54 Amendments of Tamás DEUTSCH related to 2016/2152(DEC)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the annual report of the internal auditor contains findings based on specific audit work but does not by itself; aims at improving budgetary and financial management but not to provide a comprehensive picture of the Parliament’s budgetary and financial management; notes, similarly, that the Court’s report only represents the results of a small sample (16 transactions) in respect of Parliament’s transactions;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Understands that in general the low level of error in respect of the administrative expenditure may justifyaccount for the relatively little attention paid by the Court to Parliament’s transactions;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out, however, that the reputational risk in the case of the Parliament’s budgetary and financial management is relatively high, especially against the background of the Members of Parliament (MEPs) being the representatives of the citizens in the Union and hence any irregularities do not only damage the administration’s reputation, but also undermine the credibility of the MEPs as aneven if the error rate is remarkably low, the reputational risk is relatively high, given that such financial and budgetary errors might impact negatively on the standing of the institution;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that against this background, the work undertaken by the Parliament and in particular by CONT in the context of the discharge procedure is of particular importance, as it offers the soleoffers an opportunity to consider more thoroughly the accounts of the Parliament’s administration;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that ‘mopping-up’ transfers accounted for EUR 83 419 000, which represents 4,6 % of final appropriations with a total of EUR 71 000 000 transferred from provisional appropriation headings and from other sources, so as to help fund the annual lease payments for the Konrad Adenauer building; reaffirms, yet again, that Parliament's property policy should be set with sufficient clarity and full transparency as part of the budgetary strategy;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Takes furthermore note of the specific findings concerning Parliament contained in the annual report of the Court for 2015; notes that the Court found that in one out of the sixteen Parliament transactions examined, related to a political group, the Court found weaknesses in controls of the authoriszation and settlement of expenditure made in 2014 but cleared in 2015, and in the related procurement procedures; these involved only one out of 16 Parliament transactions that were examined concerning one or other of the political groups and these weaknesses were cleared in 2015;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Expresses its satisfaction with the commitment of the Parliament’s administration to continuously improving the performance of the Parliament’s services as a whole and to do so in an efficient manner, although it also considers that it is taking too long in some cases to put the changes into practice;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Considers that according to the Court the costs of the geographic dispersion of the Parliament amount to EUR 114 million per year and notes the finding that in the 2013 Fox-Häfner report 78 % of all missions by Parliament statutory staff arise as a direct result of the Parliament’s geographic dispersion; reminds that the estimation of the environmental impact of this dispersion is between 11 000 to 19 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions; calls on the Bureau to request the secretary-general to develop without delay a roadmap to a single seat for Parliament; points however to Article 341 TFEU which establishes that the seats of the institutions of the Union shall be determined by common accord of the governments of the Member States and Protocol 6 annexed to the TEU and the TFEU which lays down that Parliament shall have its seat in Strasbourg; recalls that a single-seat solution requests change of the treaties;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Recalls the reply by the Administration to question 75 in the questionnaire concerning discharge for Parliament for 2013, namely that it had decided to discontinue the ‘practice of long-term missions ..., ... leading to considerable savings’, but views as a major contradiction the fact that 13 staff members are currently on long-term missions; considers that a long-term mission for a staffer, involving an expatriation allowance and daily allowances, to a place where that person was already living and working is a reprehensible use of taxpayers’ money and contrary to the rules; insists on clarification of every long-term mission and on disclosure of reasons and costs;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. recalls that all officials and other servants of the Union, even those who work within cabinets, shall carry out their duties solely with the interests of the Union in mind, according to the rules laid down in the Staff Regulations; points out that the Union officials are paid by taxpayers' money, which is not intended to finance press or other staff to promote any national political interest of a President; calls on the bureau to lay down clear provisions in Parliaments regulations;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)
Paragraph 30 b (new)
30b. Takes note of the decision of 21 October 2015 by the President, by means of which he sought to make management appointments within Parliament without observing procedures, such as calls for applications; notes that that decision ‘did not correspond to the rules’ (Administration’s reply in connection with the second questionnaire from the Committee on Budgetary Control; insists that that decision by the President be formally revoked;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 c (new)
Paragraph 30 c (new)
