[ParlTrack]

Proposal for a regulation
Recital -1 (new)

(-1) The Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union should complement regulations on administrative procedures in achieving the objective laid down in Article 298 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, by ensuring, that in carrying out their missions, the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union have the support of an open, efficient and independent European administration.

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Eva LICHTENBERGER

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)

(2a) Believes that the Commission proposal, which mainly tries to make savings to the detriment of low grade staff, is problematic in terms of social justice;

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Eva LICHTENBERGER

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)

(3a) The savings achieved by means of the reforms introduced by this Regulation should be better distributed among the whole range of ranks by the creation of a progressive rate for the solidarity levy, to be linked to the height of staff grades.

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Eva LICHTENBERGER, Gerald HÄFNER

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 5 a (new)

Staff Regulations
Article 11 a

5a. Article 11a shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 11a 1. An official shall not, in the performance of his duties and save as hereinafter provided, deal with a matter in which, directly or indirectly, he has any personal interest such as to impair his independence, and, in particular, family and financial interests, or any other conflict of interest, for example, relating to previous employment undertaken in the past two years. All newly appointed officials shall be required, before starting work, to complete a comprehensive "declaration of interest" form which includes information about previous employers and/or previous clients. Such forms shall be scrutinised by the Appointing Authority. 2. On the basis of that scrutiny, the Appointing Authority shall relieve the official from responsibility in any matter in which he has an interest as referred to in paragraph 1. Additional appropriate measures may also be taken to ensure that the risk of conflicts of interest is eliminated. All institutions shall regularly publish a list of all such disqualifications. 3. An official may neither keep nor acquire, directly or indirectly, in undertakings which are subject to the authority of the institution to which he belongs or which have dealings with that institution, any interest of such kind or magnitude as might impair his independence in the performance of his duties.';

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Eva LICHTENBERGER, Gerald HÄFNER

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 5 b (new)

Staff Regulations
Article 16

5b. Article 16 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 16 An official shall, after leaving the service, continue to be bound by the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance of certain appointments or benefits. Officials intending to engage in an occupational activity, whether gainful or not, within two years of leaving the service shall inform their institution thereof, using the form provided by their service, before commencing the occupational activity in question. If that activity will involve lobbying or providing advice on lobbying Union institutions, or could lead to the existence or possibility of a conflict with the legitimate interests of the institution, the Appointing Authority shall, having regard to the interests of the service, forbid him from undertaking it for a period of two years after he has left the service and apply any other conditions it thinks fit. The institution shall, after consulting the Joint Committee, notify its decision within 30 working days of being so informed formally and in writing to the official concerned. The Appointing Authority shall also apply sanctions in cases of breaches of this Article or of its decisions regarding specific occupational activities. Such sanctions shall include withholding, fully or in part, financial or non-financial benefits accrued by the (former) official. All institutions shall regularly publish a list of all cases assessed under this Article, without prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data1, and shall produce an annual report which includes statistical information and details of emerging trends. Leave on personal grounds may not be granted to an official for the purpose of his engaging in an occupational activity, whether gainful or not, which will involve lobbying or providing advice on lobbying an Union institution or which could lead to the existence or possibility of a conflict with the legitimate interests of his service. During the two years following his retirement or early retirement, the Appointing Authority shall send the official an annual reminder about his obligations under this Article. _______________ 1 OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.';

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Martin EHRENHAUSER, Monica MACOVEI, Eva LICHTENBERGER

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 6 a (new)

