Activities of Inés AYALA SENDER related to 2015/2155(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas Parliament is the only institution among all the Institutions to grant discharge not to the Secretary- General or to a Vice-President in charge but rather to its President;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12a. Takes note that there was an inconsistency between the dates of the presentation of the draft report for the EP discharge and the possibilities to table complementary question to the SG. Urges the SG to provide answers before the vote in Committee to the questions presented by the rapporteur;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)

12b. Recalls that canteen services aim to provide quick restoration service to Members and staff. Is concerned by the limited space of the canteens in peak periods, in particular during plenary weeks in Strasbourg. Welcomes the availability of the new outdoor space that will partly address this whenever weather conditions allow it. Calls on the administration to further improve the Strasbourg canteen by making a more efficient use of all space available;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)

12c. Takes note that the secretary general only replied to the additional questions of the Members less than 24 hours before the deadline for amendments. Urges the secretary general to improve this situation;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes that Parliament started applying "fixed price contracts" for catering services; points out that the budgetary means required for catering services were quite insignificant, accounting for only 0,23 % of the annual budget; expects that pricing in Parliament catering outlets will remain stable following the repeated substantial increases in the prices of the menus offeredaccounting for 4 050 000 EUR (0,23 % of the annual budget ); Welcomes the Bureau's rules on the new catering services that aim to phase-out the Parliamentary subsidy. Expects stability of prices in Parliament catering outlets;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Takes note that the new contracts for catering activities in Brussels concluded in 2015 do not foresee exclusivity for one catering provider any longer; expects that the planned smaller catering outlets in Brussels will be operated, ~~on the basis of concessions, by small and medium-sized providers~~including SMEs, on the basis of diversity among the catering providers to ensure quality service at an affordable price;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Calls on the administration to evaluate and propose a price scheme that combines the new rules whilst ensuring the possibility of discount to interns, with affordable price menus choices;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17b. Notes the reply from the Secretary- General regarding the accessibility of the ePetition application to Members and to the general public; calls on the Secretary- General to inform it of the outcome of the Legal Service consultation and to assess the technical and budgetary cost of expanding the application's accessibility;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Acknowledges the quality of the exchange of views between the Vice President responsible for the budget, the Secretary-General and the Committee on Budgetary Control in the presence of the Member of the Court of Auditors and the Internal Auditor, on 4 February 2016; welcomes the Secretary-General for his availability and calls for more frequent opportunities to debate with him in the committee on Budgetary Control on matters with an impact on the EP budget.

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Takes note of the signature of the cooperation agreement with the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on 5 February 2014; calls for specific detailed provisions to be laid down concerning the functioning of the services shared by the three institutions; stresses that the implementation of the agreement must be balanced and benefit the three institutions equally; asks that the mid-term review of the agreement should include an assessment by each institution of the impact that the agreement is having in terms of human resources, synergies, added value, and substance, and to provide a detailed breakdown of the savings and/or increased budgetary expenditure resulting from the agreement, paying particular attention to staff chapters; asks to continue to be informed on the agreement follow-up;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Recalls that Parliament will recruit a maximum of 80 members of staff who are affected by the restructuring of the committees’ translation service and will work for the new European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS); expects thata maximum of 80 officials from the EESC and the Committee of the Regions (from the translation service and assistants) will be transferred to Parliament under this agreement, who will work for the new European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS); takes the view that this transfer should make it possible for Parliament’s in- house production ~~will~~to increase with less budgetary means devoted to outsourcing studies, assessments or evaluations; notes with concern that, up to now, 36 officials from the EESC and 44 officials from the Committee of the Regions have been transferred to the EPRS, for the most part very near to retirement age, whereby the EESC and the Committee of the Regions will make significant savings in staff chapters while Parliament’s budget will increase considerably in the short term (salaries) and in the medium and long term (pensions);

