Activities of Marta ANDREASEN related to 2011/2202(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2010, Section I – European Parliament PDF (308 KB) DOC (338 KB)
Amendments (34)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Index (new)
Index (new)
Index Paragraph Budget implementation 1-7 Report on budgetary and financial 8 management Presentation of Parliament's accounts 9 Statement of assurance by the Secretary- 13 General Follow-up to the 2009 discharge resolution 23 The Internal Auditor's annual report 26 Nature and purpose of internal audit report 29 Activity reports by the Directors-General 30 Risk Manager 31 DG Presidency (PRES) 33 DG Internal Policies (IPOL)and External 37 Policies (EXPO) DG Communication (COMM) 39 DG Personnel (PERS) 49 DG Infrastructures and Logistics (INLO) 57 DG Translation (TRAD) and DG 65 Interpretation and Conferences (INTE) DG Finance (FINS) 68 DG Innovation and Technological Support 75 (ITEC) Political groups (budget item 4 0 0 0 ) 80 European Political Parties and European 82 Political Foundations Green Parliament 84
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the Secretary-General's appearance before the responsible committee in January 2012 did not do full right to the large number of questions raised, which led to written follow-up questions that had not been answered by the time the committee members could table amendments to this report,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty increased Parliament's powers, activities and legislative workload, requiring major changes to its organisation and working methods to build on legislative excellence and to continue the preparations for the enlargement of the Union to include Croatia; further notes that in order to respond to the new challenges only a few measures were adopted to improve cost efficiency through increased productivity, staff redeployments, and improved working methods; would however have expected further-reaching real savings in these times of crisis;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the year saw consolidation and further modernisation of the administration, with a stronger focus on core activities, restructuring of services, better use of modern technologies and increased interinstitutional cooperation which together ensured; that budgetary and staffing resources were used in thea slightly mostre cost-effective way; would however have expected its administration to better reflect the times of crisis we are living in;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the year saw consolidation and further modernisation of the administration, with a stronger focus on core activities, restructuring of services, better use of modern technologies and increased interinstitutional cooperation which together ensured; that budgetary and staffing resources were used in the most cost-effective way;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes with disappointment that the Court of Auditors found that, in four out of the five, i.e. no less than 80% of the cases audited, the documentation relating to the examination of applications, the performance of interviews and the decisions made to select contract staff was incomplete, without having any consequences for the staff involved and therefore without incentives to improve the situation; agrees with the Court of Auditors' recommendation that full documentation for internal control purposes should henceforth be ensured;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Regrets that the Court of Auditors found errors, inconsistencies and other weaknesses in the procurement procedures of Parliament that it audited; but points out the recent measures taken to improve these procedures and encourages its administration to make further improvements in this area of work; welcomes development of the IT tool Webcontracts, established in 2010, which allows contract work to be carried out online; invites the Court of Auditors to write a special report about Parliament's procurement procedures;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point i
Paragraph 24 – point i
(i) to propose arrangements to ensure that the General Expenditure allowance is transparent in all cases and that it is used for the purposes for which it is intended (paragraph 6), taking note of the promise, in the Secretary-General's answers to the discharge questionnaire (page 43), to circulate among Members a FAQ that was agreed by a special Bureau working group on 13 December 2011;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 – introductory part
Paragraph 27 – introductory part
27. Notes that, at the competent committee's meeting held on 24 January 20112, the Internal Auditor presented his annual report signed 15 July 2011 and explained that, in 2010, he performed the following audit work on the Parliament's administration:
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 – indent 1
Paragraph 28 – indent 1
– to complete all overdue actions as soon as possible, and in particular the critical ones, in order to improve DG Personnel's governance processes, control environment and control activities in the area of individual entitlements of staff and to complete the four outstanding actions in the field of staff mission expenses identified in report 07/03 of 4 April 2008;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Refers to its comments, contained in previous discharge resolutions, on internal audit reports; recognises that internal audit reports serve as tools for improvements in systems and performance, and can only be properly interpreted when changes and results are completed, based on their recommendations; notes however that future action and treatment of these reports by all institutions will depend on the outcome of negotiations concerning the ongoing review of the Financial Regulation; invites the Internal Auditor to present, in future annual