17 Amendments of Nadine MORANO related to 2023/2729(RSP)
Amendment 25 #
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the need for a strong, effective and well-functioning European Border and Coast Guard Agency that is able to assist Member States in managprotecting the common external borders of the European Union and incombating irregular immigration and the smuggling and trafficking of human beings, while ensuring integrated border management in full compliance with fundamental rights;
Amendment 31 #
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that, with a view to meeting the challenges of protecting the external borders, which are under increasing pressure from migration, the Agency’s budget grew exponentialsignificantly, from around EUR 114 million in 2015 to around EUR 750 million in 2022; adds, moreover, that the revised mandates of the Agency in 2016 and 2019 corresponded to major increases in the Agency’s responsibilities and competences, including in terms of staff and technical equipment; stresses that such increases in responsibility and budget for the Agency need to be accompanied by a corresponding increase in accountability and transparency and increased scrutiny of the Agency’s respect for Union lawmprovement in its results;
Amendment 35 #
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that over the course of the last two years the Agency has seen significant managerial changes, including a new fundamental rights officer (FRO), a new chair of its Management Board, three new deputy executive directors and a new executive director; expects that the change in management will bring about the necessary change in culture with regard to respect for the Union’s principles and values, most notably fundamental rights, and with regard to transparency and efficiency in internal procedures and to increased accountability towards Parliament and the Council in accordance with the applicable legal framework; welcomes the measures already implementedwelcomes the measures already implemented to improve the management culture and to strengthen integrity and accountability within the Agency, whose chief mission is to improvetect the management culture and to strengthen integrity and accountability within the AgencyEuropean Union’s external borders; calls on the new leadership to undertake the deep reforms that are needed and calls on the Management Board to evaluate how it can step up its involvement and scrutiny of the way in which the Agency is run;
Amendment 41 #
Paragraph 4
4. Considers thatAwaits the outcome of the second European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigation into management practices at the Agency, which is underway only nine months after the first OLAF investigation was closed, demonstrates the need for change in the culture of the Agency;
Amendment 45 #
Paragraph 5
5. Expresses disappointment that, during the appointment procedure and unknown to Members of Parliament, one of the candidates proposed for the post of executive director of the Agency was a person of interest in the second ongoing OLAF investigationits commitment to the principle of secrecy of ongoing investigations and to the guarantee of the presumption of innocence;
Amendment 48 #
Paragraph 6
6. Draws attention to the fact that the Commission, the Management Board and OLAF failed to share this information with Parliament despite the Frontex Scrutiny Working Group (FSWG) highlighting how arguments related to confidentiality had hampered democratic control by Parliament and despite the FSWG’s specific request that the Commission keep it regularly informed of any activities or initiatives that might have an impact on fundamental rights; takes the view that this failure constitutes a breach of the principle of mutual and sincere cooperation which governs relationships between institutions, agencies, bodies and offices of the Unionnecessary democratic scrutiny exercised by Parliament must comply with these principles;
Amendment 51 #
Paragraph 7 – indent 1
– The Agency should ensure that the FRO is consulted earlier on in the process of developing operational plans, is granted sufficient time for giving his or her opinions and is equipped with established methods and channels to escalate if his or her opinion is ignored;
Amendment 60 #
Paragraph 7 – indent 4
Amendment 63 #
Paragraph 9
9. Reiterates its cCalls for OLAF reports on the Agency to be made public in cases of overriding public interest in disclosure, which are merely preliminary documents and, in all cases, for the relevant Members of Parliament to be given access to such reports within a reasonable period of time in order to allow them to effectively carry out democratic scrutiny and hold the Agency to account for its actions; believes that the current rules need to bno way prejudge a court ruling, not to be made into political arguments to undermine the Agency’s credibility and the prevised to ensure that Parliament is fully informed in its role as policymaker and co- legislator, in particular regarding its budgetary powerssumption of its staff’s innocence;
Amendment 69 #
Paragraph 12