Staff Regulations
Article 22 a

6a. Article 22a shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 22a 1. Any official who, in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties, becomes aware of or honestly believes in the existence of breaches of law, non-compliance by other officials with obligations deriving from fundamental ethical principles, waste and/or risks detrimental to the interests of the European Union shall have the right to inform and to provide supporting information to either his immediate superior or his Director General, or the persons in equivalent positions, or the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) directly, if the matter concerns the competences of OLAF. Each institution must also provide a channel of communication which allows for the anonymous bilateral communication of messages in accordance with this Article. 2. Each institution shall ensure that any official who communicates information in accordance paragraph 1 ("whistleblower") receives prompt confirmation of receipt of that information and is informed within four weeks of the approximate amount of time needed for analysis of his message, which should not exceed six months. If that period is exceeded, the whistleblower shall be informed of the reasons for the need to extend it and of the estimated total duration. The same shall apply for every consecutive period of three months. 3. If preliminary analysis gives reason to believe that the matter involves areas falling within the competences of OLAF, the case shall be transferred to OLAF. The whistleblower shall be informed promptly of that transfer. In relation to the whistleblower and the way in which of whistle blowing is handled, OLAF shall have the same obligations as the initial recipient and his institution. 4. Each institution shall ensure that the identity of the whistleblower is treated as confidentially as possible. The institution and/or OLAF shall also be responsible for informing the whistleblower immediately of any breaches of, or risks to, anonymity and confidentiality. 5. Each institution shall ensure that each whistle blowing message is analysed. Analyses shall be impartial, adequate, prompt, properly documented, done by competent bodies and cannot be influenced by people accused or suspected by the whistleblower. The whistleblower shall have the right to be properly informed and heard before an analysis is finished. He shall also be informed of the final outcome and shall have the right to access the documents relating thereto. 6. The procedural, privacy and data protection rights of all persons involved, and the secrecy needs of the institutions, shall be respected throughout the processing of whistle blowing cases. 7. An official shall not suffer any prejudice as a result of his whistle blowing or the handling thereof by the institution, and shall be protected by the institution against any such prejudice that arises or could arise from acts by other officials or third parties. If the whistleblower suffers prejudice the relation of which could be attributed to his whistleblowing, cannot be excluded the institution shall be obliged to prove that such a relation did not exist. 8. Undue interference by an official in the processing of a whistle blowing case (for example, in the form of manipulation of an analysis or any act causing prejudice to a whistleblower) shall render that official liable to disciplinary action. An official who abuses the whistle blowing process shall also be liable to disciplinary action if it can be shown that he had knowingly raised a false concern or knowingly provided false information. 9. The institutions shall establish a system of internal support providing independent, confidential counselling to potential whistleblowers, and shall communicate their whistle blowing policy in a transparent and constructive manner. Mechanisms shall be established for the anonymous communication to whistleblowers of information concerning measures successfully taken in concrete cases, such as the detection of risks, avoidance of wrongdoing, sanctioning of wrongdoers, avoidance of retaliation and sanctioning of malicious whistle blowing. 10. The institutions shall monitor and regularly evaluate the application of this Article and shall take proactive measures, provide risk-awareness and whistle blowing training, with a view to promoting best practice in the application of these provisions. A coordinated system for the registration, tracking and tracing of disclosures shall be established, without prejudice to paragraph 6. 11. This Article shall also apply in any case in which an official exercises his rights under Article 21a or where an official has a duty to report any of the matters referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.';

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Martin EHRENHAUSER, Monica MACOVEI, Eva LICHTENBERGER

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 6 b (new)

Staff Regulations
Article 22 b

6b. Article 22b shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 22b 1. A whistleblower who honestly believes that his rights under Article 22a have not been respected or that breaches of law have been committed by officials in grade AD 14 or above and/or by Members of his Institution or OLAF shall be entitled to inform and provide supporting information to the President of the Commission or of the Court of Auditors (if the areas of the competences of the Court of Auditors are concerned) or of the Council or of the European Parliament or to the European Ombudsman. 2. A whistleblower who honestly believes that his rights under paragraphs 1 and 3 have not been respected shall be entitled to inform and provide supporting information about suspected wrongdoing detrimental to the interests of the Union or suspected criminal behaviour on the part of officials and/or Members of his institution to any Member of the European Parliament and, if the matter falls within the competences of the Court of Auditors, to the Court of Auditors. 3. The rights and obligations laid down by Article 22a shall respectively apply to whistleblowers and recipients of information under this Article. A recipient of information under this Article shall have the right to question a previously involved recipient and/or institution about the way in which the whistle blowing has been handled and shall be provided with the necessary information enabling him to analyse the matter. 4. Where Union legislation confers on other bodies outside the Union institutions the necessary competences to confidentially assess matters (within the institutions) that could be the subject of disclosures by officials, officials may also address those bodies under the conditions laid down in this Article. 5. The recipients of information referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 shall also have the right to inform the public if they deem this to be necessary. 6. If a whistleblower is the subject of disciplinary or other procedures for non- compliance with the recipient-limitations laid down by Article 22a or by this Article and/or, for example, for having provided information to the media and/or the public, any measure taken against him shall take into account whether the information provided was true or the whistleblower believed it to be true. The public interests in the matter shall also be taken into account.';

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Eva LICHTENBERGER

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – point 32 – point a

Staff Regulations
Article 66 a – paragraph 2

2. The rate of this solidarity levy, which shall apply to the base defined in paragraph 3, shall ~~be 6 %.~~ vary between 6 % and 12 %. From AST1/AD1 up to AST3/AD3, the solidarity levy shall not apply. The rate of 6% shall apply from AST/AD 4 up to AST/AD9. Starting from AST10/AD10 the rate shall be progressive so as to reach 12 % for grades 16.

2012/03/20
Committee: JURI

Activities of Eva LICHTENBERGER related to 2011/0455(COD)

Shadow reports (1)

Legal basis opinions (0)

Amendments (8)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024