Activities of Dennis de JONG related to 2018/2167(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017, Section I – European Parliament PDF (270 KB) DOC (124 KB)
Amendments (35)
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that, following the Secretary- General’s request, all Parliament’s DGs developed management tools to comply with the principle of performance-based budgeting; observes that some of the existing quantitative targets armay be difficult to implement in the DGs, which work to the timeframe of the political cycle; invites the Secretary-General to take this fact into consideration when evaluating performance based budgeting across DGs, without disregarding the focus on added value;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Calls on the Parliament's administration to provide an overview of the 2017 appointments of high-officials; and encourages the Secretary-General to initiate additional measures to improve the transparency of and equality during appointment procedures at the European Parliament, taking into account the findings and recommendations of the European Ombudsman in joint cases 488/2018/KR and 514/2018/KR;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 – introductory part
Paragraph 30 – introductory part
30. Still strongly regrets that, accordingRegrets that, despite repeated calls from the European Parliament for establishing a single seat, and the fact that citizens of the Union do not understand why the European Parliament should divide its activities over two the Court,seats, so far the European Council did not even commence a discussion on how to meet Parliament´s requests in this respect; recalls the 2014 ECA analysis which estimated the costs of the geographic dispersion of the Parliament amount to EUR 114 million per yearto be EUR 114 million per year; notes, furthermore, the finding from its resolution of 20 November 2013 on the location of the seats of the European Union’s Institutions1a that 78 % of all missions by Parliament statutory staff arise as a direct result of the Parliament's geographic dispersion; emphasises that the report also estimates the environmental impact of the geographic dispersion to be between 11 000 to 19 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions; reiterates the negative public perception caused by that dispersion; reiterates its call on the Council to develop a comprehensive strategy in order to agree on a single seat for Parliament; takes note of the additional costs linked to Parliament’s 12 journeys per year to Strasburg, which can be broken down as follows for 2017: _________________ 1a OJ C 436, 24.11.2016, p. 2.
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Notes that the creation of an institute dedicated to the education of future European diplomats within the EEAS could be an example to repurpose the premises of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to house this diplomatic institute;
Amendment 47 #
35a. Stresses that it is difficult to find out the result of Parliament’s votes on the website of the European Parliament and that VoteWatch, a commercial website, is much more practical since the voting results are easier to find; calls on the Secretary-General to build a more advanced system for Parliament’s website, registering plenary roll-call votes with easy search options to seek voting behaviour of individual Members and to compare these with other members of their group and with members of other groups;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)
Paragraph 37 a (new)
37a. Recognises the attempts of DG COMM to also reach out to those citizens who are not automatically interested in Parliament’s work; encourages the Secretary-General to build a truly interactive communication strategy, going beyond target groups such as journalists and students, and including a ‘listening mode’ to collect and answer possible critical voices;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. WelcomesTakes note of the opening of the House of European History in May 2017 and the Simone Veil Parlamentarium in Strasbourg in July 2017; notes that between May and December the House of European History welcomed 99 344 visitors; regrets that its opening was delayed for more than one year; is concerned that 99 344 visitors seems few relative to costs of EUR 4,4 million in staff costs: EUR 2,7 million for permanent staff and EUR 1,7 million for contract agents (including the cost of the security agents); invites the Bureau to undertake a cost-benefit analysis and assess whether this significant amount of money is being spent wisely; considers, moreover, that the number of visitors is flattered as it largely represents group visits organised with subsidies from the European Parliament; invites the Bureau to undertake a cost-benefit analysis and assess whether this significant amount of money is being spent wisely; reiterates its call on the Bureau to continue the dialogue with the local authorities to see how the latter can further contribute to the financing of the House of European History;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)
Paragraph 40 a (new)
40a. Expresses its deep concerns regarding the working conditions of the Expo Crew members working in the HEH and the Parlamentarium; regrets that before replacing the existing framework contract for the provision of guided tours and learning services with a new one, through a tender procedure in January 2019, no comparative study was conducted on the potential advantages for both staff and Parliament of proceeding to in-house staffing of the current EXPO crew members; urges the Secretary- General to take a far more active role in ensuring that the new contractor offers better remuneration to EXPO Crew members than is done by the current contractor who applies the lowest possible salary levels under Belgian law (based on Commission Paritaire 200) and that the new contractor provides for proper, respectful working conditions , improving the working hours and breaks, and providing EXPO Crew members with proper attire; ; urgently requests the Secretary-General to keep the CONT committee closely informed on the requirements for the new tender;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Takes note of the reform approved by the Bureau in November 2017 of the European Parliament Liaison Offices (EPLO) where the revised mission statement aims at engaging with citizens, media and stakeholders in order