Activities of Monica MACOVEI related to 2011/2226(DEC)
Reports (2)
SECOND REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010 PDF (179 KB) DOC (94 KB)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010 PDF (208 KB) DOC (150 KB)
Amendments (71)
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ...Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ...Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority's budget for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ...Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas on 10 May 2012, the European Parliament postponed its decision on the discharge and closure of the accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2010,
Amendment 6 #
Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. ...Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the Authority provided extensive replies to the discharge authority by letters of 29 June 2012 and 20 August 2012,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes from the Authority that in line with the schedule of the Commission, migration to the accrual-based accounting (ABAC) system was scheduled for September 2011 and implemented accordingly;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Finds it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Agency counts only 15 members, each meeting costs in average EUR 92 630, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member; underlines that this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised Agency; is of the opinion that the Management Board meetings costs are excessive and should be reduced drastically; calls on the Agency and its Management Board to remedy the situation immediately and to inform the discharge authority on the measures undertaken by 30 June 2012;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges, however, the Authority to take further action to enable a satisfactory budgeNotes the Authority's statement that measures now adequate have been undertaken to improve financial management and that execution rate in terms of both commitment and payment appropriations and to inform the discharge authority of the progress achievedwas close to 100 % in 2011;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. FReminds it unacceptable that while the Management Board of the Authority consists of only 15 members, each meeting costsed on average EUR 92 630 in 2010, which represents an amount of EUR 6 175 per member; underlinwelcomes that, this amount is nearly three times higher than the second most expensive Management Board of a decentralised agency; is of the opinion that the Management Board meetings costs are excessive and should be reduced drastically; calls on the Authority and its Management Board to remedy the situation immediately and to inform the discharge authority of the measures undertaken by 30 Junerough the implementation of a series of measures, the Authority reduced expenditure related to the Management Board by 66 % compared to 20120;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Carryovers and contract management process
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers, therefore, that a thorough case-by-case analysis of these reports and possible and actual conflicts of interest situations should be carried out in order to evaluate the objectivity and impartiality of the Authority at all levels and the work it conveys; calls, moreover, on the Authority to make a thorough screening of the declarations of interest submitted by its staff, experts and by the Members of the Management Board followed by concrete measures to stop conflicts of interest and provide information to the public; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the screening process and the concrete measures adopted, by means of a detailed written report by 30 June 2012;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls onTakes note that the Authority to develop and implement a common monitoring system for the management of all its contracts; acknowledges, in particular, the absence of a central and coordinated capacity at directorate level responsible for the monitoring of contracts; underlines that this entails a risk of inefficient use of resources and uncoordinated monitoring of contracts and therefore asks the Authority to centralise these responsibilities at the level of each directorateed a 'Grants and Procurement Tool' to improve the monitoring of tendering process, the contracts management and the payment forecast capacity; notes that the new Database on Procurements and Grants was launched on 28 June 2012;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4
Subheading 4
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Takes note from the Authority that a review of its Policy on Declarations of Interest took place in 2011 and that its Management Board adopted a new policy on Independence and Scientific Decision- Making Processes ;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts' panels, especially in the case of the panels 'Food additives and nutrient sources added to food' (ANS) and 'Genetically modified organisms' (GMO); underlines that 8 of the Authority's panels and its scientific committee are up for renewal in March 2012 and the Authority's capability to implement the new policy is under scrutiny; calls therefore the Authority to inform in writing the discharge authority by 30 June 2012 on the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on Independence and Scientific Decision- Making Processes and to conform with the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and scientific committee; at the same time, calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the new composition of the panels and scientific committee by 30 June 2012;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23b. Notes that the Authority has been audited by the Court of Auditors in the framework of the Special Report on conflicts of interest management in the Union agencies and acknowledges from the Court of Auditors that the aforementioned Special Report will be published by the end of June 2012; given the extent of criticisms questioning the independence of the Authority, the findings of the Court of Auditors in the conflict of interest area will be also considered;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Conflict of interest and ‘revolving door’ casestransparency