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Recalls that Parliament will recruit a maximum of 80 members of staff who are affected by the restructuring of the committees’' translation service and will work for the new European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS); expects that in- house ~~production~~efficiency will increase with less budgetary means devoted to outsourcing studies, assessments or evaluations;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21a. Stresses the need to make the work of Parliament's internal decision-making bodies, in particular the Bureau, more transparent and accessible; calls for meeting agendas and minutes to be published on the Internet and forwarded to members systematically and in good time;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Notes that after considerable delay, internal whistleblowing rules have been adopted and are in force since January 2016; expresses concern at the protection ~~afford~~granted to whistleblowers and calls on Parliament to ensure that their rights are fully ~~uphel~~respected;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)

22a. Notes that for the first time in the history of European elections, the European political parties agreed that the winning party should designate a candidate for the president of the European Commission; welcomes that the new 'Spitzenkandidat' procedure aims to address the democratic deficit of the election of the President of the European Commission and that it has positively resulted in an increase of the visibility of the role of the European Parliament as the key democratic institution of the Union;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that it was difficult to differentiate fully the President's political activities from his preparation as "Spitzenkandidat" to head the Party of European Socialists in the 2014 European elections; considers that an unequivocal distinction has not been made between the two roles; calls for a clear segregation of office holders' functions and candidates for European election campaigns; regrets the at least indirect use of Parliament staff to help prepare the campaign;deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that, as a result of the introduction of the new "Spitzenkandidat" procedure, it was difficult to differentiate ~~fully the President's~~the political activities ~~from his preparation as "Spitzenkandidat" to head the Party of European Socialists in the 2014 European elections; considers that an unequivocal distinction has not been~~of the candidates of the European political parties from their preparation for the 2014 European elections; welcomes all the information provided by the President, which demonstrates that it was possible to differentiate his political activities as Spitzenkandidat; considers that a clear distinction should always be made between the ~~two~~ roles~~; calls for a clear segregation of offic~~ of office holders (President, presidents of the hpol~~ders' function~~itical groups), MEPs and candidates for ~~European elect~~President of the Commission; ca~~mpaigns; regrets the at least indirect use of Parliament staff to help prepare the campaign;~~ lls for a clear separation of office holders' functions and activities as candidates in European elections;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23a. Mandates EPRS to conduct a comparative analysis of the legal framework governing the compatibilities of candidates that run for election campaigns in other international organisations and in the Member States (election of Prime minister, Secretary General, Chancellor, etc.);

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Welcomes the delivered list of the missions undertaken by the President in the first six months of the election year in answer to the questionnaire concerning the 2014 discharge; would like to request additional information on the transportation used by the President from Brussels to these meetings and whether private flights were also chartered;deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Welcomes the delivered list of the missions undertaken by the President in the first six months of the election year in answer to the questionnaire concerning the 2014 discharge; w~~ould like to request~~elcomes the additional information on the transportation used by the President from Brussels to these meetings and wthe further ~~private flights were also chartered~~details of the flight chartered to Lyon to allow the participation of the President in the 70th anniversary of the first deportations of Jewish children from Izieu to Auschwitz;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes that in the period from 22 January to 18 April, the official international missions undertaken by the President were mostly with government and official representations attached to socialist parties and organisations; calls for further information in this regard;deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes that in the period from 22 January to 18 April, the official international missions undertaken by the President were mostly with government and official representations attached to socialist parties and organisations; calls for further information in ~~this~~ regard to similar activities of other MEPs who acted as "Spitzenkandidaten";

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Requests further information on the reasons for the President being accompanied by officials in the final days of the election campaign; requests also concrete information on the meetings that have not been listed in the answer to question 15 of the questionnaire;deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Requests further information on the reasons for the President being accompanied by officials in the final days of the election campaign; requests also concrete information on the meetings that have not been listed in the answer to question 15 of the questionnaireall "Spitzenkandidaten", in case they were accompanied by officials and other statutory staff not on leave during the election campaign; welcomes the complementary information given by the President and requests the same level of transparency from the other candidates;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Recalls its discharge resolution for the financial year 201210 , in which detailed information was called for "on how the President, as a politically neutral figure, has kept his duties in office separate from his preparations to head the Socialists and Democrats' list in the European elections, in particular with regard to the staff in his cabinet and in Parliament's information offices and to travel expenses"(par. 51); __________________ 10Resolution of the European Parliament, of 16 April 2014, with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section I — European Parliament (OJ L 266, 5.9.2014, p. 3).deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. ~~Recalls its discharge resolution for the financial year 201210 , in which detailed information was called for "on~~ Welcomes all the information received in due time which makes clear "how the President, as a politically neutral figure, has kept his duties in office separate from his preparations to head the Socialists and Democrats' list in the European elections, in particular with regard to the staff in his cabinet and in Parliament's information offices and to travel expenses" (par. 51) of the 2012 Discharge resolution10); requests the same level of information for all "Spitzenkandidaten" to the 2014 European elections; __________________ 10 Resolution of the European Parliament, of 16 April 2014, with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section I — European Parliament (OJ L 266, 5.9.2014, p. 3).