to reach out to citizens; calls on the Liaison Offices to ensure that citizens are aware of the work undertaken by the European Institutions and to ensure that they are aware of the existence of the Liaison Offices;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Notes that DG PERS’s lead indicator in 2017 is time to deliver; notes with satisfaction that targets and methods of data collection were refined with a general positive assessment of the results; notes that objectives to improve the procedures for recruiting APAs and for admitting children to the Parliament’s kindergarten were not met, but that the difficulties that had been encountered were resolved in 2018; underlines that the process of recruiting APAs at the beginning of the next parliamentary term can be challenging and that delays have to be avoided in the interest of Members and APAs;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47a. Recognises that, for certain activities such as running the canteens and cleaning, outsourcing has been Parliament’s preferred option and that, as a consequence, for certain DG’s, the number of external staff on Parliament’s premises may even exceed the number of officials;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 b (new)
Paragraph 47 b (new)
47b. Notes, however, that such outsourcing decisions cannot provide an explanation for the use of all external staff and that, for example in the Directorate-General Innovation and Technological Support (DG ITEC), the ratio between external staff and officials is difficult to explain;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 c (new)
Paragraph 47 c (new)
47c. Reiterates the opinion that external staff should not be used to compensate for the reduction of the number of posts as agreed in the context of the 2014 revision of the Staff Regulations and the current MFF;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49a. Reiterates its concern about the alleged practice of Members obliging APAs to undertake missions, particularly to Strasbourg, without mission orders, without mission costs or simply without travel costs; is of opinion that such a practice leaves room for abuse: where APAs travel without a mission order they not only have to pay for the costs by their own means, they are also not covered by workplace insurance; calls on the Secretary-General to investigate this alleged practice and to report on this by the end of the year;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 b (new)
Paragraph 49 b (new)
49b. Reiterates the vulnerable position APAs and interns employed by Members hold in respect to internal whistleblower protection rules; notes with great concern the Secretary-General’s acknowledgement that ‘whistleblowing rules are applicable to APAs but the Parliament cannot provide employment protection’; urges the Secretary-General to address this situation immediately and fulfil the Parliament’s legal obligations under the Staff Regulation to protect whistleblowers for all EU staff classifications;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 c (new)
Paragraph 49 c (new)
49c. Recognises that whistleblowing is crucial in preventing and deterring unlawful activities and wrongdoing; notes there were no parliamentary whistleblower cases in 2017 and of the three in 2016, all were APAs and were dismissed by their respective MEPs; believes that the Parliament may not be inspiring confidence in their staff generally, nor granting requisite legal protection to APAs specifically, to those who wish to report wrongdoing; calls on the Secretary-General to remedy this situation as a matter of urgency;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 a (new)
Paragraph 53 a (new)
53a. Reiterates its call on the Conference of Presidents and the Bureau to reconsider the possibility for APAs, at certain conditions to be set, to accompany Members in official Parliament Delegations and Missions, as already requested by several Members; calls on the Secretary-General to investigate the budgetary consequences, and the organisation and logistics of these missions;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Notes that the creation of Europe House in several Information Offices has been approved by the Bureau and is being implemented throughout the coming years; calls on the Secretary-General, to see to it that new locations for the Information Offices are selected on a careful cost- benefit analysis and regrets that in certain cities, such as Paris, locations were selected at the most expensive streets without proper justification; calls for detailed information on the progress of works be included in the DG’s annual activity report;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58
Paragraph 58
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Notes that in 2017, EUR 75 000 were committed to the pilot installation of innovative furnishing and office equipment models for Members; notes also that the refurbishment of Members’ offices and corridors in the Louise Weiss building, which was the only Parliament’s building undergoing works in 2016 and 2017, totalled EUR 1 157 975 (compared to EUR 840 260 in 2016); reiterates its deep regrets regarding the decision to change the furniture in the offices of Members and their assistants in Brussels; notes that most of the furniture is perfectly serviceable and presentable, and that there is therefore absolutely no need to change it; reconsiders that feedback from a number of Members – as opposed to a general survey – is not, on its own, sufficient justification for the change, while arguments put forward by the administration on matters of taste, fashion or outdated style are equally inadequate; individual items of furniture should only be changed if there are clear signs of deterioration, major wear and tear or health risk at the workplace of a specific or general nature (such as the possible development of more ergonomic office desks or chairs);
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59 a (new)
Paragraph 59 a (new)
59a. Expresses its deep concerns regarding the costs involved in the Jean Monnet House and the proposed additional accommodation that will be used as facility for Away Days for the European Parliament, and questions the need to have such a facility at yet another prime location in Paris; regrets the future use of another building, the House of the artist Wiertz, by the European Parliament, especially since there seems to be no objective need for acquiring this building;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63
