43 Amendments of Inés AYALA SENDER related to 2016/2152(DEC)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Regrets that once again, following the European elections in 2014, the discharge procedure is being used for systematic attacks of a purely political nature on the former President of the European Parliament, which means that the current procedure is being conditioned by exclusively national electoral considerations, thereby detracting from the image and reputation of the institution and its President;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Regrets, in this case, the failure to respect even the code of ethics agreed within the Committee on Budgetary Control to avoid igniting local and national electoral contests and disputes through budgetary control activities (taking account of the electoral calendar in the planning of delegations, missions, etc.)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Notes that the attacks on the former President of Parliament, in documents leaked to the German press containing 'alternative data' clearly taken out of context have been timed to coincide with his nomination as socialist candidate for the Chancellorship in the German elections, following survey findings confirming his standing as a real alternative to the current government; regrets the contorted nature of these attacks that are designed to involve the 2015 discharge procedure in Parliament, thereby setting a negative precedent for the institution regarding future discharge procedures.
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Calls on the AFCO Committee and the Conference of Presidents in this connection to draw up and submit as soon as possible a code of ethics and conduct for Members in order to prevent the contorted use and leakage of 'alternative data' which (aside from personal data protection requirements) adversely affects individuals and those occupying posts within the institution, in a bid to influence national electoral processes.
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes with concern that ‘mopping- up’ transfers accounted for EUR 83 419 000, which represents 4,6 % of final appropriations with a total of EUR 71 000 000 transferred from provisional appropriation headings and from other sources, so as to help fund the annual lease payments for the Konrad Adenauer building; reaffirms, yet again, that Parliament's property policy should be set with sufficient clarity as part of the budgetary strategy; calls on the Court of Auditors, in this connection, to draw up a report on the European Parliament's property policy;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Asks the Internal Auditor in presenting the annual report to focus more closely on those aspects where shortcomings and/or irregularities have been encountered and to introduce procedures for the assessment of performance and results; requests also a report by the Internal Auditor on follow-up, developments and solutions relating to problems identified in the course of his mandate;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Takes note of the written answers to the 2014 discharge resolution provided to CONT on 20 October 2016 and of the presentation by the secretary-general to the various questions and requests of Parliament's 2014 discharge resolution and the exchange of views with MEPs that followed; regrets, however, that many of these applications have not been followed up and that no reason or justification has been given; stresses the importance being able to discuss more frequently with the Secretary-General in the Committee on Budgetary Control issues affecting Parliament's budget and its implementation.
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Notes that there was an inconsistency between the dates of presentation of the draft Parliament discharge report and the possible tabling of additional questions to the Secretary- General; asks the Secretary-General to provide replies to the supplementary questions before the deadline for amendments and, if necessary, before the vote in committee is taken;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Expresses its satisfaction withNotes the commitment of the Parliament’s administration to continuously improving the performance of the Parliament’s services as a whole and to do so in an efficient manner;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Notes the Secretary-General’s reply regarding the accessibility of the ePetition application for Members and the general public as well as the Legal Service report; asks the Secretary-General to report on follow-up to the recommendations of the Legal Service;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls in this regard on the Bureau to publish on the Parliament’s website the documents submitted to it by the secretary- general, as soon as they become available, unless the nature of the information contained therein makes this impossible, for example, for the protection of personal data;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34a. Stresses the need to make the work of Parliament's internal decision-making bodies, in particular the Bureau, more transparent and accessible; calls for Bureau agendas to be published on the Intranet in sufficient time and for the minutes of meetings to be published much more promptly; observes that it is not necessary to wait until they are translated into all languages;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 b (new)
Paragraph 34 b (new)