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Recalls its discharge resolution for the financial year 201210 , in which detailed information was called for "on how the President, as a politically neutral figure, has kept his duties in office separate from his preparations to head the Socialists and Democrats' list in the European elections, in particular with regard to the staff in his cabinet and in Parliament's information offices and to travel expenses"(par. 51)Deplores the use of the 201210 discharge procedure to gain political advantage one month before the 2014 European elections; recalls that the protection of the financial interests of the Union should be as rigorous and impartial as possible, and that it should be avoided any campaign confrontations in order to regain the citizen's trust on the European institutions; __________________ 10 Resolution of the European Parliament, of 16 April 2014, with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section I — European Parliament (OJ L 266, 5.9.2014, p. 3).

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Regrets that the budget line for the provision of drinking water in meeting rooms will expire in July 2016; regards the availability of ~~mineral~~ water during long meetings as appropriate, both in summer and winter; criticises the excessive savings in service provision (such as paper, coffee, drinking water, canteens); calls for a rethinking of the saving targets for the committee weeks of the Parliament that doesn't harm its working environment;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Recalls that the GEA is intended to cover expenditure in the Member State of election, such as a Members’ office rent, equipment, supplies, documentation or logistical organisation of events; takes note that a comprehensive system of control of the Member's parliamentary mandate allowance would represent 40 to 75 new administrative posts in the area of financial management, with the consequent impact on the present staff reduction scheme;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. C~~alls additionally for a report by the administ~~onsiders that the declarations on which former managers, CEOs, directors and board members in relevant European NGOs are now Members of the Parliament; calls in addition for a personal declaration from those Members stating the extent to which their current political activities have been shaped by their previous engagemf interests of Members together with their CVs should represent a fair and comprehensive picture of the background, financial interests and previous activities of each Member; regrets that some Members did not include all relevant information when taking office in 2014, which can represents a~~nd whether they still receive financial, personal and administrative support from their previous employers~~ reputational risk for Parliament if made public;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)

35a. Recalls the obligation of Members to immediately inform the administration of any change in their declarations of interests; regrets that the CVs and declarations of interests of the Members elected in 2014 have been uploaded to Parliament's website very lately;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. Calls for a report by the administration on the ~~extent to which - besides economic panels - environmental and social associations, NGOs and interest groups organi~~use of the Parliament's premises by interest groups and other external organisations; calls on the bureau to examine the compatibility of these events ~~in P~~with parliament~~; wonders if there are guidelines that exclude the disproportionate presence of such organisations in Parliament~~ary work whilst ensuring that Parliament remains an institution open to exchange with civil society and to public debate;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 b (new)

37b. Calls for the websites of the interparliamentary delegations to be developed and supplied with content as a matter of urgency; also considers it vital that, budget permitting, public meetings of the delegations should be broadcast live via webstreaming, as parliamentary committee meetings are;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)

38a. Considers that due to the limited resources of the institution and in order to avoid duplications, the new EPRS Directorate should help and complement the existing capacities in DG IPOL and EXPO; recalls that DG IPOL and EXPO should be strengthen on its role to consolidate the core business of Parliament i.e. adoption and implementation control of the Union legislation, budget setting and budget control and international agreements; calls EPRS to focus more its activities in providing specialist support to requests of political groups and individual Members on subjects relevant to parliamentary business;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)

