Activities of Derek VAUGHAN related to 2016/2152(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section I – European Parliament PDF (717 KB) DOC (110 KB)
Amendments (26)
Amendment 5 #
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 provide a comprehensive picture of the Parliament’s budgetary and financial management; notes, similarly,; notes that the Court’s report only represents the results of a small sample (16 transactions) in respect of Parliament’s transactions;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Points out that four chapters accounted for 71 % of total of the commitments: Chapter 10 (Members of the institution), Chapter 12 (Officials and temporary staff), Chapter 20 (Buildings and associated costs) and Chapter 42 (Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance); notes that this indicates that Parliament’s expenditure is characterised by a high level of rigidcontinuity for the major part linked to remunerations for MEPs and staff, adjusted according to the staff regulations and other contractual obligations;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Is concerned with the Court’s finding that of the 151 transactions examined for all the Union institutions, 22 (14,6 %) were affected by error; notes however that of these 22 transactions, only seven errors were quantified and thus had financial implications, resulting in an estimated level of error of 0,6 %;
Amendment 57 #
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 of the Bureau’s intention to evaluate the revised system after one year of implementation; regrets, however, that Parliamentary Assistants can be nominated to receive payments into their personal accounts and certify the group's expenses; is concerned this places unnecessary financial and legal responsibility and potential risk on APAs; urges the Bureau to reconsider this as a priority;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls in this regard on the bureau to publish on the Parliament’s website the documents submitted to it by the secretary- general, as soon as they become available, unless the nature of the information contained therein makes this impossible, for example, for the protection of personal dwhere justified and appropriatae;
Amendment 79 #
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,publish 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 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls on the bureau to make it Notes that it is already 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 the results on their personal webpages on the Parliament’s website; alternatively, to earmark a percentage of the general expenditure allowance for MEPs to hire an external auditclaim audit expenses as an eligible cost relating to the GEA;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36a. Notes the low awareness amongst MEPs of the possibility of returning general expenditure allowance surpluses; asks the secretary-general to publicise this as a priority; urges MEPs to return surpluses;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Calls on the secretary-general to ensureNotes that the accounts of the political groups are easilynd of NI are accessible on the Parliament’s website in a format that allows for quick and easy searches;
Amendment 112 #
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,paying specific attention to the following issues:
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 – indent 3
Paragraph 42 – indent 3
– oversight over the registration of declarations of MEPs’ interests;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Supports the various programmes aimed at facilitating visits by journalists and citizens at large who are interested in finding out more on Parliament’s activities;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Is, however, not convinced ofExpresses concern about the effectiveness of Pthe parliament’'s communication strategy; in respect of those who are not automatically interested in Parliament’s activities or are even sceptical about its functioning; invites the secretary-general to develop a new strategy to reach also thesvites the secretary-general to launch a comprehensive review of the current strategy to evaluate citizens and to concentrate in that respect less on “sending messages” than on facilitating access to information and on addressing unjustified prejudices againsts capacity to increase understanding and improve public perception of the Parliament;.
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Is not convinced of the need to have iInformation oOffices 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 both cit are currently best serving the interests of the Parliament; calls on the secretary-general to reviesw the Parliament itself can be visited and in addition for interested visitors there is or will be a Parlamentarium at their disposalir effectiveness as part of the aforementioned strategy;
Amendment 190 #
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 2013 and 2014 discharge, ands; calls also for the possibility of financial compensatory measures, for example, by paying the APAs concAPAs to be considerned 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 incomein the next revision of the Staff Regulation to ensure equal treatment of APAs and recognition of their particular vulnerability in cases of harassment or whistle-blowing;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 b (new)
Paragraph 67 b (new)
67b. Welcomes the intention of the administration to launch the process for adaptation of the flat rate allowances for Strasbourg missions received by APAs, which are significantly lower than those for permanent officials; emphasises that this adaptation should be based on transparent calculation methodology with a direct correlation to the recent upwards revision of allowances and accommodation ceilings for permanent officials; also emphasises that automatic indexation of the allowances for future revisions should be introduced;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 a (new)
Paragraph 67 a (new)
67a. Deeply regrets the fact that the employment period of an APA in the case of death or resignation of his or her Member ceases at the end of the calendar month; emphasises that this could mean that an APA would not have a single day of notice period if the Member's term of office happens to end on the final day of a given month; calls for this unacceptable situation to be resolved in the next revision of the Staff Regulation, by linking notice periods to a defined period of time, such as four weeks, rather than to calendar months; further calls on the Bureau to swiftly introduce temporary measures that could provide a provisional solution to this problem before the legal revision takes place;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69
Paragraph 69
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 92
Paragraph 92
92. Recognises that in accordance with the bureau decisions of 2013 and 2015, the new catering contracts do not foresee any direct subsidies from the Parliament’s budget; is concerned, however, that certain services are currentlywere offered at higher than market prices in 2015; refers in this respect to the coffee service during meetings, which comes at EUR 4 per cup; calls on the secretary-general to continue discussing the pricing policies of the caterers and to make sure that they do not charge higher- than-market prices for certain services; notes prices were revised in August 2016;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94
Paragraph 94
94. Welcomes the continuous efforts to work onguarantee the safety in and around the premises of the buildings of the Parliament; acknowledges that safeecurity within the Parliament representails a delicate balancinge between achievensuring safety with a number of measures, and avoiding transforming its buildings into fortresses, which, as a side effect, may lead to anxiety for its usersand maintaining Parliament's image as an open and transparent institution;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107
Paragraph 107
107. Emphasises nevertheless that the current system of internal and external controls is clearly insufficimay require improvement to avoid major irregularities; 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 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112
Paragraph 112