reports, in a clear table, specifying for each of the reports covered, the number of recommendations that had not been completed in the year over which discharge is to be given, postponed or refused;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Observes with satisfaction that all Directors-General were able to give an unreserved statement of assurance in respect of the implementation of the budget by their services in 2010; is aware that the activity reports are an internal management tool the primary purpose of which is to give the Secretary-General a clear overview of the workings of the administration, and in particular, of any weaknesses; would welcome, for reasons of a more direct and transparent accountability, a presentation by the ten Directors-General and the head of the Legal Service of their respective Annual Activity Reports in the Committee on Budgetary Control;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Requests that its competent committee be informed before the end of SeptemberApril 2012 on the approach and action taken in order to identify and manage sensitive posts;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Considers the reputational risk of this Parliament to be high in these times of crisis and austerity and suggests that the Risk Manager's unit devotes special attention to areas where the public image of Parliament is at stake;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes a slight den increase in the budget devoted to security from EUR 45 980 000 in 2009 to EUR 457 59057 000 between 2009 andin 2010; welcomes the continued decreasing trenddecrease in the 2011 budget expenditure (final appropriations: EUR 42 830 000) compared to 2010 and the adoption by the Bureau in July 2011 of the Global Security Concept providing more modern and efficient security for Parliam; considers that a further decrease is possible when a more intensive use of electronic devices allows the service to work more efficiently;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 b (new)
Paragraph 33 b (new)
33b. Notes that Parliament's call on its administration to re-deploy the responsible security manager to new tasks has been ignored as the same Director is in place as at the time of the thefts in 2009 and 2010;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36a. Notes that while it has been claimed that written questions from the public are in general answered within two weeks, there is at present no system in place whereby questions from Members to the President or the Secretary-General are answered in the same amount of time;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Recalls the political importance of delegations in Parliament´s work insidWelcomes the figures given in the replies to the questionnaire regarding the ten most expensive delegation trips, data that should in fact always be public; would welcome furthermore and outside the Union,verview of the 10 most costly trips per Member; notes however the apparently wide disparity in costs per Member per day (ranging from EUR 1 400 to EUR 5 300) on different delegations, particularly those outside the Union; calls on its Bureau, in collaboration with all DGs concerned, to consider principles for a more economic and uniform cost structure for delegation visits, in particular taking account of their political importance and duration, and the optimum ratio of Members to staff.
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Is concerned that, , except in relation to the Legislative Observatory costs, budget line 3 2 4 2 (Publication, information and participation in public events) is not sufficiently transparent and considers that expenditure in the sub- item 3 2 4 2/01 in particular should be itemised to improve transparency in future accounting years;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Notes that commitments entered into against Item 3 2 4 3 ‘'Visitors’ Centre' increased significantly (+227 %) in contrast with the underspend in 2009 and amounted to EUR 12 725 985; points to the major problem with security of false ceilings that delayed the project in 2010 and obliged the administration to cancel EUR 1 000 000 that had been automatically carried over from 2009 to 2010; notes that the total estimated costs are EUR 20 530 000, an increase of 15.3 % compared to 2007; asks for safeguards so that other multi-million plans will not see similar increases;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. WelcomNotes the opening of the Visitors' Centre on 14 October 2011 (originally planned for the 2009 European elections); notes that, based on the figures for the first two months, Parliament expects to welcome its 1 millionth visitor in October 2015; deplores however the considerable delay and cost overrun of this project;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Notes that, on 5 July 2010, the Bureau adopted Parliament's updated Communication Strategy integrating the project of the House of European History and that, in September 2010, an international jury examined that projects; further notes that use was not made of budget chapter 1 0 6 ‘Reserve for priority projects under development’ for this project as all the appropriations of that chapter (EUR 5 000 000) were transferred to chapter 2 1 0 ‘Computing and telecommunications’; reiterates its expectation that the cost plan contained in the Business Plan should be strictly adhered to; notes that the revised Business Plan could be disingeniously low if, compared to the original one, associated legal and professional fees have now been omitted; recommends and expects the information on proposed running costs to be laid out under the following five broad headings, with sub-headings, with notes on cost behaviour and other matters displayed below: (1) staff costs, (2) premises costs, (3) transport costs, (4) supplies and services costs, (5) other costs.