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Is, however, not convinced of the effectiveness ofCalls for a more active approach in Parliament’'s communication strategy in respect oftowards those who are not automatically interested in Parliament’'s activities or are even sceptical about its functioning; invites the secretary- general to develop a new strategy to reach also these citizens and to concentrate in that respect less on “sending messages” than onfurther reach out also to these citizens, facilitating access to information and onadequately addressing unjustified prejudices against the Parliament;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Is not convinced of the need to have information offices of the Parliament in all Member States, especially in view of the fact that for effective communication physical presence may not always be necessary and can easily be replaced by effective and responsive internet facilities; is in particular sceptical about having an information office in the cities of Brussels and Strasbourg as in both cities the Parliament itself can be visiUnderlines the need to update the mission of the information offices of the Parliament so as to optimise the use of new communication technologies and patterns and take advantage of their privileged geographical position close to citizens to further intensify "going local" activities, such as organising debates with MEPs and civil society, with a view to listen to people and engage with them. Online debated and in addition for interested visitorsmedia attention triggered by therse is or will be a Parlameevents should contarium at bute to furtheir disposalincrease outreach to citizens;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Invites the Secretary-general to improve also internal communication between the various directorates-general, so that, for instance, the development of a new important tools such as the legislative train is not only known within the Directorate-General for Innovation and Technological Support (DG ITEC), but is automatically inclugets known to a widedr in the activities of the Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM) in order to inform both MEPs and the public at largeternal and external public;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. RecallWelcomes the joint presentation made to CONT and the Committee on Culture and Education of the survey as requested in the 2013 discharge conducted to determine whether the LUX Prize is well known and how, if at all, it is viewed in their respective Member States and of the findings therein;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Regrets, however,calls that the survey mainly related to awareness of the LUX Film Prize among MEPs and film-makers, whereason the aim of the Prize which is to illustrate to citizens Parliament’'s commitment to consensual values such as human rights and solidarity, as well as its commitment to cultural and linguistic diversity;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Notes that the survey obtained a low response rate of 18 %, corresponding to 137 MEPs, and that it must be concluded that even among MEPs there is no consensus on the usefulness of the from all political groups and Member States, and that it must be concluded that the awareness rate among MEPs is higher than 90%, the understanding on the LUX Film Prize purpose by 75% of the MEPs is accurate and more than 80% have a positive image of the LUX Film Prize;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
51a. Calls for alternative models to be consider for example, by establishing partnerships between the Parliament and third parties with the objective to further promote the LUX Film Prize in particular within the European film industry and the European public sphere, which will allow the Parliament to reinforce the budget of the LUX Film Prize but recalls that any kind of agreement must enhance, not weaken, the role and the visibility of the Parliament;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Notes that, although during the years the amount of spectators has increased, a number of 43.000 within the Union is still very low and makes the justification of the Lux Prize questionablethe decreasing trend in budgetary support to the LUX Film Prize itself during the years the amount of spectators has increased, thanks to communication activities and social media;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Notes with concern the on-going discussions on the nature of temporary exhibitions and is not conviEmphasises the importanced of the fact that deciding on the contents of exhibitions in the House of European History belongs to Parliament’s core business, let alone the management of a museumademic independence of the House of European History in terms of exhibition content and design, these being determined exclusively by museological and historical criteria;
Amendment 168 #
55. Calls therefore on the bureau to consider the separation ofadapting the management of the House from Parliament’s own administration and to create for this purpose a separate bodyof European History to a more inter- institutional approach, exploring further cooperation with othe necessary expertise for running a museumr institutions of the Union, especially the Commission and the Council;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Notes that with the establishment of the Parlamentarium and the opening of the House of European History, the Parliament and its surroundings are becoming a citizens' and tourist attraction, of which the Brussels municipalities benef that will bring about a better knowledge of the role of the Parliament and illustrate citizens on Parliament's commitment to consensual values such as human rights and solidarity and requests the Bureau to consider to enter into a dialogue with the local authorities to see how the latter can contribute to the financing and management of the House of European History;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 a (new)
Paragraph 60 a (new)
60a. Regrets that staffing decisions taken in accordance with the Staff Regulations and adopted by Parliament’s Bureau are called into question years later as a result of attacks on the former President in connection with national elections; notes with concern the leaks from Parliament's internal services to the German press of personal information and documents, disregarding Parliament's obligations in respect of personal data protection; asks the Secretary-General to introduce a secure and reliable personal data protection strategy for the benefit of the institution's staff.
