[ParlTrack]

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Grants the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Asylum discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2021 /~~ Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Asylum discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2021;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

Bas EICKHOUT

Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2021 /~~ Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2021;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Recalls with concern the Court’s 9. finding that in 2020, the Office had 16 vacant management posts, with 10 of those occupied on an acting basis for more than one year, thus being at odds with the Union’s Staff Regulations, which limit the duration of temporary management appointments to one year; notes the Office’s reply with regard to the reasons why in 2021 the recruitment of managers was not prioritised, whereas such reasons include practical limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, new migration and asylum crises, two structural reorganisations of the Office, the need to ensure business continuity, with a focus on filling other non-managerial posts; highlights, however, that acting managers occupy two posts in the Office’s establishment plan, situation that could lead to inefficiency issues as well as to impaired leadership and strategic continuity; further notes the statement of the Office’s Executive Director (ED) during the hearing in the European Parliament on 30 November 2022, whereby at that date 7 managers, including 3 senior management members were still on ad interim positions, 2 of whom have been for more than 1 year in their function; takes note from the Office’s replies that two senior management positions were under recruitment by the end of 2022, while the third position was foreseen to be published in the following months; notes with great concern the anonymous reports from the Office’s staff members, that the number of ad interim senior management positions who have been in function for more than 1 year, is in fact higher than two, contradicting the statement made by the ED during the aforementioned hearing; urges the Office to provide clarity on this matter as it concerns the Office’s transparency and accountability, including to Parliament; reiterates its calls on the Office to launch and/or finalise without delay the recruitment procedures that are necessary in order to fill in all its managerial posts, in full compliance with the applicable legal requirements and to keep the discharge authority informed regarding the progress made in this matter;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Highlights with great concern that on 14 September 2022, the discharge authority received an anonymous complaint containing allegations on staff- related irregularities caused by the Office’s entire senior management team; is deeply concerned about the seriousness of the aforementioned allegations that include claims of unlawful, opaque or partial recruitment and promotion of senior management members, nepotism, allegations of harassment orand the covering up of it, and mismanagement of funds relating to missions of Office staff; ~~notes that, as a result of those allegations, OLAF has launched an investigation~~stresses that earlier internal staff reports already raised severe doubts over the transparency, impartiality and non-biased practices of the Office; notes that, as a result of those allegations, OLAF has launched an investigation, which indicates that it has sufficient suspicion of serious misconduct; highlights that on January 23, 2023, the discharge authority received another anonymous complaint suggesting, among other things, that the Office misled Parliament, and that a substantial reshuffle of senior management is irregular and unprecedented; calls on the Office senior management and on all concerned staff to ensure full and sincere cooperation with OLAF throughout all stages of the investigation; calls on the Office to inform the discharge authority about the progress and stages of the investigation;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Notes that the Office has put in place a policy on protecting the dignity of the person and preventing psychological and sexual harassment; welcomes the Office’s organisation of awareness raising campaigns on these issues and the nomination of confidential counsellors in 2021; notes that in 2021, the Office received four complaints on alleged psychological harassment, one of which was withdrawn; notes that the other three complaints were object of a preliminary assessment carried out with support from an external law firm, that led to the conclusion that no prima-facie evidence of harassment was found, thus no further measures were deemed necessary by the Office; notes with concern that the Office did not cross-check the validity of the harassment complaints, and that it remains unclear how priority was given to the perspective of the alleged victims; calls on the Office to provide the discharge authority with the typology of cases and the criteria based on which it decides to ask for the support of an external law firm, given that the Office has its own Legal Services Unit;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Notes with great concern the alleged inadequate recruitment of some external contractors that are mandated to deal with asylum applications, indicated by several external contractors that have testified, on anonymous basis, that they were not interviewed or asked to provide evidence of their qualifications before assuming their role; stresses that inadequate recruitment risks to compromise the quality of the asylum decision-making procedure; calls upon the Office to provide the discharge authority transparency on this matter, and address any outstanding inadequacies with priority;

2023/02/21
Committee: CONT

6 Amendments of Bas EICKHOUT related to 2022/2098(DEC)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024