20 Amendments of Lara WOLTERS related to 2022/2082(DEC)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 16 September 2021 on strengthening transparency and integrity in the EU institutions by setting up an independent EU ethics body;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 b (new)
Citation 3 b (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 15 December 2022 on suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas trust in Parliament’s integrity and the rule of law is paramount for the functioning of European democracy; whereas it is key to ensure that democratic processes are not captured by private and external interests and that citizens’ rights are fully respected;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Recalls Parliament’s recommendation to the Commission in its resolution of 18 April 2018 ‘to review its administrative procedure for the appointment of senior officials with the objective of fully ensuring that the best candidates are selected within a framework of maximum transparency and equal opportunities, thereby also setting an example for the other European institutions’; is of the opinion that an ad hoc accelerated appointment procedure and an interview made up of only three questions to select its Secretary-Generalthat lasted less than 4 months, setting the required grade lower than that of direct subordinates and a single interview made up of only three questions to select its Secretary-General, a position that oversees over 9 000 staff members and a EUR 2 billion annual budget, falls short of what is expected of Parliament in terms of transparency, accountability and good administration, and it is profoundlyhas generated public criticism preventing it from being perceived as an open, fair and transparent procedure, which is a barrier to attracting candidates and is also damaging to the institution’s reputation; recalls furthermore its own recommendation that officials from staff representatives bodies should sit on Parliament’s senior management selection panels; calls therefore on the Secretary- General to submit a proposal to the Bureau to modify its decision of 16 May 2000 laying down the steps in the procedure for appointing senior officials, in order to include the appointment to the post of secretary-general as well as to enable staff representatives to participate as observers in the Advisory Committee, which is fully compatible with Article 3(4) of Annex III of the Staff Regulations;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61
Paragraph 61
61. Stresses that transparency, accountability, and integrity are essential ethics principles within the Union institutions and particularly Parliament as house of the European democracy; recalls that unethical behaviours must be prevented, persecuted and condemned for significantly damage the credibility and legitimacy of the UnionParliament and the Union as a whole and constitute a serious threat to democracy and public trust; recalls the Court’s conclusions and recommendations in its special report 13/2019 on the ethnical frameworks of Union institutions, as well as Parliament’s resolution of 16 September 2021 on strengthening transparency and integrity in the Union institutions by setting up an independent Union ethics body;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62
Paragraph 62
62. Calls for a thorough overhaul of Parliament’s ethical framework that integrates lessons learned, ensures fully implementation and strengthens the current control rules to ensure that there are stronger deterrents to address effectively current and future threats and interferences, whether they affect Members or staff; stresses that illegal activities funded by paid lobbying constitutes a profound attack on democracy and should be met with zero tolerance and heightened vigilance; calls in particular for a revision of the Rules of Procedure and the Members’ Code of Conduct, as well as for an urgent upgrade of the current European Parliament’s Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members, in order to ensure that Members act without any undue influence from interest representatives by means of a strict regulation of paid activities during the mandate, gifts or travel invitations, future employment expectations, and of undue use of information or contacts; echoes the proposal to create a special advisory committee on integrity, transparency and corruption with the participation of representatives of the Administration, APAs representatives, and also independent experts; recommends mandatory anti-corruption and transparency training for Members, APAs and staff members;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62
Paragraph 62
62. Calls for a thorough overhaul of Parliament’s ethical framework that integrates lessons learned and strengthens the current rules to ensure that there are stronger deterrents to address effectively current and future threats and interferences, whether they affect Members or staff; stresses that illegal activities funded by paid lobbying constitutes a profound attack on democracy and should be met with zero tolerance and heightened vigilance; calls in particular for a revision of the Rules of Procedure and the Members’ Code of Conduct, as well as for an urgent upgrade of the current European Parliament’s Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members, amongst others through appointing external independent experts on integrity to the Committee, in order to ensure that Members act without any undue influence from interest representatives by means of a strict regulation of paid activities during the mandate, gifts or travel invitations, future employment expectations, and of undue use of information or contacts; highlights in this regard also the need for stricter rules, more transparency, and monitoring on side-income of Members as this may lead to conflicts of interest, as well as requiring more detailed declarations of interests;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Paragraph 62 a (new)