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 b (new)
Paragraph 60 b (new)
60b. Regrets that the various items of personal information used in attacks on the former President in connection with the German elections are focusing on the staff allocation procedure, which have in fact been regularly used in line with the Statute by the various Presidents of the European Parliament;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
Paragraph 64
64. ENotes the Secretary-General's replies regarding conditions for external contracting by Parliament; emphasises that the administration shouldmust carefully monitor the working conditions ofand systematically ensure strict compliance by service providers with employment, safety and welfare legislation etc. applicable to all external staff working on Parliament premises, such as canteen and, cleaning staff, and, in particular, the observance of the applicable legislation, for example, the prohibition of 0-hours contractsand maintenance staff etc.; calls on Parliament to introduce regular alert and monitoring mechanisms for the prevention and detection of any isolated or systematic cases of negligence, abuse or infringement, enabling it to take immediate action;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
Paragraph 65
65. Notes with concern that canteen personnel does not get paid according to the hours in their contract in weeks when MEPs work elsewhere, such as. constituency weeks or plenary sessions in Strasbourg and that a considerable number are placed on short-time work, affecting their employment and earnings; calls on the sSecretary g-General to come up with a solution in negotiation with the canteen service provider that guarantees the employees the sameregular hours and payments every week;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66
Paragraph 66
66. Notes that at the end of 2015 there were 1 813 Accredited Parliamentary Assistants (APAs) working at the Parliament, compared to 1 686 a year before. Calls for special consideration of the rights of APAs and local assistants, as their contracts are directly linked to the mandate of the MEP they support, bearing in mind that APAs are staff members holding European Parliament employment contracts, while local assistants are subject to various national legislations;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66a. Regrets that the evaluation report on application of the provisions governing accredited parliamentary assistants was not submitted to the Committee on Budgetary Control before the end of 2016 as called for in the resolution on the 2014 discharge and still has not been submitted;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 a (new)
Paragraph 67 a (new)
67a. Underlines that mission reimbursements ceilings for APAs have not been adjusted since 2009 and underlines that the discrepancy between these allowances among APAs and other staff has further increased following the introduction of new ceilings approved by the Council on 9 September 2016 and applied for staff officials as from 10 September 2016 but not for the APAs, determining a difference of at least 40 % lower rate for APAs; calls on the Bureau to adapt current APAs' allowances as from 10 September 2016 too;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 c (new)
Paragraph 67 c (new)
67c. Deplores the fact that the Bureau has not responded to the requests made by Parliament in its 2013 and 2014 discharge Resolutions to apply to APAs the same daily allowances than the other staff; calls once again on the Bureau to take the necessary measures to remedy this inequality persisting from 2009;
Amendment 197 #
67a. Notes that trainees are entitled to a discount of EUR 0.50 on main dishes in all the self-service restaurants in Brussels and Luxembourg EUR 0.80 in Strasbourg; considers, however, that, taking into account their average pay levels and the high prices charged over the last two years, these discounts are not sufficient to have even a minimal impact on their finances; calls on the Secretary-General to grant price reductions in line with their earnings;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 b (new)
Paragraph 67 b (new)
67b. Asks the administration to put forward a proposal to introduce clear guidelines regarding APA's tasks for every function group and a suitable job description;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 d (new)
Paragraph 67 d (new)
67d. Calls on the Bureau to ensure that social and pension rights are guaranteed for APAs that have worked with no interruption for the last two legislative parliamentary terms. In this view, invites the administration to put forward a proposal that takes into account the decision to have early election in 2014 and the time spent in the recruitment procedure, for the calculation of the 10 years of service period requested by the Staff regulation;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 e (new)
Paragraph 67 e (new)
67e. Calls on the Conference of Presidents to reconsider the possibility for APAs, at certain conditions to be set, to accompany MEPs in official Parliament Delegations and Missions, as already requested by several MEPs.
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 f (new)
Paragraph 67 f (new)
67f. Calls on the secretary-general and the Bureau to look into and resolve problems arising mainly from the last change of term in relation to APAs (as delays in signing contracts, interruption of contracts, early European elections, etc.) which can have serious consequences on future acquisition labour rights of APAs; ask APAs' representatives to be involved in the search for solutions;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 a (new)
Paragraph 69 a (new)
69a. Calls for a more efficient organisation of training courses in order to adapt them to the specific needs of APAs. In particular, the administration should take into account the calendar of parliamentary and MEP's activities and define tailored timetables and specific topics.
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
70. Points to the fact that 43 % of Parliament’s staff considers that teleworking would have a positive effect on their job satisfaction; invites the Secretary-general to promote teleworking and to see to it that only staff is present during committee meetings, that have an active role to play in supporting the chair during the meetings, as observance of the proceedingstresses that Parliament is virtually the only institution that has not introduced teleworking and the flexitime system, while both have been present for many years in most of the other institutions, including the Commission, with proven results in terms of increased productivity and better quality of life for staff members; notes that Parliament introduced occasional teleworking last October; asks the Secretary-General to report to all interested services, including Members can easily be done elsewhere, as many meetings are web-streamedd their assistants, on the implementation of this service; calls also for the 'flexitime' system to be incorporated as soon as possible in Parliament’s working practices;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89 a (new)
Paragraph 89 a (new)
89a. DG EXPO Welcomes the fact that certain public meetings of interparliamentary delegations are already being broadcast by webstreaming; asks the Secretary- General to continue developing and expanding this service, together with the content of the delegations’ web pages;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 91 a (new)
Paragraph 91 a (new)
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 92 a (new)
Paragraph 92 a (new)
92a. Regrets deeply the arbitrary, subjective and disproportionate criteria used for the recruitment of drivers and the internalization of this service initiated in 2016 for safety reasons; regrets that the procedure did not take into account the skills and experience acquired by drivers during years of work in direct contact with Members and the relationship of trust established with them and the fact that they then found themselves unemployed, many of them already at an age at which it is difficult to find work.