set up has steadily increased, and that they are being established unsystematically and with no uniform framework: whereas in 1990 only three, in 1995 six, and in 2000 seven agencies existed, the 2008 budget lists no fewer than 25, seven of which have been added since 2005 alone;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
16. Emphasises, in that connection, that the agencies to which it grants discharge make up only a part of the total and that the increase in permanent and temporary posts for all the decentralised agencies from 166 in the year 2000 to a total of 3151 in 2007 (+1800%) clearly illustrates the problems in this area;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises further, in that connection, that average staff costs increased by more than 40% between 2006 and 2008;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
18. Emphasises finally, in that connection, that the subsidies paid to the agencies from the Community budget have increased disproportionately in recent years, that the appropriations from the Community budget paid to agencies to which Parliament grants discharge, which were established between 1975 and 1997 and have thus gone well beyond the start- up and initial growth phases, increased by some 90% between 2000 and 2008, and that during that period the subsidies paid to some of these agencies increased by more than 210%;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
19. Emphasises that only two agencies are not in any way dependent on EU subsidies, whilst most of them are funded exclusively from EU budget appropriations;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
20. Notes, in that connection, that a clear trend is emerging whereby the agencies revise their need for Community subsidies disproportionately upwards every six months, thus committing a steadily increasing proportion of the available appropriations, and that there are insufficient incentives to use financial resources sparingly;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
21. Takes the view that direct and indirect payments and subsidies to the agencies from host countries (e.g. funding for building projects, office facilities, municipal taxes, etc.) have made it impossible to draw up a comprehensive breakdown of the cost of the agencies and that this practice disguises the true costs;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
22. Takes the view that in most cases there has been no proper strategy underpinning the process of establishing agencies and that political considerations and factors, such as the attempt, with the help of the agencies, to influence the balance of power among the institutions, outweigh, and in some cases run entirely counter to, the original objectives, such as greater responsibility, transparency and efficiency in European administration;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
23. Takes the view that the lack of a proper strategy on setting up agencies has generated unnecessary costs and that the true costs have been hidden from taxpayers, since, for example, missing infrastructure has not been taken into account and additional costs – for instance for the construction of new office and conference buildings, the setting-up of new schools, the development of transport infrastructure in response to an increase in missions between places of work scattered throughout Europe, as a result of serious recruitment problems, etc. – have arisen as a result;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that the Commission's devolution policy has given rise to the duplication of work, above all in the area of administration, generating unnecessary additional costs and requiring the same know-how to be available several times over; notes, at the same time, that many agencies' administrative expenditure is far too high;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
25. Takes the view that, with a few exceptions, no efforts have been made systematically to involve the agencies in the work of the Commission and that the agencies' spheres of responsibility frequently relate only to areas covered by 'open coordination' and bear no relation to the European Union's real needs and taxpayers' expectations;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
26. Takes the view that the Commission no longer regards the decentralised agencies as a means of implementing its policies and has attempted to shed all responsibility for them, for example by stipulating that the Commission's Internal Auditor should no longer be responsible for auditing the decentralised agencies and should in future only confirm that their internal audit practices are consistent with international standards;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that in the case of some agencies the number of members of the administrative board exceeds the total number of staff, ruling out efficient and cost-effective decision-making;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
28. Notes, on that basis, that the aim behind the practice of devolution - which is seen as one of the three main aspects of externalisation policy and was put forward as a reform strategy by the Commission in its White Paper - namely the more efficient, more rational and more effective provision of responsible administration, has not been achieved through the setting-up of decentralised agencies and that the Commission's reform efforts in this area have failed;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the subsidiarity principle;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Commission to meet to the letter the requirements to justify compliance with the subsidiarity principle;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the principle of sound financial management;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
33. Calls for every decision on the final location of an agency to be taken when the regulation establishing that agency is adopted;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
34. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which provides for the number of full members of the administrative board of an agency to be reduced as quickly as possible to a figure equal to no more than 10% of the posts in that agency’s establishment plan and to no more than 20 in total;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
36. Requests that the performance of the agencies be regularly (and on an ad hoc basis) audited by the Court of Auditors or another independent auditor; considers that this should not be limited to traditional elements of financial management and the proper use of public money, but should also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness and should include a rating of the financial management of each agency;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36a. Takes the view that in the case of agencies which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts; is of the opinion that this will lead in the long run to less assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also to lower administrative costs;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 b (new)
36b. Notes that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc.; considers that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions and that most of the small agencies do not have the critical mass to be able to cope with these regulatory requirements; therefore asks the Commission to look for a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together, in order to achieve this critical mass (taking into consideration the necessary changes in the basic regulations governing the agencies and their budgetary independence), or urgently to draft specific rules for the agencies (in particular implementing rules for the agencies) which allow them to be in full compliance;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 c (new)
36c. Insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years, in particular in year n-1, and, revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly; invites its competent committee to respect this revision and, if not undertaken by the Commission, to revise itself the budget in question to a realistic level matching the absorption and implementation capacity of the agency in question;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 d (new)
36d. Recalls its decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2005, in which it invited the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency; invites all relevant institutions in the case of a negative evaluation of the added value of an agency to take the necessary steps by reformulating the mandate of that agency or by closing it; notes that there has not been one single evaluation undertaken by the Commission in 2007; insists that the Commission should present at least 5 such evaluations before the decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2007, starting with the oldest agencies;
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
37. Calls on the Council to agree to a binding horizontal funding ceiling for the agencies;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
38. Acknowledges that Parliament, as the body responsible for financial control of the agencies, creates unacceptable conflicts of interest through its practice of appointing members of the agencies’ administrative boards and management bodies, and calls, therefore, for Parliament to halt this practice;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 42 #
Privilegesdeleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges, in particular under budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
40. Refuses to accept that agency staff and members of their families should be able to undertake private travel paid for from the agency's budget;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
41. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which seeks to amend the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities, so that private travel by staff and members of their families, as governed by Annex VII, Section 3 C, Article 8, can no longer be paid for from public funds, and to achieve drastic savings in the area of staff privileges; Specific pointsdeleted Or. en
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61
61. Notes that the agency's administrative spending in 2006 accounted for a substantial proportion of its overall expenditure, making the effective and efficient performance of its tasks difficult;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62
62. Notes that no strict logic was applied to the choice of location for the agency and that as a result a substantial volume of unnecessary additional costs has arisen;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63
63. Notes that it is not clear how this activity can be carried out more efficiently and more effectively in a decentralised agency and in this location than in the Commission itself;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
64. Notes that in the financial year 2006 the cost of privileges for agency staff made up more than 6% of the agency's final budget;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
65. Notes that the cost of private travel for agency staff and members of their families is unacceptably high;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66
66. Notes that the agency's staff expenditure per post increased by 44% between the financial year 2006 and the 2008 preliminary draft budget;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
67. Notes that, in January 2008, OLAF launched an investigation in connection with the Agency and that results are not yet available;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
68. Notes that the number of members of the Management Board is unacceptably high and, as a result, efficient decision- taking is impossible;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69
69. Is of the opinion that because of direct and indirect financial contributions from the host country, cost transparency is difficult to achieve;deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
70. Notes that expenditure under budget Item 2050 was EUR 2109 per staff member and that this figure, by comparison with the other 19 agencies, is the second largest; calls therefore on the Agency to evaluate and reduce these costs immediately,deleted
2008/03/06
Committee: CONT