30c. Notes that on 15 December 2015 the President gave himself authority to allocate an uncapped special allowance to his cabinet staffers, over and above the existing cabinet allowance, despite the fact that the Staff Regulations make no provision for such a special allowance; raises again the question of the lawfulness of that authority and the validity of the special allowances; asks for consideration to be given as to whether the decision concerned should not be revoked;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Welcomes that this reduces considerably cash payments and introduces mandatory electronic transfers therefore reducing the risks of theft and reputation for the Parliament while still providing for considerable flexibility; takes note ofsupports the Bureau’s intention to evaluate the revised system after one year of implementation;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Expresses its regret that invitations to 112 visitor groups were withdrawn in the wake of the Brussels and Paris terror attacks and welcomes Parliament's swift decision to reimburse their expenses; considers, however, that the repayment took an unjustifiably long time and that the service did not handle the situation properly;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 8
Subheading 8
Transparency register and conflict of interest
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Welcomes that the attention of the media and the public at large for the Parliament and its administration is increasing, but is concerned; notes that journalists find it difficult to obtain the specific information they are looking for, as is evident, for example, in the court case introduced on 13 November 2016 by journalists from all Union countries, following the refusal by the Parliament to disclose records about MEP's allowance; expects that the Parliament's administration balances the public interest against the protection of data of the MEPs and their assistants;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Believes that MEPs ought to be able to use the Parliament’s website to provide their constituencies with maximumthe greatest possible transparency on their activities and therefore calls upon the secretary- general to develop a system in which MEPs can indicate how they want their personal webpages to be organised; refers, in this respect, to the wish of certain MEPs to have their diaries and, in particular, their meetings with interest representatives, included on these webpages, and urges the secretary-general to make this possible without further delays, as already requested in Parliament’s 2014 discharge resolution;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls on the bureau to make it possible for MEPs who wish to do so, to have their accounts relating to the general expenditure allowance audited by the Parliament’s administration in a manner that is both efficient and effective (for example, by taking samples or by concentrating on expenditures over a certain financial threshold) and to publish; asks the bureau to insure that any measure taken in this regard produces no additional costs; recalls about the answer to the 2014 discharge questionnaire that "a comprehensive system of control and direct payment of the general expenditure allowance (GEA) would necessitate the cresulation of 40 to 75 new posts oin their personal webpages on the Parliament’s website; alternatively, to earmark a percentage of the general expenditure allowance for MEPs to hire an external audit area of financial management, depending on the degree of control required"; recalls about the principle of the independence of the mandate and the risk which goes along with the above mentioned change to silence critical politicians with administrative means;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Similarly, calls on the secretary- general to ensure on Parliament’s website full disclosure of the underlyingNotes that the Parliament’s website makes available a range of documents regarding the decision on the recognition of the European political parties and European political foundations and the determinlongside details of specification of final funding amount; asks the Parliament to request the Commission to present a proposal for a revision of the regulation ofn the finstatute and funding of European political parties and European political founding amountations, including stricter requirements for the setting up of European political foundations, in order to prevent abuses;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Welcomes the introduction of a special form for rapporteurs towhere they can indicate which interest representatives had influenced their reports (legislative footprint);
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Reiterates its call for a report by Parliament’s administration on the use of the Parliament’s premises by interest representatives and other external organisations, whilst paying special attention to the MEP-industry fora;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 – introductory part
Paragraph 42 – introductory part
42. Is concerned that the current code of conduct for MEPs does not offer sufficient safeguardmay require further improvements in order to avoid conflicts of interests and expresses the need for the establishment of a working group on the strengthening of the code of conduct in respect of, inter alia, the following issuespaying specific attention to:
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 – indent 3
Paragraph 42 – indent 3
– oversight over the registration of declarations of MEPs’ interests;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 a (new)
Paragraph 43 a (new)
43a. Expresses its dissatisfaction at Parliament's current communication strategy; considers that there are serious problems with the effectiveness and coherence of the current strategy and particularly with the amount of funding it receives, and asks the service to draw up a communication strategy which will serve the interests of the institution effectively and economically;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 a (new)
Paragraph 44 a (new)