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes, in particular, that in September 2010 the Chair of the Management Board was reported to have direct links to the food industry, and to be a member of the Board of Directors of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) - EuropWelcomes the organisation of a mandatory session on ethics and integrity for all members of the Management Board in October 2012 but calls on the Board to enforce effectively its Code of Conduct and adopt provisions preventing and sanctioning revolving door cases in order to avoid similar situations to the one of its former Chairperson in the future;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Welcomes the Authority's commitment to propose its Management Board to elect its Chairperson by open ballot; believes that a transparent procedure will reinforce the Management Board's accountability;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Takes note that the Authority's new policy on "independence and scientific decision-making processes" together with its implementing rules entered into force in July 2012 and that the Authority's new definition of conflicts of interests is compatible with the OECD guidelines; notes from the Authority that its practical approach concerning an expert breaching the independence policy rules is an exclusion for a 5-year period; suggests to insert a conclusive set of proportionate sanctions to be part of the implementing rules of the independence policy;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Notes that the Authority scheduled an evaluation of its independence policy by the end of 2013 and committed to consider, inter alia, the possibility to publish the outcomes of the breach of trust procedures, including the outcomes of the procedure verifying the integrity of the scientific review and to broaden and reinforce the mandate of its Committee on Conflict of Interests, for instance with a similar mandate to the Committee for Ethical Standards and Prevention of Conflict of Interest of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES); expects the Authority to inform the discharge authority on this matter by the start of the next discharge procedure;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17d. Encourages the Authority to further strengthen its independence policy and consider adopting rules among others including sanctions and publishing the curriculum vitae and declarations of interest of the in-house experts and scientists;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)
Paragraph 17 e (new)
17e. Notes the Authority's statement that it adopted a policy on gifts and hospitality on 4 July 2012; commends this initiative and invites the Authority to make the policy available on its website;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 f (new)
Paragraph 17 f (new)
17f. Acknowledges that from 1 October 2012 the Authority will launch its first evaluation of a random sample of declarations of interest to verify their coherence with its newly adopted independence policy and implementing rules; expects the Authority to share the outcomes of the evaluation of all declarations with the discharge authority by 1 March 2013 in order to reflect them in the amendments to the next discharge report;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Considers that product assessment should not be based solely on industry data, but should duly take into account independent scientific literature published in peer-reviewed journals; stresses that extra caution should be exercised in relation to industry influence in the development of guiAcknowledges the Authority's commitment to work with the European Commission in order to delfines and assessment methodologies, which should not favour industry-sponsored studies on speculative grounds and which should be developed in an open, transparent and balanced manner the modalities of full public access to unpublished raw data;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Observes that the Authority is repeatedly challenged over alleged cases of conflicts of interest involving members of the experts' panels, especially in the case of the panels on ‘Food additives and nutrient sources added to food’ (ANS) and ‘Genetically modified organisms’ (GMO); underlines that eight of the Authority's pPanels and its sScientific cCommittee were due forhave been renewaled in March 2012 and that the Authority's capability of implementing the new policy is under scrutiny; calls therefore on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in writing by 30 June 2012 of the steps undertaken to implement the new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes and to conform to the OECD definition of conflict of interest when renewing its panels and its scientific committee; at the same time, calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the new composition of the panels and of the scientific committee by 30 JuneJune 2012; welcomes the publication of the declarations of interest of the newly appointed experts on the Authority's website but observes that some of the curriculum vitae are not yet available; invites the Authority to publish all of them by 1 January 2012;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31a. Notes that 37 experts of two Panels have been appointed in 2011, prior to the adoption of the Authority's new policy on independence and scientific decision- making processes; agrees therefore with the Authority's initiative to screen by 31 October 2012 their declarations of interest against the newly adopted policy and implementing rules; invites the Authority to inform the discharge authority of the outcomes of the screening process by the start of the next discharge procedure;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 b (new)
Paragraph 31 b (new)
31b. Calls on the Authority to introduce in its annual activity reports a special section describing the actions taken to prevent and manage conflict of interest, which shall include inter alia: - the number of conflict-of-interest cases verified, - the number of revolving door cases, - the measures taken in each category of cases, - the number of breach of trust procedures launched and their outcomes; - the sanctions applied;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6
Subheading 6
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7
Subheading 7
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41