Activities of Ivailo KALFIN related to 2012/2176(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2011, Section X – European External Action Service PDF (189 KB) DOC (114 KB)
Amendments (16)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that on the basis of its audit work, the Court of Auditors concluded that the payments as a whole for the year ended on 31 December 2011 for administrative and other expenditure of the institutions and bodies were free from material error and therefore welcomes a good start in establishing a sound framework of financial management;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is concerned that, the Court of Auditors found, in a small number of cases, that non-compliance with the rules has lead to incorrect payments to staff members, legal uncertainty for temporary staff and for the EEAS, failure to respect the Financial Regulation and unrecovered VAT and a breach of the procurement rules which all Union institutions are bound to comply with;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Takes note of the replies given to the Court of Auditors' observations and agrees with its recommendations that steps need to be taken to ensure that staff deliver at appropriate intervals documents confirming their personal situation; notes that EEAS needstogether with the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO)is planning to implement a system for the timely monitoring of those documents and that authorising officers should; in addition the EEAS should further improve the design, coordination and performance of procurement procedures through appropriate checks and better guidance;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that at the end of 2011, the final budget for EEAS headquarters was EUR 188 000 000, with a utilisaexecution rate of 91% and was EUR 276 100 000 for the delegations, with a lower execution rate of around 89%; takes note that the budget of the delegations had to be supplemented by the Commission to a total of EUR 252 400 000, having an execution rate of 85%; Notes also that, at the end of 2012, the final execution of 2011 budget showed an execution rate of 97% for the headquarters and 97% for the delegations;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is concerned that after an amending budget and some transfers from the Commission and within services in 2011, underspending and carrying over of appropriations continues to be quite high; sSuggests the development of key performance indicators to monitor the most critical areas in order to further improve the budget execution over the coming years;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. RegretNotes that the proportion of staff coming from the newer Member States is very lower when compared to staff from the EU-15, and that this is due largely to the geographical balance of the staff of the EEAS transferred to it on 1 January 2011 from the Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council; urges the EEAS to take the necessary measures to have a better and more balanced representation and welcomes the progress made in this regard since 1 January 2011;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that there are directorates with 22, 27 and 29 staff members and managing directorates with 44 staff members; criticises thepoints out that there is a high number of management positions compared to other institutions; urges that the High Representative reduce this top-heavy administration;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes that 39,5% of Union ambassadors come from the Member States; recalls the agreement that one-third of posts at AD level should be filled by staff from Member States; urges that the High Representative implement the agreement, which means middle and senior posts are to be included in that quotaensures balanced staff profile at all levels; considers that middle and senior posts are to be included in that quota, as well as non-management posts at AD level; notes that the current proportion of staff from the Member States overall at AD level is 27,6%;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Points out that there is an imbalance in delegations between staff members of the EEAS and the Commission; urges that more EEAS staff be transferred from headquarters to delegations within the limits of the budget;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes with concern that 57 % of the Heads of Delegation assess the skills ofEmphasizes the importance of assuring that the operational staff, finance staff, and the monitoring and auditing staff as inadequatepossess the necessary skills to carry out their tasks; demands that the EEAS and the Commission provide Parliament with the results of their discussionfocus their training programmes on the enhancement of those skills;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Draws attention to the cost-intensive procedure of the annual salary adjustment method for local staff in Union delegations; believes that that methodology can be made more efficient and cost- effective; asks the EEAS to use an alternative calculation methods by means of aased on independent and objective selection of reference organisations, which would be simpler and cheaper, instead of a selection made by the employee him or herself; suggests that the United Nations be added as a fixed component and a senior ministry official be included in the same or similar locations; urges that a mechanism be established to relieve the Union ambassador of his responsibility for tariffsalary negotiations with local staff and for the reference organisations to be chosen for a period of five years;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Urges that the EEAS reduce the highSuggests the EEAS to re-examine the reasons behind the absence rate in delegations and requests the EEAS to provide Parliament with figures of absenteeism on an annual basis; urges in that contextalso that the delegation staff combine their periods of professional training in Brussels with the rest of their leave as much as possible; invites the Commission to present proposals to modify the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union to bring leave entitlements of staff in delegations into line with other diplomatic services;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Notes with satisfaction that synergies with the Commission's Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid and the national diplomacies are well functioning and invites the EEAS to attach that information to the 2012 annual activity reportkeep the Parliament informed; accepts that there is still work to be done in relation to the consulater services; asks that Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs be engaged in that exercise;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Notes a high volume of travel activities of Union delegation staff to headquarters with various purposes; regrets that it is not possible to have an independent inspection authority to evaluate the necessity of those official journeys; asks for this proposal to be taken into consideration by the High Representative and to report to Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control on that matterInvites the High Representative to ensure closer monitoring of missions, to promote multi-purpose rather than separate missions wherever possible, and to ensure adequate management controls;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Strongly urgInvites the EEAS, in regard to the travel arrangements of its delegations to its headquarters, to adopt practices similar to thos, when possible, best practice applied by Member States in comparable circumstances; and in full respect of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union;