41b. Is deeply concerned by the staff transferred from DG EXPO and DG IPOL to DG ERPS affecting negatively the resources available to perform critical tasks for the core parliamentary business of the institution. Given the present situation of reduction of legislative initiatives by the Commission which could undermine the role of Parliament, calls on the Secretary General to further strengthen the resources available to these services in order that Parliament effectively plays on an equal footing when dealing with the legislative development and implementation as well as budgetary responsibilities;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 c (new)

41c. Urges DG EPRS to further differentiate its publications from the official positions of Parliament to avoid confusion in the public and media; welcomes the introduction of the disclaimer in all publications; calls DG EPRS to make it more visible and not only on the back page, and to introduce additional features for an easy distinction with the official adopted positions of Parliament;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51

51. Recommends that the member state ~~where~~in which the Parliamentarian facilities are established partly finance their establishment and running costs;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Inés AYALA SENDER, Bogusław LIBERADZKI, Silvia COSTA, Petra KAMMEREVERT, Sabine VERHEYEN, Helga TRÜPEL, Jana TOOM, Curzio MALTESE, Mircea DIACONU, Jens GEIER, Eider GARDIAZABAL RUBIAL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52

52. ~~Criticizes the total cost~~Takes note that the expenditure ofn the LUX Film Prize i~~n 2014, which reached an all-time high of EUR 906 902~~tself in 2014 amounted to EUR 391 506, which is significantly reduced from previous years (2013: EUR 448 000; (2012: EUR 434 421)~~; deeply regrets the fact that the results of a survey on awareness of~~, to cover the official selection, the competition including subtitling into the 24 official languages of the Union and prints for screenings in the 28 Member States, and the award ceremony; Reminds that advertising and promoting the LUX Film Prize, together with the Sakharov prize and women's rights, aims to illustrate Parliament's commitment to consensual values as human rights and solidarity as well as its commitment to cultural and linguistic diversity. Acknowledges the amount of EUR 193 805 in advertising the LUX- Film Prize, ~~requested in the 2013 discharge report, is not yet available; calls for the results of this study~~that reached, via social media mainly, ca. 10 million people, including 23 000 followers on Facebook. Recognises the constant commitment from the European Parliament Information Offices (EPIOs) to the LUX Film Prize and recalls the expenditure for screenings and related events amounted to EUR 317 434 in 2014, which shows a yearly average of ca. EUR 9 000 per EPIO and EUR 9 per participant (on the basis of 35 227 participants in the Member States). Calls for the results of the survey on awareness of the LUX Film Prize, requested in the 2013 discharge report, to be available to the public by mid-May ~~2016 and~~at the latest and asks for an official presentation of the results to be made ~~to its~~jointly to the Committee on Budgetary Control; and the Committee on Culture and Education;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54 a (new)

54a. Considers that the increase in Parliament’s powers resulting from the Lisbon Treaty and the more ambitious and urgent tasks for the Union institutions in areas such as economic governance, the refugee crisis and the terrorist threat are hard to reconcile with the planned staff cuts for the period 2013- 2017;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54 b (new)

54b. Points out that the 5% staff reduction embarked on in 2013 is in some cases jeopardising the quality of the public service provided to European citizens and is having a negative impact on the health, motivation and individual and family well-being of staff working for Parliament; notes that these measures are causing certain positions to remain unfilled, given the decline in wages and working conditions in the European civil service;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58

58. Notes that APAs made up 26,7 % of Parliament staff at the end of 2014; recalls that the contracts of some 1700 APAs employed during the seventh parliamentary term came to an end in July 2014 and a major operation undertaken by the Directorate-General for Personnel for the recruitment of 1 686 APAs was drawn up before the end of 2014 to ~~serve~~work with Members during the eighth parliamentary term;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 b (new)

58b. Emphasises that subsistence allowances received by accredited parliamentary assistants travelling to Strasbourg are at least 21% less than those of other staff; deplores the fact that the Bureau has not responded to the request made by Parliament in paragraph 74 of its resolution of 29 April 2015; calls once again on the Bureau to take the necessary measures to remedy this inequality and bring parliamentary assistants’ allowances into line with those of other staff;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 c (new)