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Notes that the costs relating to the LUX Prize in 2010 were EUR 380 666,18; is concerned that the costs rose for the event in 2011 to EUR 573 722,08 (by over 50 %) and looks forward to a sharp reverse in this trend from 2012 onwards; notes that, on taxpayers' expenses, in 2010 five Members went with five officials to four film festivals to promote this Prize, without reporting back to Parliament about the usefulness of their trips;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55 a (new)
Paragraph 55 a (new)
55a. Notes that according to the answers provided by the Secretary-General, the price for electricity in Luxembourg went down from approx. EUR 2 200 000 in 2010 to approx. EUR 2 000 000 in 2011 and back up to approx. EUR 2 700 000 in 2012, the last being an increase of 35 %;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Notes with satisfaction that the switch to this new employment system has been broadly budget neutral, with approximately 15 members of staff administering the employment of around 1400 assistants; and looks forward to receiving a copythe latest draft of the report on that new employment system's implementation before 1 May 2012;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56 a (new)
Paragraph 56 a (new)
56a. Notes, also with reference to paragraph 19 of this resolution where a finding of the Court of Auditors is quoted, that the door is still wide open for assistants to artificially and fraudulently increase their reimbursement claims, as the services do not demand proof of missions allegedly undertaken by private car, which allows hundreds of assistants to claim each month that they have gone to and come back from Strasbourg by private car whilst in fact sharing a colleague's car;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63 b (new)
Paragraph 63 b (new)
63b. Notes that the 978 missions from Parliament's 32 information offices to Brussels and Strasbourg cost in total EUR 944 330,- which was on average EUR 701,- for a mission to Brussels and EUR 1 064,- for a mission to Strasbourg; notes that a mission from Luxembourg to Brussels costs on average EUR 250, while a mission from Luxembourg to Strasbourg cost on average EUR 630; requests to be provided, in the future, with the average cost per mission as well (page 68 of the replies to the questionnaire);
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64 a (new)
Paragraph 64 a (new)
64a. Welcomes the assurance of the Secretary-General that there are no longer any assigned offices for lobbyists or foundations, but notes that until 31 December 2011 the Pegasus foundation and the Kangaroo Group did have offices at its disposal in the buildings of Parliament;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66
Paragraph 66
66. Notes with satisfaction that DG TRAD is moving towards greater productivity and a more effective use of its budget, while ensuring that multilingualism is maintained; stresses, in this context, that internal productivity has increased from 1500 pages per year to 1800 pages; would welcome the publication of productivity figures per language unit;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66a. Notes with irony that DG TRAD misunderstood the word 'transcribing' (i.e. verbatim) in the questionnaire, which led to the transmission of irrelevant data, while the data asked for was not provided at the time of the deadline for amendments in the relevant committee;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 – footnote
Paragraph 69 – footnote
The sum of final appropriations for items 100 0 0 4 (Ordinary travel expenses) and 100 0 0 5 (Other travel expenses) and for article 30 0 0 (Expenses on staff missions and duty travel between the three working places): EUR 106 718 500; split out per mission this constitutes a total cost and a cost per official of: Brussels-Luxembourg; Luxembourg-Brussels; Luxembourg-Strasbourg; Strasbourg-Luxembourg; Brussels-Strasbourg; Strasbourg-Brussels;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76
Paragraph 76
76. Welcomes the ongoing graphical redesign of the EP website following the Bureau decision on 22 November 2010 on the ‘Strategy for the future presence of the European Parliament online - Recasting the EP website’AT4AM system, introduced in 2010, that makes it easier for Members to amend proposed legislative and non-legislative texts;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
New heading after paragraph 87
New heading after paragraph 87
Anomaly
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 87 f (new)
Paragraph 87 f (new)
87f. Highlights the fact that it is an anomaly for any parliament, in this instance the European Parliament, to grant itself discharge and suggests that solutions be found to solve this abnormal and unsatisfactory procedure;