Activities of Bart STAES related to 2010/2143(DEC)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that DG ITEC was the most concerned, with 22 open actions; notes with satisfaction that, according to the Internal Auditor, the Directorate for Information Technology within DG ITEC, has implemented 19 of the 22 open actions and, in the process, has made significant progress in developing its control framework; encourages all its Directorates general concerned to continue their efforts to improve their respective management and control procedures, calls on the Internal Auditor to set stricter timetables on actions to be implemented;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Notes the significant increase in the workload registered by the administration, relating to the entry into force of the new Statutes; notes with concern the more complicated procedure as regards accredited assistants' missions outside the three places of work and considers that, in spite of considerable increase in staffing, there are insufficient staff members in the Members' service and the services dealing with assistants and requests, therefore, the redeployment by the administration of additional staff in order to cope with the increased workload; requests, moreover, that an evaluation/assessment be made and forwarded to its competent committees by 30 September 2011 on the experience gained of the implementation of the two Statutes following the first full year of their implementation, as well as on their financial implications for Parliament's budget, including the provisions to be made for possible extra office space;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Welcom~~Notes the recent adoption by the Bureau on 24 March 2010 of the long- awaited medium-term strategy in the IT and the buildings sectors expects that the buildings strategy will be subject to an improved interinstitutional cooperation and that the organisations of local inhabitants will be consulted on a regular basis;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Applauds especially the medium- and long-term property policy (buildings strategy) approved by the Bureau on 24 March 2010, which takes into account Parliament's increased responsibilities under the Treaty of Lisbon, the rules governing allocation of space, the need for accommodation of certain external staff and the need for maintenance/renovation of buildings; is of the opinion that an evaluation and rationalisation of the actual office space should be conducted before decisions are taken on the purchase of new buildings; calls further on the Secretary General to conduct negotiations with the Belgium authorities aimed at reducing the extra percentage (33%) to be paid if Parliament purchases "State" owned property;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Finds it astonishing that around 900 people work in Parliament's security services, most of them as external contract staff and also points to the steady increase in total security costs (some EUR 43 000 000 in 2009); requests, in the light of recent security incidents, the overhaul of these services in order to increase their efficiency; strongly suggests that the two major contracts for security services, both physical and technical, will not be concluded with the same firm as is now the case;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Welcomes in this respect the establishment, from 1 January 2010, of a new Directorate in charge of Security and requests the newly established Directorate to conduct an in-depth review of Parliament's security policy and to work on proposals to adopt security solutions for Parliament which are more technology- oriented and cheaper , resulting in considerable savings in terms of staff and ~~budget~~would like to be informed on progress made;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 – point i

~~i) electronic signature for Members (instead of the current, archaic system of signatures on paper with data entered manually by staff);~~deleted

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 – point iv

iv) an internalised accreditation system for visitors, by employing as far as possible the current staff and giving them appropriate training in order to provide an improved and more consistent service;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Deplores the lack of security in Parliament's vicinity and is of the opinion that improved cooperation with local police forces ~~(including establishing joint security/police units)~~ would result in a more efficient use of resources; encourages the institutions' to reach an agreement with the Belgian authorities on improving security within the EU district in Brussels by inter alia intensifying police patrols;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Notes the two priority projects necessitating important new office surfaces to be found: a second crèche in Brussels and a possible second assistant's office if no other solutions such as the removal of the sanitation units can be found; stresses in this context the need for Parliament's buildings to be located close to each other in order to achieve more efficiency and also for environmental reasons;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Notes that the internal organisation and distribution of powers between Parliament's internal structures is defined by its rules of procedure; stresses that this is a key element in the democratic process of good law-making;deleted

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Notes with satisfaction that for the first time in 2009 no mopping-up transfer took place at the end of the financial year, after a number of years when the possibility of mopping-up was used(mostly to purchase buildings by making advance payments against the annual lease payments) , which suggests a better budget planning and discipline which is to be praised; encourages its administration to pursue this objective in the future ~~as well and to avoid, as far as possible, using the technique of mopping up~~;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Notes that, currently, each Director- General (Authorising Officers by delegation) prepares his/her own Annual Activity Report, and that no overall Activity Report for the Institution as a whole is drafted and adopted; invites the Secretary-General to consider issuing a more readable, consolidated version (a summary) of the Annual Activity Reports for the 2010 discharge procedure, as is already the case with other institutions; takes the view that the report on budgetary and financial management is distinct from the suggested synthesis of annual activity reports;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Jens GEIER, Bart STAES, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD, Ryszard CZARNECKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 – introductory part

41. Notes in particular the steady increase in 2009 (although at a slower pace than in 2008 as compared to 2007) in the number of exceptional negotiated procedures as shown in the following breakdown; expects that this trend will be substantially reversed in the coming years;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. Notes that Article 12(9) of the Parliament's Internal Rules for the implementation of the budget, adopted on 27 April 2005, provide that the Internal Auditor's area of competence does not include the appropriations from Parliament's budget managed by political groups; further notes that the specific rules on the use of those appropriations require each political group to establish its own internal financial rules and to implement an internal control system ~~but no mention is made of the internal audit function~~;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Jens GEIER, Bart STAES, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD, Ryszard CZARNECKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47

