11 Amendments of Thijs BERMAN related to 2008/2026(BUD)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1.Welcomes the proposal of the Commission for a regulation establishing a facility for rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries1, as a timely response to the real hardship caused by soaring food prices for the world’s poorest population and aimed at promptly increasing agricultural productivity; calls for the necessary funding to be made available, while safeguarding compliance with the rules of the budgetary procedure laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement2 and addressing adequately the fact that some Member States fulfil their ODA commitments and others do not, provided that the funds allocated will be subject to recognised standards of control and accountability;
Amendment 2 #
1. Considers that the EU institutions, following its request that they present realistic and fully cost-based budget drafts corresponding to real needs, have cooperated in a constructive way so as now to arrive at final proposals that take into account the expectations of citizens and the need for financial rigour;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that, overall, there is still room for improvement and more effective use of budget resources in a number of areas and considers that these include increased inter- institutional cooperation, better use of performance targets, forecasting tools and benchmarking against best practice, further use of staff mobility and redeployment in order to keep increases in check and also demonstration of a solid grip on all expenses related to travel, allowances and, perhaps, translation, and especially, building costs;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Warmly welcomes the improved cooperation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets which has provided a solid foundation for the preparatory work leading up to the first reading of the budget, as well as during the guidelines and estimates stages; underlines the willingness of both parties to further continue and make a success of the pilot process in order to resolve differences at an early stage while, at the same time, maintaining the formal prerogatives of each body;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers nevertheless, that some practical difficulties will have to be ironed out in order to facilitate and further improve cooperation further, notably clear improvements on necessary information and reports being made available within appropriate time- limits and in at least two official languages before the first reading;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Acknowledges that significant developments, with a clear budgetary impact, have occurred since its adoption of the Estimates and that, in consequence, certain adjustments are now called for; stresses particularly, in this regard, budgetary changes brought about by the Irish referendumsuspension of the entry into force onf the Treaty of Lisbon, by further progress made concerning the neweparations for the implementation of the new Statute for Assistants' regime, by updated forecasts for the Members' Statute and, also, by the rise of energy prices;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recognises that significant efforts of redeployment have been and will be made in order to limit staff increases and related costs; stresses, nevertheless, that the Bureau and the Administration will need to keep a consistent focus on this issue forin future years and will also need to communicate the Parliament's priorities much more effectively in order to make the underlying assumptions better understoodfurther balance the distribution of human resources between core legislative activities, direct services to Members and administrative support functions; as a first and significant step, welcomes the analytical and cleardetailed establishment plan presented, albeit later than plannedwith delay and after the deadline for tabling budgetary amendments for the first reading; wishes to be kept continually informed about this issue in the future;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Approves the changes to the Establishment Plan of the secretariat as contained in the tabled budgetary amendments, totalling _XX posts and __ upgradings; maintains in reserve the appropriations related to a limited number of posts pending further analysis of the needs and clarification regarding a better balance in the distribution of human resources between core legislative activities, direct services to Members and administrative support functions during 2009;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Considers that daily allowances for Members of the European Parliament for Fridays following plenary part-sessions in Strasbourg should be abolished, and asks the Bureau to act accordingly.
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Decides to fix the general abatement rate at 3,5%, a level close to that which the Court itself is suggesting,% and restores the corresponding appropriations; notes that this should ensure the Court's full operability while still representing a saving on the original proposals;