58c. Deplores the fact that the Bureau has failed to take any action at all in response to paragraph 71 of Parliament’s resolution of 29 April 2015; calls on the Bureau to take the necessary measures as a matter of urgency to ensure that the composition of the Advisory Committee on harassment and its prevention at the workplace responsible for APAs is balanced and that it includes at least two representatives of the parliamentary assistants;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 d (new)

58d. Notes with satisfaction the measures taken to organise the management of APA contracts in view of the start of the new parliamentary term, and in particular the smooth operation of the APAPeople application; considers, however, that more administrative staff should have been assigned to APA recruitment in certain areas to ensure greater speed and efficiency; points out that staffing and technical resources were insufficient to avoid delays in the signing of contracts for some assistants, interruption of contracts, and delays in the calculation of expenses and other allowances, and hence in the payment of salaries; acknowledges nevertheless that the process has improved significantly compared to 2009, while also noting that Parliament must persevere in its efforts to increase the speed and efficiency of its recruitment procedures;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 e (new)

58e. Calls on the Secretary-General and the Bureau to look into and resolve problems arising from possible maladministration by the Institution in relation to APAs, for example delays in signing contracts at the beginning of the parliamentary term, interruption of contracts, the implications of early European Parliament elections for minimum contribution periods, etc., and for APA representatives to be involved in the search for solutions;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 f (new)

58f. Notes the progress made in adapting training courses to the specific needs of APAs; nevertheless considers it vital to make further progress in this direction, in particular as regards specific training, tailored timetables and intensive language courses, which are organised only during periods when most APAs have to take their annual leave; calls for account to be taken of the specific circumstances of APAs with regard to the timing of activities organised to increase well-being at work (mindfulness), lunchtime conferences, etc.;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 g (new)

58g. Considers it crucial, in the interests of equal opportunities and respect for employment rights, for the classification of APAs in their respective grades to be carried out by Parliament in future;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 h (new)

58h. Asks that, in the interests of transparency, Parliament’s annual report should cover activities organised and financed by the Staff Committee from the Institution’s budget, detailing the types of activity, the expenses incurred and compliance with sound financial management;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61

61. Notes that since June 2014, some 1000 staff from DGs IPOL, EXPO and EPRS moved in to the Square de Meeûs building; recalls that this removal was the first key stage in the process of making additional space available to Members in Parliament’s main buildings; regrets that the two services that work close with Members have been physically segregated from the main buildings creating additional difficulties to perform core parliamentary business; wishes to be informed on the next steps of Parliament with a concrete timeline for when additional offices will be made available;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 a (new)

61a. Calls on the administration to arrange facilities in the main EP's buildings for the staff working in the Square de Meeûs, including a room to consult restricted access documents for Members;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63

63. Deems overdue a renovation of the Paul-Henri Spaak building, including an extension of the building and an expansion of the seminar rooms for visitors and offices spaces for Members of the Parliament; supports the administration's planning, but stresses that it must be conducted on the basis of the current number of Members and not on the numbers in a possible - and unrealistic - enlargement of the Union;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65

65. Notes that the average number of hours per week that staff interpreters spent in their booths in 2014 ~~delivering interpretation services was 10,7 hours/week;~~ was lower than in previous years; acknowledges that 2014 was not a typical year for interpreters as the volume of parliamentary activity and demand for interpretation was lower than in a normal year, due to the elections; however, welcomes the initiatives taken by DG INTE to counterbalance the reduction in parliamentary activity during the election period with, inter alia, additional training and providing interpretation to other institutions;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 b (new)

65b. Considers that measuring the professional activity of interpreters solely on the basis of time spent in the booth can be misleading as interpreters' duties also include meeting preparation, language learning and maintenance, subject-based and other specialised training, on-call duty at home and on Parliament's premises, testing of new interpreters, training support to universities and other interpreter training centres, mission- related travel and administrative tasks, etc.;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 d (new)

