Activities of Gilles PARGNEAUX 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 (33)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that seven transfers were approved in accordance with Articles 27 and 46 of the Financial Regulation in the financial year 2017, which amounted to EUR 57 402 860 or 3,01 % of final appropriations; observes that the majority of transfers were related to the Parliament’s buildings policy, and in particular to help fund the annual lease payments for the Konrad Adenauer building project; considers that the number of ‘mopping-up’ transfers continues to be very high; believes that better budget management should reduce such transfers to the bare minimum necessary; stresses that, as part of the budgetary strategy, Parliament’s buildings policy should be laid down with sufficient clarity;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 – introductory part
Paragraph 14 – introductory part
14. WRecalls that the annual activity report is part of Parliament’s governance structure; welcomes and supports the following actions that the internal auditor agreed with the DGs responsible:
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Takes note of the written answers to the 2016 discharge resolution provided to CONT on 17 September 2018, and of the presentation by the Secretary-General addressing the various questions and requests of Parliament's 2016 discharge resolution and the exchange of views with Members that followed; stresses the importance of having more frequent discussions with the Secretary-General on issues concerning Parliament’s budget and its implementation in the Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes that six temporary agents in the General Secretariat, 41 temporary agents in the political groups and in the non-attached Members’ secretariat as well as 30 contract agents are concerned by the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the European Union; understands that their situation is being assessed on a case- by-case basis; welcomes the Secretary- General assurance that no extension of contract will be denied on the sole ground of nationality; invites the Secretary- General to carefully weigh the potential role of conflicts of interest during the sensitive time of the possible transition period and the possible disorderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Draws attention to the 5 % annual staff reduction target, that in 2017 required the Parliament to eliminate 60 posts from its administration establishment plan; recalls that the political agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council on the 2016 budget, establishing a new parameter for the reduction in Parliament’s staff and prolonging its application period until 2019, has maintained the exemption of political groups from this exercise; regrets however that the budgetary authorities imposed an additional cut of 76 posts from the Parliament’s administration in 2017 as compensation for a staff increase for the political groups; is concerned that this significant reduction may have negative effects on the Parliament’s performance and lead to an excessive workload for serving officials and a transfer of responsibilities to Members’ offices;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Notes that reimbursement of some missions is subject to very long delays and suggests that solutions should be explored to ensure that missions are reimbursed within a reasonable time;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes that the revised rules governing the payment of financial contributions for sponsored visitors groups entered into force on 1 January 2017; calls on the Secretary-General to release the assessment of these rules without delay; reiterates its call to remove the possibility of appointing APAs as head of a group;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Calls for a review of the system for calculating the reimbursement of travel expenses for groups of visitors sponsored by Members, with a view both to ensuring equal treatment of all Union citizens and to promoting the use of more environmentally friendly means of transport, given that the current system, based on calculating mileage, fails both to take account of the isolation and geographical barriers afflicting certain areas of the Union and to cover the cost of travelling to places where faster and more environmentally friendly means of transport are available;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Observes that trainees employed by Members have a private-law contract with the Member, which does not entitle them to the same status in Parliament as that of other categories of Parliament staff, or to have scholarships from the Parliament itself (Schuman scholarships); regrets that there is no facility or legal framework within the Directorate-General for Finance (DG FINS) to arrange a scheme for direct advance payments to such trainees prior to missions – although such arrangements are in place for all other staff – given the fact that, for obvious reasons, they can barely afford to pay these expenses up front out of their own pockets; Points out that the Bureau examined a proposal by the Secretary- General to improve the current legal framework governing trainees employed by Members that currently lacks certain safeguards; underlines that it is every Member’s prerogative to provide trainees suitable remuneration in line with the legal framework; supports the Secretary- GeneralBureau in hits effort to draft a comprehensive and balanced proposal to review this situation; hopes that a proposal will be submitted as soon as possible;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6
Subheading 6
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Takes note of the ongoingmajor technical and editorial changes made to Parliament’s public website; underlines that, particularly with regard to search engine optimisation of the site; congratulates DG COMM on this progress but stresses that the pace of progress remains slow, particularly in view of the forthcoming European elections in 2019 and increased interest in Parliament’s work; stresses that a transparent and accessible website is key to the involvement of citizens;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Welcomes 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;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Regrets that expenditure items such as salaries and mission costs were not communicated in response to the questionnaire; draws on the information provided during the 2016 discharge procedure, where salaries paid for EPLO staff amounted to EUR 23 058 210 and mission costs amounted to EUR 1 383 843; assumes that these amounts have not changed significantly for the budgetary year 2017 and remains concerned that costs may outweigh the benefits; acknowledges the importance of effective communication in Member States but stresses the need for cost-efficiency; invites all decision-making parties involved to strive for more added value particularly with regards to running costs;
