Activities of Thijs BERMAN related to 2008/2021(BUD)
Plenary speeches (1)
2009 budget guidelines - (sections I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII et IX) (debate)
Amendments (11)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the opening of the question of the voluntary 20% share of the Parliament presented in the Bureau's document; wishes to recall that successive budgets have shown surpluses at the end of the year and, although it is true that someready to consider additional expenditures that will certainly be needed for the particular demands of 2009, wishes to review all expenditure posts while smaintaying within the 20% share; 1 Including EUR 78 000 000 in staff contributions for pensionsing 20% as an upper limit; Or. en
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is of the opinion that a tendency to temperance is a virtue when establishing the budget, although this may not necessarily hold true in other circumstances; welcomes, therefore, the Secretary-General's intention to carefully examine all expenditure before making detailed proposals, especially since; insists that the forthcoming draft estimates reflect as closely as possible the final proposal for the EP expenditure from the administration and the Bureau, unless there are specific grounds for doing otherwise, especially now that the Bureau and COBU have adopted a new pilot conciliation procedure; belives that such an approach will send a good message to the taxpayer in the Euopean Union and, also, serve the Parliament well in the run- up to the review of the multi-annual financial framework; considers that this examination should be available in good time for the preparation of the 1st reading;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that all efforts should be made to fully assist members to carry out their responsibilities in this new context and that the appropriate structures and facilities must be put in place; underlines that such changes are not new to the Parliament and that growing co-decision powers have been smoothly integrated into its structures following previous treaty changes; stresses that the transition from consultation procedures to codecision procedures does not necessarily mean a doubling of the workload of parliamentary committees;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Wishes to see an assessment of the structure and capacity of the committee secretariats in order to ensure that they are ready to step up the quality of their legislative work; is surprised at recent claims that a mere 6% of staff work on committees and invites; calls for this percentage to be increased, where possible, by means of a staff redeployment; Calls on the Secretary- General to clarify this matterprovide, before 1 July 2008, and to suggest appropriate solutions in order to stre mid-term evaluation of human resource needs as well as a detailed organisation chart of all staff (officials and other agents) working in the administration; in this connection, believes that particular emphasis should be placed on analysing then this core activity staff assisting Members of the European Parliament in their legislative work;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Draws particular attention to the importance it attaches to decentralised communication measures that also involve regional and local media; considers this the most cost-effective way to achieve the targeted information necessary and, furthermore, insists that members should be able participate in and influenceshow a more proactive attitude towards such initiatives; sincerely hopes that the 2009 budget will reflect these concerns;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Will monitor in this regard the financing of three major information- related projects which are meant to be fully operational by 2009 and directed towards citizens, i.e. the visitors centre, and the audiovisual centre and; whereas the web-TV project; wishes to see a realistic and prudent approach concerning the mobilisation of resources required in function of the political decisions agreed, should be operational before 1 July 2008; while noting that this area has already seen substantial growth in recent years; requests to receive information on the expected orbelieves the web-TV project will achieved added value from the investment under communication policy, as it offers easy access to all Union citizens to the proceedings of the Parliament;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Also notes the proposal to earmark funds for a " House of European History" project in the Bureau's document and looks forward to receiving a more detailed analysis concerning the financial and budgetary elements; believes however that it is not the primary responsibility of the Parliament to finance a museum from its administrative budget; wishes to see support for this important project also from the Commission;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Attaches high importance to increased transparency and clarification concerning the work contractsCalls on the working group set up within the Bureau to put forward, together with the competent Commission services, proposals relating to a statute for Members' assistants to be forwarded as a matter of urgency to the Council for adoption under the French presidency so that it can become applicable ofn the assistants of Members of the European Parliament; awaits proposals from the Secretary General in this regarsame day as the new Members' Statute; believes that this proposed statute would ensure equal treatment of Members' assistants that is also transparent, and help ensure that tax and social obligations, such as salaries and social security rights, are fulfilled;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Insists that environmental concerns should be a key element of its policy; believes that further improvements in terms of energy efficiency are necessary, including thef a climate-neutral Parliament is to be achieved and a minimal carbon footprint which takes into consideration of green energy sources; awaits more detailed information on the results of the EMAS action plan on the possible use of solar panels as well as on improvements in renewing Parliament's car fleet with hybrid cars, as requested in its resolution on the 2008 budget guidelines;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Considers that staffing levels have now entered a phase of consolidation following the very significant increases made with the last enlargements; calls on all services and the political groups to provide realistic requests for staffinga detailed analysis and justification of staff deployment in Parliament´s various departments before making any requests for staffing and creating any new posts, and to use possibilities of re-deployment whenever posfeasible; considers that this budgetary exercise shall constitute a continuation of such efforts in 2008, while recognising the special challenges for 2009 and the fact that redeployment possibilities will vary from one year to the next;