65d. Calls on the administration to make sure that any changes to working conditions reflect internationally- recognised safeguards designed to protect both quality and interpreters' health and to take into account all the activities that interpreters perform whilst ensuring a high quality interpreting service with the flexibility that a political institution like Parliament requires; calls on the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to make the administrative support to interpreters more efficient;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 f (new)

65f. Calls on the administration to exclude leave and sick leave when calculating the average number of hours spent by interpreters in the booth;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 b (new)

66b. Welcomes the fact that the continued implementation of the Bureau decision on resource-efficient full multilingualism has in 2014 again resulted in a reduction in expenditure on the budget lines dedicated to interpretation;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67

67. Insists that ~~larg~~some efficiency gains ~~are still possible in the supply of interpretation, notably by enhancing the efficiency of a service currently hampered by rules dating from 2005 that are no longer compatible~~could also be possible in Directorates B and C of DG INTE/DG INTE's administrative support units and by adapting the rules to the new current meeting patterns of the institution; calls on DG INTE to rein in the expansion of administrative services within the ~~current meeting patterns of the institu~~DG if it is to the detriment of interpretation;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 b (new)

67b. Is concerned by the fact that responsibility for meeting organisation and conference management is scattered across different DGs and worried by the recent unprecedented closures of some language booths due to insufficient recruitment of interpreters; calls urgently upon the Secretary-General to improve the system of demand of interpretation and to address the concerns of recruitment of interpreters;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68

68. Calls upon the sSecretary g-General to ~~modernise~~adapt the framework for the management of interpretation, with a view to ~~increasing individual productivity and to bringing the working practice~~bringing the working practices of interpreters into line with the meeting patterns of the House as well as guaranteeing the statutory rights of the interpreters ~~into line with the changed needs of the house~~; calls upon the Secretary-General to reach an acceptable agreement with the representatives of the interpreters;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69

69. Encourages the travel agency to an intensify comparison of prices. Calls on the travel agency to actively seek less expensive tickets when booking and, in general, to offer more competitive prices; notes with concern that the staff in the travel agency have partly gained a reputation for their lack of cooperation and professionalism; calls for an improved serviceWelcomes that DG FINS's instructions to the travel agency to look for best prices are being implemented effectively by the agency; notes that the choice of competitive fares can sometimes be at the expense of flexibility and /or financial penalties which can represent more expenses to the budget of the Union ( i.e. cancellation of a delegation for externals reasons can result in a financial loss if the cheapest choice arrangements were chosen);

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 b (new)

69b. Takes notes of the difficulties of dealing with requests of travel arrangements for an institution of the size and duties of Parliament and with the particularities ( flexibility, last minute cancellations) inherent to the nature of its work;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 c (new)

69c. Welcomes the professionalism of travel agency staff when providing advice to Members and staff; calls DG FINS to elaborate a survey among users on the level of service satisfaction in order to identify further areas of improvement;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 d (new)

69d. Calls DG FINS in close cooperation with DG SAFE and DG COMM to re- evaluate contingency plans for emergency situations to better address new security threats, in particular for missions between the different sites of the institution;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72

72. ~~Call~~Urges for the results of the external assessment requested by Parliament in its above-mentioned discharge resolution for the financial year 2013 to be delivered in due time; ~~identifies the board of the voluntary pension fund as responsible for the extent of the fund’s deficit; calls for a sole concept for the~~ calls on the Bureau to make immediately after the reception of the external assessment a proposal for a comprehensive action plan including approprivat~~e pension fund, to decrease the liabilities of this fu~~ions to address Parliament's responsibilities and; e~~stimates necessary to decrease the retirement benefits for the participant~~nsure the rights of the members of the pension fund;.

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78

~~78. Criticises the conversion of the Twitter official account of the “President of the European Parliament” into a personal campaign vehicle leading to a party website;~~deleted

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78

78. ~~Criticis~~Welcomes the c~~onvers~~reation of the Twitter official account of the “"President of the European Parliament~~” into a personal campaign vehicle leading to a party website~~" at the beginning of the campaign in order to separate clearly the activities of the President from the candidate ones;

2016/03/14
Committee: CONT