Amendment 69 #
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; stresses that the process of recruiting APAs at the beginning of the next parliamentary term may be difficult and that delays must be avoided in the interests of both Members and APAs;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Welcomes the fact that promoting equal opportunities remains a key component of Parliament's human resource management policy; takes notes that the gender equality roadmap continues to be implemented through concrete actions and a clear timeline for specific measures regarding management, professional training, awareness-raising on gender equality, work-life balance measures and regular monitoring of gender balance through statistics;
Amendment 86 #
52. Regrets that the number of women holding posts at the level of director- general fell from 25 % (3 posts) in 2016 to 17 % (2 posts) in 2017; notes the number of women at director level remained steady from 2016 to 2017 at 30 % (14 posts); considers that this trend runs counter to Parliament's roadmap for gender equality;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Notes the Parliament’s zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment adopted in 2017; notes also that several initiatives were and are being put in place to deal with harassment practices, in particular an updated roadmap for the adaptation of preventive and early support measures to deal with conflict and harassment between Members and APAs, trainees or other staff, an external audit of the Parliament’s internal practices and procedures, the creation of a network of confidential counsellors, and the organisation of a public hearing with experts in harassment in the workplace; expectsnotes that the results of the external audit to be communicated without delay, once availablewere expected by November 2018 and hopes that they will be communicated without delay, once available; expects, furthermore, the full and transparent implementation of the roadmap in line with the adopted parliamentary resolution, starting, or advancing as much as possible, before the end of the current parliamentary term;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 a (new)
Paragraph 53 a (new)
53a. Recommends a thorough revision of the internal rules governing missions and travel by officials and other servants of Parliament and of the implementing measures for Title VII of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, with a view, in particular, to aligning the treatment of accredited parliamentary assistants with that of officials;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 b (new)
Paragraph 53 b (new)
53b. Reiterates its call on the Conference of Presidents and the Bureau to reconsider the possibility for APAs, under certain conditions to be determined, to accompany Members on 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 123 #
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; welcomestakes note of this increase when compared to 13 hours and 25 minutes spent delivering interpretation services in the booth in 2016; regrets 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 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
Paragraph 64
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67
Paragraph 67
67. Notes that the new Parliament’s travel service will start operating on 1 January 2019; welcomes the fact that the new contract contains strengthened conditions, in particular with regard to ticket pricing and the availability of the travel service’s call centre at all times, including at weekends; stresses again the importance of a simple and user-friendly complaints mechanism to quickly highlight shortfalls, which allows for speedy resolution of any problems; emphasises that attention needs to be paid to the specific requirements of Members and their need for tailor-made services; is doubtful that services will significantly improve since former BCD staff will be taken on by the new travel service;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 a (new)
Paragraph 67 a (new)
67a. Calls for the simplification of recruitment procedures and reimbursements for missions and travel costs for local assistants; regrets that these processes are often complex and lengthy and result in significant delays; calls on DG FINS to address this issue as a priority;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 b (new)
Paragraph 67 b (new)
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
72. Calls on the Secretary-General to ensure that a decision is taken by the Bureau without delay in order to improve the sustainability of the fundNotes that some proposals from the Secretary-General to improve the sustainability of the Fund were adopted by the Bureau on 10th December 2018;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
77. Calls on all relevant DGs to work towards and achieve paperless office by having recourse to all digital services such as e-signature and two-step verifications; underlines that e-forms only save time and resources when they don’t have to be printed, signed and sent to another office or even country, as is the case with mission reimbursement forms;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 a (new)
Paragraph 78 a (new)
78a. Calls on the Bureau, in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Innovation and Technological Support (DG ITEC), to come up with risk mitigating measures to ensure the smooth running of parliamentary work in the case of system damages or blackouts; underlines the importance of a list of priority services to determine the order in which services must be restored as quickly as possible so that a skeleton service is still functioning in the case of a cyber- attack; calls on the Bureau to draw up a contingency plan for lengthy system blackouts; recommends that data centres diversify the sites on which their servers are located to enhance the security and continuity of Parliament's IT systems;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 b (new)
Paragraph 78 b (new)
78b. Reiterates the call set out in its discharge resolutions for the financial years 2014, 2015 and 2016 for the creation of an emergency rapid alert system to allow DG ITEC, in collaboration with DG SAFE, to send swift communications by SMS or e-mail to Members and staff who agree to their contact details being included on a communication list for use in specific emergency situations;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82 a (new)
Paragraph 82 a (new)
82a. Welcomes, in the context of the energy and climate policy of the Union for 2030 and beyond, additional measures to offset unavoidable emissions; calls on Parliament to develop additional carbon offsetting policies;