44a. Reiterates, in this regard, its call in the 2014 discharge where it was noted that the Parliament website remained relatively user-unfriendly, difficult to navigate and had not yet incorporated the most recent technological developments with the result that it was difficult to find relevant information quickly; it was also pointed out that, given the importance of communication with European citizens, the website did not contribute to improving the image of the Parliament with the public at large;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 b (new)
Paragraph 44 b (new)
44b. Calls on DG COM to introduce a more efficient and user-friendly website that incorporates a more efficient website search engine, one that will heighten the profile of the Parliament with the general public and respond more directly to the needs and interests of citizens; notes that merely mediocre results have been obtained despite the expenditure of large resources;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Is not convinced of the need to haveNotes that the building and staff costs for the Parliament's information offices ofin the Parliament in all Member States, especially in view of the fact that for effective communication physical presence may not always be necessary and can easily be replaced by effective and responsive internet facilities; is in particular sceptical about having an information office in the cities of Brussels and Strasbourg as in both cities the Parliament itself can be visited and in addition for interested visitors there is or will be a Parlamentarium at their disposalMember States are disproportionately large in relations to amount of money spent on theses offices' key functions, which is to better inform citizens in the Member States of the Parliament's activities: calls on DG COMM to strike a better balance between running cost and the offices communication functions;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Is not convinced of the need to have information offices of the Parliament in all Member States, especially in view of the fact that for effective communication physical presence may not always be necessary and can easily be replaced by effective and responsive internet facilities; is in particular sceptical about having an information office in the cities of Brussels and, Strasbourg as in bothnd Luxembourg, as in all three cities the Parliament itself can be visited and in addition for interested visitors there is or will be athe Parlamentarium and the House of European History at their disposal;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 a (new)
Paragraph 46 a (new)
46a. Is concerned at the replies given to the questions for written response on Parliament's information offices in some Member States, as in most cases only a fraction of their operating costs arise from the real goals and tasks of such offices, whilst the lion's share of the money is spent on office rentals and the salaries and travel of their staff;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Notes with concern the on-going discussions on the nature of temporary exhibitions; and is not convinced of the fact that deciding onsks if the contents of exhibitions in the House of European History belongs to Parliament’s core business, let alone the managementshould not be let alone to the competent bodies of a museum;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54 a (new)
Paragraph 54 a (new)
54a. Is pleased that, according to estimates, the House of European History will welcome 250 000 visitors a year; points out that the annual operating costs of this facility are estimated in advance at EUR 13.3 million; expresses its concern at the proportionally low number of visitors as compared with the high operating costs, bearing in mind that in 2015, Parliament welcomed 326 080 visitors and that the operating cost was just EUR 4.3 million;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55 a (new)
Paragraph 55 a (new)
55a. Welcomes the Commission decision to contribute EUR 800 000 a year to the operating costs of the House of European History; considers, however, that the Commission should contribute a much higher proportion of the estimated annual operating costs of EUR 13.3 million;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 a (new)
Paragraph 60 a (new)
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64 a (new)
Paragraph 64 a (new)
64a. Notes that the procedure to bring Parliament's security guard service in- house is complete and that the procedure do the same for the drivers' service is on- going; calls on the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Budgetary Control on what has been learnt from these procedures and any savings that have been made as a result;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
Paragraph 65
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
Paragraph 67
67. Points out that in cases of harassment or whistle-blowing APAs are in a particularly vulnerable position, as their contracts are based on mutual trust between the MEP and the assistant; if this trust is lacking, that in itself is reason for terminating the contract; furthermore, if the MEP has to resign because of reputational damage as a consequence of harassment or other irregularities, this normally means that the contracts of all his/her assistants will also be terminated; calls therefore for the immediate strengthening of the representation of APAs in the advisory committee on harassment, as already requested in the context of the 2014 discharge, and financial compensatory measures, for example, by paying the APAs concerned up to their salaries until the end of the term of Parliament, if their contracts are dissolved and the unemployment benefits do not offer full compensation of lost income;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73 a (new)
Paragraph 73 a (new)
73a. Points out that, despite previous calls for improvement, the service offered by the Parliament's travel agency remains unsatisfactory as prices are relatively high, the agency has failed to negotiate agreements with the major airlines with regard to cheaper prices and more flexibility when making travel arrangements;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73 b (new)
Paragraph 73 b (new)
