Activities of Jean LAMBERT related to 2017/2177(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2016
Amendments (8)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Welcomes the Court of Auditors' conclusions that the annual accounts of the European Asylum Support Office (‘the Office’) present fairly its financial position on 31 December 2016; notes, however, the qualifying remarks on two procurement procedures;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that due to the migration crisisinflux of refugees and migrants, the Office has faced initial problems absorbing additional Union funds granted inat four different points throughout 2016 leading to considerableertain cancellations and carry-overs as well as difficulties in complying with budgetary and financial rules;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Requests the Office to improve its budgetary management as the level of committed appropriations for Title II (administrative expenditure) carried over was high at EUR 2,5 million (43,9 %) and corresponds to contracts signed towards the end of 2016, in part due to additional budget payments towards the end of that year, or for which invoices were only issuedreceived only in 2017;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regrets the fact that two of the five significant procurement procedures that audited payments (representing 2.9% of the total expenditures) were irregular due to related irregular public procurement procedures; notes also the signature of an irregular additional framework contract for which no payments were made; requests the Office to cancel all relatednotes the fact that the Office has already taken remedy action in 2017 replacing the contracts resulting from those procedures with new contracts;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Requests the Office to improve its internal control processes; welcomes the remedial actions that have already been put in place in terms of the adoption of new internal control standards; stresses the lackimportance of proper planning for public procurement procedures even in a crisis environment, and notes the need for additional Commission support if necessary; notes that the Office did not insure 65 containers (EUR 852 136) located in a risky location where other containers have previously been destroyed by riots; notes that the Office had not recovered all its VAT reimbursement in a timely fashion for the years 2014 and 2015 and welcomes that this recovery has since been concluded;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Regrets that, in the framework of a grant agreement between the Commission and the Office for the purchase and subsequent donation to the Greek State of 90 fingerprint-scanning machines and 90 compatible computers for an amount of EUR 1,1 million, Office staff was not present on the spot to ensure the proper delivery, installation and subsequent ownership transfer to the Greek police; deplores the fact that the confirmation from the relevant Greek authorities that the equipment had been delivered to the hotspots was only received in July 2017, more than a year after delivery;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that the late payment ratio decreased from 65 % in January 2016 to 9 % in October 2016, while the total number of transactions increased from 483 in January 2016 to 806 in October 2016; calls on the Office to complete effectivethe necessary corrective actions in order to efficiently tackle shortcomings, in particular those, such as those relating to late payments and reimbursement of costs; welcomes measures already taken regarding a new recruitment procedures, late payments, high staff turnover and reimbursement of costsolicy and the decrease in staff turnover; calls on the Office to submit to the discharge authority a plan outlining reformmeasures to improve its budgetary and management performance parameters;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges the Office to adopt a policy and a practical guide on both institutional management and the prevention of conflicts of interest; calls on the Office to adopt binding internal rules for the effective protection of whistleblowerbuild on its policies of 2013 concerning the prevention of conflicts of interest, in line with good practice and any Commission guidelines; calls on the Office to ensure the implementation of the policies adopted in 2017 concerning the effective protection of whistleblowers, while awaiting full Commission proposals.