Activities of Margaritis SCHINAS related to 2009/2004(BUD)
Plenary speeches (1)
2010 budget - Section III, Commission: 'Guidelines for Budget 2010' - Guidelines for the 2010 budget procedure - Sections I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX (debate)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Cannot stress enough the fundamental democratic principle that all Members should be treated equally in terms of their possibilities to express themselves and to receive and deal with all relevant informationequally provided with full and quality service allowing them to work and express themselves and to receive all documents in their native language in order to be able to act on behalf of their electors in the best way possible; considers the new parliamentary term a crucialn opportunity to make sure this is the case and agrees that, in this sense, "equal access optimal and equal provision to language facilities for Members" will be aone of the crucial guidelines for the 2010 budget;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that equal emphasis should be given to all aspects relating to Parliament's legislative role. In particular, the priority alignment of staff and related resources should primarily accommodate parliamentary work and decision-making in the areas of co- decision, as well as in new areas of competence likely to result from the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that 2010 will be a year when the Parliament, following the 2009 European elections and the changes in its composition that that will bring, gradually resumes full activity during the year and notes that this will imply a certain number of budgetary adjustments; also notes that many items relating to the election year of 2009 specifically will no longer be neededhave to be adjusted accordingly;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that 2010 will be a year of continued adaptation for the Parliament as concerns the improvement of its working methods and modernisation, which go hand in hand with its political and legislative responsibilities, and as concerns a series ofof evaluation of certain major multi- annual initiatives launched during the past few years;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes note of the fact that the financial ceiling of heading 5, administrative expenditure, will theoretically allow for an increase of 4 % or EUR 311 000 000; consequently notes that, as a yardstick, the voluntary 20 % share of the Parliament would still imply an "automatic" additional room for manoeuvre of EUR 62 000 000 calculated on the ceilings and EUR 87 000 000 compared to the real budget adopted for 2009; nevertheless there are uncertainties as to the evolution of the EU-GNI and the circumstances that EP will have to operate in;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes the view that a significant margin should be kept in the budget estimates, rather than creating a specific reserve, in order to safeguard the possibility for the new Parliament to set its own priorities once in place or adapting to changing circumstances while taking into account the 20% of the overall administrative expenditure;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the decision to prolong for a second year the pilot exercise on enhanced cooperation between its Bureau and Committee on Budgets, which should implement a streamlined budget procedure as well as allowing for more timely and transparent consultation on all parliamentary matters with significant financial implications; underlines that the practice as to when the Bureau consults the Committee on Budgets on matters with such financial implications seems fairly inconsistentcould be improved and wishes to clarify the current practicepractical arrangements in this regard;
Amendment 9 #
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Underlines that the growing co- decision powers put an additional strain to all Parliament's structures dealing with legislative work and will require the necessary prioritization of staff and related resources to enable Members to perform correctly their duties;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recognises that, in many instances and particularly at committee and group stages, impossible deadlines will bring huge pressure to deal with discussions, drafts, and even votes, in a limited number of languages, in order not to delay a 'political priority'restricted deadlines; increase the importance of negotiations among the main actors; stresses, nevertheless, thate democratic legitimacy through all its composite Members and their abilityright to fully participate in discussions, read documents in their own language and effectively deal with all issues put forward, on behalf of their electors, is surely the prime 'political priority' for any Parliament; therefore considers that this budget can and should be used to work towards this goal multilingualism; therefore considers that this budget can and should be used to work towards this goal and find the correct balance between the multilingualism restrictions and the smooth completion of the legislative procedures;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Emphasises that maximum care should be taken to ensure that the overall budgetary and staffing resources at the Parliament's disposal are used in the most cost-efficient way possible to enable the institution and its Members to fulfil their missultimate mission on legislation successfully; reiterates that this implies careful planning and organisation of its working methods and, whenever possible, the pooling together of functions and structures to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, functional overlaps, and duplication of effort and, in order to rectify a typical error of big organisations, avoid producing the same information several times over because all actors were not aware, or could not access it, the first time around;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls that a significantn increase of staffing levels was agreed for 2009 although, at the same time, it was generally agreed that staff resources had now entered a phase of consolidation and that redeployment should be a continuous process following the very significant increases made with the lasrecent enlargements; renews its call on all services and the political groups to provide full justifications for their requests from the outset of the procedure;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Recalls the importance of the screening exercise that took place during 2008; wishes for this exercise to be continued and deepened so as to take it into account when deciding on the 2010 estimates; recalls that changing circumstances of the newly elected Parliament, increased co-decision powers as well as other changes resulting from the likely entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty should also be taken into consideration;
Amendment 20 #
Dissemination of information to Members
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Considers it important for the 2010 procedure to clarify the situation for the benefit of all Members, including those dealing with the budgetary aspects, in order to define more clearly the different responsibilities and how to best arrange these initiatives in the most efficient way; would therefore welcome a hearing insists that administration show these are to be used, the current thinking with regard to the different elements, and howuld ensure exhaustive information to the newly elected Members concerning also the se will relate to each otherrvices they are entitled to;
Amendment 22 #
Communication policyng Parliament to citizens
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes the Bureau's reference to the three major projects in the field of communication policy - Web TV, the Visitors' Centre and the new audiovisual centre in the JAN building -; the completion and consolidation of which reprequests an updated evaluation report on the state of play, budgetary impact and the resenults a qualitative improvement in the communication instruments at the service of the institutionobtained so far in broadening Parliament's image to the citizens; deplores the fact that the visitors' centre was not established before the 2009 elections and requires full information as to the reasons behind this delay; renews its commitment to monitor closely the development of these instruments to ensure that their potential is fulfilled to the maximumand to maximize the real impact to public opinion;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Takes note of the Bureau's informatdecision concerning the "House of European History" and emphasises the need for a full and transparent consultation on thewith the competent Committees on its concept, contents and budgetary aspects in line with the pilot procedure on enhanced cooperation between its Bureau and Committee on Budgets;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Continues to stress that improvements in the IT sector should not lead only to a greater capability to manage key aspects "in house" but also to demonstrate a greater potential to organise this area in a more cost-effective way; including the revision of the balance between internal staff and consultants; calls on the Bureau to take a decision in order to get a clear strategy of what should be done in the future to provide better support to Membersasks for a report clarifying the current situation and prospects regarding the internalization of ICT experts and appropriate governance; calls on the Bureau to set out a clear strategy for Parliament's approach on ICT -including synergies with the political groups- before taking further steps in this area;