47. Observes that only the rules of one out of seven political groups provide for the appointment of an internal auditor; agrees with the Court of Auditors that the functional independence of groups does not justify the non-application of regulatory provisions on the inStresses that all political groups have to have a yearly external audit and have to present an external audit ~~function~~certificate;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Jens GEIER, Bart STAES, Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD, Ryszard CZARNECKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48

48. Stresses that it is the responsibility of the political groups to put in place their internal ~~audit~~control system and that this should not be the responsibility of Parliament's Internal Auditor and calls on the Bureau to ~~integrate, as a matter of priority, this obligation in the rules following after consulting the political groups~~consult the political groups on how further audit provisions can be developed;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50

50. Recalls its request, in its resolution of 5 May 2010, that the Secretary-General contact the other EU institutions in order to establish a central database for the studies that they are conducting ~~which i~~and to make these studies also available for consultation by the wider public; encourages its Secretary- General to follow up on this request, in particular by proposing to the Commission that that institution establish such a central database; requests to be duly informed of this initiative, expects, in the meantime, that the studies conducted by Parliament are published in full on Parliament's website;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55 a (new)

55a. Is of the opinion that the internal audit reports should be made available, under specific conditions, to the Members of the Committee on Budgetary Control; urges the Chair of that committee to agree with the Secretary-General on those conditions;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61

61. Stresses the fundamental importance of specific knowledge management, in particular in the work of the committees, and the need for permanent and up-to-date knowledge in their fields of operation; recalls the high number of newly elected Members in recent parliamentary terms; asks the Bureau to reflect on the possibility of providing further specific information and training for Members including specific measures for the new "Lisbon" Members and the future "observer" Members from Croatia;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62

62. Welcomes the establishment of a support system for the security of delegations outside the three places of work of which the main objective is to furnish Parliament's hierarchy with all the relevant information needed to provide assistance to delegation members in case of an emergency situation; points out the importance of the 24/7 Hotline, the post of Security Unit Duty Officer and appropriate security training and security briefings, as well as the creation of a future crisis cell; would like be informed on the total costs of this operation;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63

63. Notes that the human resources available to DG Communication consisted of 722 posts as at 31 December 2009 and the final appropriations managed amounted to EUR 80 935 000; asks to review the number of posts and give a detailed explanation of the underlying need for these posts; recognises that it is a fact that one of the main tasks of DG Communication is to provide political neutral information to the wider public but wonders if it would be more effective in communication terms to shift resources and staff to more political oriented information;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 a (new)

65a. Would like to be informed about the total cost of the House of European History and requests the Secretary General to provide information on which measures will be taken to cope with the expected large increase of visitors for both projects in terms of parking space (busses, cars) and easy access to the Dalle;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 74

74. Deplores the fact that the employment of family members as assistants is still permitted under the derogations to the Members' Statute adopted by the Bureau at its meeting of 23 November 2009, requests the Secretary General to consider whether there should be specific rules preventing Members employing each others family members as assistants;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 75

75. Stresses the need to further rationalise the missions between the three working places, justifying and monitoring them better in order to avoid unnecessary missions and costs, asks the Secretary General to report, as part of the discharge procedure, on the total amount of savings that were made as a result of further rationalisation;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78

78. Is of the opinion that ~~facilities within Parliament's building~~services which are not required in connection with the Institution's activities but which are provided within Parliament's buildings by profit-orientated companies must be economically self- supporting and should not be financed directly or indirectly with subsidies from Parliament's budget; , any exceptions for imputed costs must be shown separately; in the budget and be duly motivated;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86

86. Notes that Parliament has a contract with only one travel agency and sees a certain risk that such a monopolistic situation might prevent Members and Parliament obtaining the best available prices; requires that in future contracts incentives be included to guarantee the lowest price for tickets;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86 a (new)

86a. Calls on the Secretary General to commission a study on reducing travel cost for Members and staff exploring, for example, the possibility of annual block bookings with airline companies instead of individual bookings and purchase of tickets or using tendering procedures for annual flight contracts; furthermore, calls for a system to be developed to use the collected airmiles on flights reimbursed by Parliament to further reduce costs;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Bart STAES, Jens GEIER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95

95. Stresses, moreover, the need for the parties and foundations to have a system of standard external auditing instead of the current free choice in the appointment of external auditors, as well as the need for the Parliament's administration to strictly apply accounting rules in particular on contributions in kind, carry-overs and reserves; welcomes, therefore, the recent decision by the Bureau that an external auditor for the parties and the foundation will be provided and paid for by Parliament;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 a (new)

101a. Asks the administration to speed up actions to radically reduce the consumption of paper in the House; takes the view that the full use of electronic devices is key to avoiding the more than 1000 tons of paper waste every year; further takes the view that Members should be given the opportunity to indicate that they do not need printed documents;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 b (new)

101b. Considers that the staff of the EMAS section should be urgently increased and that they must enjoy full independence in the performance of their duties;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 c (new)

101c. Considers that transport emissions contribute the largest share of Parliament's carbon footprint, which, according to its CO2 action plan, it intends to reduce by 30% by 2020; urges therefore that adequate measures be taken to reduce the carbon footprint; welcomes a study on offsetting in this respect; calls on the responsible Parliament services to systematically provide information about emissions caused by different modes of transport when making travel reservations;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 d (new)

101d. Welcomes the proposal to install tap-water fountains in all Parliament meeting rooms and thus saving resources, as adopted by the Bureau in the CO2 Action plan in February 2009;

2011/02/22
Committee: CONT