Paragraph 63
63. Notes that the overall average number of hours per week that staff interpreters spent delivering interpretation services in their booth increased to 14 in 2017; welcomes this increase when compared to 13 hours and 25 minutes spent delivering interpretation services in the booth in 2016; regretsunderstands the fact that the change in working patterns, that started with the new Staff Regulation, culminated in a strike that provoked disturbances in the provision of interpretation to Members; commends the work to maintain core interpretation services in order to keep legislative work running;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
Paragraph 68
68. Takes note of the Bureau’s decision with regard to the General Expenditure Allowance to apply the agreed modifications only after the 2019 elections; takes note of the activities of the Bureau in relation to the General Expenditure Allowance, in particular by creating an ad hoc working group for defining and publishing the rules concerning the use of this allowance; regrets, however, that the only decision taken by the Bureau relates to a non-exhaustive list of eligible expenses which will, moreover, only apply to the newly elected Members after the 2019 elections;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 a (new)
Paragraph 68 a (new)
68a. Furthermore, regrets that the Bureau did not implement the additional proposals that were adopted by the plenary in its resolution on the Discharge 2016 (P8_TA(2018)0124), and its resolution on the General budget of the EU for 2019 (P8_TA(2018)0404), namely: – the need to define, expand and publish the rules concerning the use of the GEA (which requires, inter alia, an exhaustive list of eligible expenses); – that all receipts pertaining to the GEA be kept by Members; – that the unspent share of the GEA be returned at the end of a Member’s mandate;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 b (new)
Paragraph 68 b (new)
68b. Calls in addition on the Bureau to make the following, additional changes concerning the GEA on top of those already adopted by the plenary: – A 5% sample checks of the GEA spending by the European Parliament's internal auditing; the final results and the findings should be part of the annual internal audit report published by the European Parliament; – The need for Members to publish, on an annual basis, an overview of their expenditures by category (communication costs, office rental, office supplies ...); – The admission of an independent auditor in charge of the annual check of the accounts and the publication of an auditor’s opinion;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 c (new)
Paragraph 68 c (new)
68c. Urges the Bureau to implement the democratic will of the plenary concerning the GEA as soon as possible; furthermore, urges the Bureau to immediately reconvene the working group in order to reform the GEA by developing new rules for greater transparency and financial accountability;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71 a (new)
Paragraph 71 a (new)
71a. Welcomes the proposals of the Secretary-General in this context, including the agreement that the Secretary-General will re-examine the situation in 2020 to see whether the measures have sufficiently brought back the actuarial deficit; welcomes the fact that the Secretary-General has consulted the Legal Service;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 a (new)
Paragraph 72 a (new)
72a. Calls on the Secretary-General to investigate the legal foundations and potential ramifications of the Voluntary Pension Fund and in particular, whether the European Parliament as guarantor is legally and financially sustainable, as the Voluntary Pension Fund is a Luxembourg investment fund, rather than a regular pension fund; underlines that this investigation should be carried out by an independent party;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 a (new)
Paragraph 78 a (new)
78a. Reiterates the call for the creation of an emergency rapid alert system which allows DG ITEC, in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Security and Safety (DG SAFE),to send swift communications by SMS to Members and staff that agree to their contact details being included on a communication list for use in specific emergency situations;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81 a (new)
Paragraph 81 a (new)
81a. Calls on DG SAFE’s security staff, in the case of evacuations, to carefully check the entire building for which they are responsible, to ensure that it has been evacuated and provide assistance to persons who are hearing-impaired or who have any other form of disability, when people have to be evacuated; underlines that when it comes to security, emergencies no privileged treatment should be given to Members, nor should any distinction be made between any type of staff of the European Parliament;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 83
Paragraph 83
83. Commends the Parliament’s commitment to green public procurement; notes that in 2017, 40,71 % of the contracts were classified as green, 10,96 % as light green and 48,33 % did not have any environmental dimension; encourages the Parliament to further increase the proportion of green public procurement commitments;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 84 a (new)
Paragraph 84 a (new)
84a. Welcomes, in the context of the energy and climate policy of the Union for 2030 and beyond, additional measures to decrease the emissions and offset unavoidable emissions in order to become 100 % carbon neutral institution; calls on the Parliament to lead by example and develop further CO2 offsetting policies for the European Parliament's premises;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 92 a (new)
Paragraph 92 a (new)
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 94 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Parliamentary Associations
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 a (new)
Paragraph 94 a (new)
94a. Expresses its concerns regarding Associations that are subsidised by the European Parliament and about the fact that EPA provides Members with discounts in certain shops, while the EPA was created for ‘social and information activities’; calls on the Secretary-General to make their financial accounts and activity reports available;