62a. Calls for the provision of all necessary resources to ensure that the internal rules related to the Transparency Register are effectively enforced, including, where appropriate, the imposition of adequate sanctions; recommends in particular that digital solutions are used to integrate the Transparency Register in all Parliament's activities involving external entities, such as requesting the registration number for accreditation of visitors and for organisation of events, as well as to cross- check the relevant records and databases;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 b (new)
Paragraph 62 b (new)
62b. Regrets that the EPRS organised in June 2022 a two-day conference together with two non-governmental organisations, Fight Impunity and No Peace Without Justice, which were not registered in the Transparency Register and are today at the origin of one of the biggest corruption scandals ever suffered by Parliament; urges the Administration to put in place the means to strengthen internal rules and instruments for the prevention of conflicts of interest, such as the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and the Public Procurement Forum (PPF), particularly with regard to events and studies commissioned by Parliament's bodies, and to make registration in the Transparency Register compulsory for external entities participating in any form;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 a (new)
Paragraph 65 a (new)
65a. Considers roll call votes (RCV) to be a key instrument for transparency and accountability towards the Union’s citizens; calls for introducing automatic RCV to any final vote except for secret ballots, and for increasing the number of RCV that are possible for a political group to ask for per part-session in Rule 190-2, or exempting legislative files from that limitation;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66a. Calls on the Bureau to revise the Code of Conduct by including restrictions on Members to hire not only direct, but also indirect family members;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
Paragraph 68
68. Welcomes Parliament’s zero- tolerance policy on harassment and the awareness-raising campaigns carried out; is concerned, however, that on 28 October 2022 only 245 sitting Members (36,3%) had completed the training on respect and dignity in the workplace; recalls that Parliament has requested on several occasions the implementation of mandatory anti-harassment training courses for all Members, as well as staff, including persons in managerial roles in the different directorates-general and political groups; stresses the importance of early intervention, together with training and awareness-raising actions and notes the initiative taken by the administration to set up internal mediators as a step towards early conflict resolution;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69
Paragraph 69
69. Notes that the ‘advisory committee on harassment and its prevention at the workplace’ is composed of three members designated by the Appointing Authority (including the chair), two Staff Committee members and one expert advisor from the medical service; notes that the ‘advisory committee dealing with harassment complaints concerning Members’ is composed of three Quaestors (including the chair), the chair of the first committee, two APA committee members, one staff committee member (only for cases concerning a member of staff), and two expert advisors, namely from the legal and the medical services respectively; is concerned by the lack of independent experts on harassment issues in both committees, as well as the absence of the legal service in the first case; calls for a Secretary-General decisionon the Bureau to reviewing the composition of both advisory committees andin order to include the pertinent independent expertise and to stipulatinge mandatory training on harassment prevention and equal opportunities for all their membersinternal members; strongly recommends a complete review of the functioning of the advisory committees with the assistance of independent legal and harassment prevention specialists, so that Parliament is equipped with clear, effective and robust rules of procedure while focusing on adequate response times and the necessary procedural safeguards, information, counselling and protection measures for all parties as appropriate;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
72. Reiterates that APAs are in a particularly vulnerable position in whistleblowing cases due to their particular employment situation; therefore calls on the Secretary-General to modify the internal rules on whistleblowing adopted on 4 December 2015 to align them to Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council2 , as well as to provide whistleblower APAs and staff with a similar protection to that of victims of harassment, in particular with regard to provisional measures during the administrative investigation and protection measures concerning anonymity, pay until the end of the contract, transfer of post and protection from retaliation; _________________ 2 Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (OJ L 305, 26.11.2019, p. 17).;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86 a (new)
Paragraph 86 a (new)
86a. Deplores the fact that there is no system in place to ensure that Members who are temporarily absent for a justified reason, such as maternity leave, parental leave, long-term sick leave or carer’s leave, can continue to carry out their core duties if they so wish, first and foremost to speak in debates and to vote; deems this problematic as it can negatively impact citizens’ representation in Parliament; underlines that younger, particularly female, Members and their voters are disproportionately affected when no such arrangements are provided for; emphasizes that a vote for a female member of Parliament should not lead to a lack of representation; calls on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs to provide for the continuation of remote participation and for providing for the substitution of a Member - whether female or male - while on parental leave and in the above mentioned cases by revising Parliament’s Rules of Procedure; equally emphasises the importance of amending the European Electoral Law so as to make such substitution possible;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86 a (new)
Paragraph 86 a (new)