12. Acknowledges that the Agency finally has 46 fundamental rights monitors (FRMs) in place, despite the significant delay in complying with the requirements of the updated mandate; notes that 31 FRMs have been appointed at administrator (AD) level; continues to stress that those FRMs who were hired at the lower assistant (AST) grade should be upgraded to the higher AD level as soon possible through the appropriate procedures; points out that, based on the Agency’s updated mandate, the number of FRMs should continue to grow as the overall size of the standing corps increases; looks forward, in that regard, to receiving details of the Agency’s plans to increase the number of FRMs;
Amendment 77 #
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses severe concern regarding the serious and persistent allegations made against Greek authorities in relation to pushbacks and violence against migrants; is convinced that respect for the principles and values of the Union must be the condition sine qua non for Frontex to commit to a joint operation with a Member State; is further convinced that, should a Member State be unable to respect those principles and valuat the difficulties encountered by the Greek authorities in dealing with the mass influx of migrants; is convinced that respect for the principles and values of the Union must be taken into account whenever Frontex conducts a joint operation with a Member State; takes the view that that allegations of misconduct must be investigated in a manner in keeping with the rule of law; stresses, thenat the Agency should neither scale down andnor repurpose its operations towards monitoring activities in the light of Article 46 of its mandate, while maintaining its presence on the ground in order not to leave a vacuum; regrets that the Agency has so far refrained from scaling down or repurposing its operations in Greecuntil such time as there is evidence of serious and systemic misconduct in a Member State;
Amendment 82 #
Paragraph 14
Amendment 88 #
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that, although the Agency withdrew from operations in Hungary in January 2021 following a clear CJEU ruling in December 202011, it continues to support Hungarian authorities in carrying out returns; reiterates the FSWG’s calls on the executive director to immediately suspend support for return-related operations from Hungary; __________________ 11 Judgment of the Court of Justice of 17 December 2020, Commission v Hungary, C-808/18, ECLI:EU:C:2020:1029.Welcomes the fact that the Agency continues to support Hungarian authorities in carrying out returns; takes the view that that this support, which is essential for protecting the common external borders, must not be suspended;
Amendment 97 #
Paragraph 16
16. Notes the Agency’s mandate to provide better situational awareness in the maritime domain and to transmit that information to the relevant authorities regarding competence for search and rescue operations; reiterates the obligation under the international law of the sea to render assistance to persons found in distress at sea and take them to the nearest safe port; notes that Regulation (EU) No 656/2014 establishing rules for the surveillance of the external sea borders in the context of operational cooperation coordinated by Frontex lays down the rules for the Agency’s involvement in search and rescue operations; underlines that the Agency could do more to increase the capacity of the EU and Member States to carry out search and rescue operations, notably by investing in appropriate assets for such operations’s mandate is first and foremost to protect the Union’s external borders and not to carry out search and rescue missions at sea;
Amendment 100 #
Paragraph 17
17. NoReiterates that Parliament has previously taken the view that a permanent, robust and effectiveit is not within the European Union’s response inmit to conduct search and rescue operations at sea is crucial to prevent the death toll of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from escalating12; remains convinced that the Agency could have a key role to play in a more proactive response by the EU and Member States to search and rescue, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea, and to the fight against criminal smugglers and human traffickers; __________________ 12 European Parliament resolution of 12 April 2016 on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration, OJ C 58, 15.2.2018.; takes the view that strengthening the Agency and the EU’s external borders and policies against illegal immigration would limit numbers of dangerous crossings and, therefore, the death toll among migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean;
Amendment 107 #
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that the absence of an EU-lesufficient scrutiny ovelr search and rescue missions has led other civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to fill the gap in providing search and rescue capacity; is concerned about the increasing number of attempts to criminalise such actions, further limiting the possibilities for those in distress at sea to be rescuedencourage irregular immigration into the EU and to facilitate the work of people-smugglers; calls on the EU and its Member States to exert greater scrutiny over these organisations and to impose criminal penalties for their illegal activities;
Amendment 112 #
Paragraph 19