Activities of Bas EICKHOUT related to 2020/2174(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Banking Authority for the financial year 2019
Amendments (18)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes with concern that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2019 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 97,29 %, representing a decrease of 2,56 % compared to 2018; notes with concern that the rate of execution of payment appropriations was 85,88 %, representing a decrease of 2,35 % compared to the previous year;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with concern the Court's observation that the amended 2019 budget and the 2020 budget of the Authority do not contain adequate information on the new host Member State’s contributions to the Authority's running costs; calls on the Authority to correct this omission or to diligently communicate the reasons for this omission to the discharge authority;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the Authority uses certain measures as key performance indicators to assess the added value provided by its activities and also uses other measures to improve its budget management, such as percentage of completed yearly assessments of colleges, feedback on training from seminar participants and budget execution; welcomes the fact that the Authority’s KPIs measure entire scope of its activity and that they are adapted to following performance of the annual and multi- annual objectives;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the administrative staff of the Authority, of the European Securities and Markets Authority and of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority hold regular meetings to discuss matters of shared interest that have resulted in sharing of practices and templates, with resultant efficiency gains; calls on the Authority to maintain this scheme and continue efforts to enhance good practices and cooperation among decentralised agencies;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. NotAcknowledges that for the Authority, 2019 was also characterised by the fundamental review of the tasks, powers and governance of the European Supervisory Authorities, resulting in the amendment of the Authority’s founding regulation and the strengthening of the Authority’s role in the fields of anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, consumer protection and relations with third countries;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. NoteRegrets that the Authority delivered 19 out of 30 activities from its 2019 work programme; notes that the overview of policy achievements of the Authority regarding its 2019 work programme as presented in its annual activity report does not give a complete overview of the activities performed by the Authority, as the results of ongoing activities are not described; notes with concern that, of the activities described in its annual activity report, 17 out of 21 activities reported were (partially) delivered and that the Authority carried out additional sub activities for nine activities, that seven sub activities were postponed, that five sub activities were delayed, that four sub activities were cancelled and that one is still pending; calls on the Authority to evaluate the shortcomings and causes of weak performance and adopt measures aimed at improving an efficient delivery of the work programme objectives;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that the Authority reported that it employs staff of 28 nationalities, of whom the Authority reports that 49 % are female and 51 % are male; notes that 83 % of senior management is male and 17 % is female; calls on the Authority to undertake actions to reduce gender imbalance in senior management;
Amendment 19 #
14. Notes the observation of the Court that the Authority used a framework contract with an IT company for the provision of IT consultants and that the Authority issued work instructions to some of those IT consultants directly, potentially blurring the lines between the Authority’s staff and the consultants; stresses the risks brought by the use of external IT- consultants; urges the Authority to pay special attention to ensuring operations security and data protection; notes the Authority’s reply that this resulted from the implementation of a new IT-service model and related framework contract and that the Authority is working to mature its management of the third party service integration; calls on the Authority to keep the discharge authority informed about this process of maturation and entrenchment of service-based consumption of IT services;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes with high concern the observation of the Court that the Authority runs legal and reputational risks by using an IT company not domiciled in the Authority’s host country to provide IT consultants working at the Authority’s premises that would qualify for posted worker status under the provisions of French law concerning the transposition of the Posting of Workers Directive2 and the Enforcement Directive3 , and by not verifying the declaration of compliance with Union and national law of the contractor; _________________ 2Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1). 3 Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’) (OJ L 159, 28.5.2014, p. 11).
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. WelcomNotes the extension of the scope of conflicts of interest to non-staff beyond the board of supervisors and management board, to include the anti- money laundering standing committee, the resolution committee and independent panels, including panels investigating breaches of Union law;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Notes that the Authority established harassment prevention policies and related trainings frameworks;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Notes with concern that the annual declarations of interest published on the website are based on members’ of the management board self-assessment; calls on the Authority to evaluate independently potential existence of conflicts of interest;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes with concern the inquiry of the Ombudsman took place following the Authority’s decision not to forbid its former executive director from taking up a role in a financial industry lobby and the inquiry’s conclusion that there was maladministration by the Authority in not immediately withdrawing its executive director’s access to confidential information; notes the recommendations made by the Ombudsman and the Authority’s reply that the new staff policy addresses the recommendations;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Recalls its resolution of 13 January 2020 on institutions and bodies of the EMU: preventing post-public employment conflicts of interest; calls upon the Authority to ensure that its internal procedures for dealing with conflicts of interest are in line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations following her inquiry into the EBA Executive Director’s move to a finance lobby group, if they are not yet fully aligned; calls further upon the Authority to enforce it Ethics Guide so as to protect the integrity of the institution and establish fair and responsible practices;
Amendment 32 #
20. Notes the adoption and implementation of a revised internal control framework by the Authority in January 2020; notdeplores that no annual assessment of the internal control framework was performed in 2019; calls on the Authority to perform the annual assessment without any delay and to report to the discharge authority of its results in the framework of the annual discharge procedure;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Notes that after the completed relocation from London to Paris following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, a provision of 10,1 million euros is made for the lease of the EBA’s London office; suggests that an audit be conducted once all the costs and consequences of the move are clear in order to identify best practices and areas for improvement;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Welcomes the Authority’s commitment to register its office space under the Union’s eco-management and audit scheme; invites the Authority to strengthen its commitment to creating a sustainable work environment; encourages to closely follow EMAS guidelines;