86a. Takes note of the changes in Parliament’s Rules of Procedure on 20 December 2020 allowing for remote voting; regrets that voting remotely in committee is currently not provided for under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure unless the President establishes the existence of extraordinary circumstances; reiterates its request, adopted at Plenary level on several occasions, to the Bureau to launch a revision of the Rules of Procedure in order to enable Members to exercise their right to vote remotely while benefiting from maternity or paternity leave, during a long term illness or in cases of force majeure, thus capitalising on the great effort and financial investment that the Parliament has made in technical solutions to allow remote voting;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90
Paragraph 90
90. Notes the architectural competition on the design of the renewal of the Spaak building in which the competitors handed over their proposals in January 2021, the jury analysed the 15 entries and ranked the five laureates in February 2021 and the Bureau endorsed the five laureates proposed by the jury at its meeting of 6 July 2022; believes that the current economic context calls for renovation projects to be reconsidered in order to explore money-saving opportunities to bring safe working conditions to Members and Parliament’s staff without unreasonable budgetary implications; also calls in this light for proper information and consultation to the relevant Parliament committees on next actions in the renovation plans, as well as where the purchase of new buildings is concerned, particularly regarding possible plans to acquire the Osmose building;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 103
Paragraph 103
103. Recalls that transport of persons accounts for roughly two-thirds of Parliament’s carbon footprint; notes that the CO2 emissions from the monthly commutes to Strasbourg in 2021 were approximately 490 tonnes of CO2 including travel of staff and APAs, and transport of documents and equipment; also notes that the suspension of Strasbourg part-sessions contributed to total savings of EUR 26 260 608 according to Parliament’s Secretariat, while also significantly reducing Parliament’s carbon footprint; highlights that the Court estimates that “the end of moving from Strasbourg to Brussels could generate annual savings of EUR 114 million plus a one-off saving of EUR 616 million if the Strasbourg buildings are successfully divested, or a one-off cost of EUR 40 million if they are not"1a; considers that given the current climate crisis, retaining the Strasbourg seat is untenable, calls on the Council to take Parliament’s position into account and act on it as a matter of urgency; _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/PL1407_LETTER/PL1407_LETT ER_EN.pdf
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 114 a (new)
Paragraph 114 a (new)
114a. Recalls that pursuant to Rule 11(4) of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, Parliament provides Members already with the possibility of publishing a voluntary audit or confirmation of their general expenditure allowance expenses; regrets that only 18 voluntary declarations on the use of the general expenditure allowance were submitted during the calendar year 2021; calls on Parliament’s services to send an annual reminder to Members in relation to this possibility; calls on the Bureau to periodically inform the discharge authority of the number of Members who have followed these recommendations;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 116
Paragraph 116
116. Is concerned that the actuarial deficit of the Voluntary Pension Fund (VPF) on 31 December 2021 amounted to EUR 379 million (compared to EUR 371.3 million on 31 December 2020); is concerned that the complete exhaustion is expected by the end of 2024 or 2025 at the latest and that in the meantime the VPF continues to sell assets in order to meet its pension obligations, which probably means that the remaining capital is being reduced; notes that in its judgment of 15 September 2021 in cases T-720/19 to T-725/19, Ashworth and Others v Parliament3 , the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluded that already acquired rights were not impacted by the contested Bureau decision of 10 December 2018 and confirmed the Bureau's competence to adopt decisions aiming at improving the sustainability of the fund provided that they respect the principle of proportionality; notes that an appeal was lodged before the CJEU against its judgment of the 15 September 2021 and that Parliament’s Bureau will examine the implications for future proposals for options to improve the sustainability of the Fund while reducing Parliament`s liability; _________________ recalls that the Parliament does not have a legal obligation to guarantee particular levels of payouts of the fund, nor would have to assume and take over its obligations in case of its insolvency as no contract between the fund and Parliament exists1a; recalls that the Fund has always constituted a purely supplementary pension1b; also notes that the Fund's beneficiaries contributed to fund only through the General Expenditure Allowance and is concerned by reports that the Fund's investment portfolio included, and possibly still includes, shares in the arms, tobacco, mining and fossil-fuels industries1c; calls in light of these characteristics of the Fund for the Secretary-General to guarantee that no taxpayer money is used for any future bail-out; considers that a review of the financial model of the fund would not be sufficient to prevent additional taxpayers money from being used for future payments; urges the Secretary-General therefore to also propose measures to the Bureau on adjusting the modalities of the fund, including a further increase of the retirement age and a reduction of pension benefits paid out; _________________ 1a https://europa.pvda.nl/wp- content/uploads/sites/458/2020/11/The- legal-status-of-the-guarantees-for-the- MEP-Pension-Fund.pdf 1b https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/STUD/2021/659763/IPOL_STU(20 21)659763_EN.pdf 1c https://euobserver.com/green- economy/156605 3 Judgment of the General Court of 15 September 2021, Richard Ashworth and Others v European Parliament, T-720/19 to T-725/19, ECLI:EU:T:2021:580