73b. Calls on the agency to actively seek to provide lower prices whatever the airline in question is; requests that the agency introduces a feedback process (user satisfaction surveys) with a view to identifying areas in which further progress might be made;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76 a (new)
Paragraph 76 a (new)
76a. Recalls Paragraph 112 of last year's discharge report (P8_TA- PROV(2016)0150) that calls for an assessment of the current situation of the pension fund; regrets that such an assessment has not yet been delivered;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85 a (new)
Paragraph 85 a (new)
85a. Calls on DG ITEC to make all Parliament's web pages accessible to portable devices, as the current interfaces can hardly be deemed compatible with portable devices, even though a large proportion of visitors to the pages use an iPad or mobile phone to access the sites of Parliament and the specialised committees; proposes the implementation of measures to improve, tangibly and within a reasonable time-frame, the accessibility of the web pages to portable devices;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86
Paragraph 86
86. Finds it unacceptable that printers have to be placedessential for the mandate of the MEPs that printers remain in their offices of staff members and in particular of APAs,; points out that cheap generic cartridges may possibly leading to dangerous levels of emissions of particles; calls and to health damages; calls therefore for measures to be taken by DG ITEC and Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics (DG INLO) to create possibilities for printers to be located strategically, but outside the officpromote the procurement of eco-friendly printers and to ensure the sole use of original cartridges;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90 a (new)
Paragraph 90 a (new)
90a. Expresses its satisfaction with the progress that has already been achieved in the modernisation process of DG INTE, notably with respect to the enhanced availability of interpreters, the moderate increase in the number of hours interpreters spend delivering interpretation and the improved distribution of interpreter workloads; notes that the calculation method with regard to statistics has been clarified and that all annual leave and sick leave have now been excluded from the calculation of the average number of hours spent by interpreters in the booth;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93
Paragraph 93
93. Is concerned about the problematiclack of results of the social dialogue between DG INTE and the representatives of interpreters concerning the adoption of new working conditions, which started in January 2014 and whereby until now no agreement could be reached; calls on the secretary general to initiate a mediation between the parties involved to improve the mutual understanding of the positions and to find solutions that are agreeable to all; both in line with the interest of the Parliament and offer an adequate level of social protection for staff;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 a (new)
Paragraph 93 a (new)
93a. Request information from the secretary-general regarding the measures that have been taken since the adoption of the resolution on the discharge on the budget 2014 to achieve more resource efficiency and effectiveness of meeting organisation by streamlining conference management in Parliament;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94
Paragraph 94
94. Welcomes the continuous efforts to work on the safety in and around the premises of the buildings of the Parliament; acknowledges that safety within the Parliament represents a delicate balancing between achieving safety with a number of measures, and avoiding transforming its buildings intointroducing an overly security conscious regime that slows down the activity of the parliament ; but, nevertheless, insists that building security should be fourtresses, which, as a side effect, may lead to anxiety for its users; her reinforced and calls on the secretary-general to ensure that staff are correctly trained and able to perform their tasks, including in emergency situations, professionally;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 a (new)
Paragraph 94 a (new)
94a. Calls on the secretary-general to reinforce security and to ensure that cooperation between the institutions of the Union is actively pursued alongside cooperation between the Belgian, French and Luxemburgish authorities.
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 b (new)
Paragraph 94 b (new)
94b. Call on the DG ITEC and DG SAFE to reinforce anti- hacking measures in light of the increased threat of cyber-attack in recent months;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101
Paragraph 101
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107
Paragraph 107
107. Emphasises nevertheless that the current system of internal and external controls is clearly insufficient to avoid major irregularitiessometimes fails to avoid certain irregularities in particular in so far the smaller parties are concerned; points out that larger political parties managed to undergo the auditing process without difficulty; takes note of the declarations of the external accountant, EY, that its audits are aimed at obtaining a reasonable assurance that the annual accounts are free of material misstatements and that the entity has complied with in scope rules and regulations, and that they include examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the opinion; also notes, however, that the examinations do not include investigations of possible fraudulent statements and documents; that, therefore, the audits provide only for a superficial insight in the dealings of European political parties and foundations;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 109
Paragraph 109
109. Calls on the bureau to, in so far as the principle of consfider in future not only the note from the secretary-general ontiality allows it, to facilitate access to the underlying documents contained in the final reports of European political parties and foundations, but to receive automatically the underlying documents and, in particular the accounts and the audits undertaken;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112
Paragraph 112