Activities of George LYON related to 2013/2018(BUD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2014 - Section I - Parliament (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2014 PDF (533 KB) DOC (779 KB)
Amendments (7)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the level of the preliminary draft estimates for the 2014 budget, as suggested by the Secretary-General in his report to the Bureau, amounts to EUR 1 813 144 206; notes with concern the rate of increase of 3,58 %compared with the 2013 budget; notes that this proposed increase has to be seen in the context of its constitutive elements, specifically an increase of 2,20 % stemming from the election of a new Parliament and the application of the Statutes for Members and Members' assistants, and an increase of 1,30 % deriving from other legal obligations; welcomes the Secretary- General's plans to investigate structural reforms in Parliament's budget and expects this work to present options for savings in the 2014 budget by September 2013, without jeopardising legislative excellence or the quality of working conditions;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that the financial implications of the European elections and the turnover of Members and their assistants during the changeover between the legislative terms are of an exceptional nature; welcomes the fact that the proposed rate of increase in the budget for 2014 is considerably lower than in 2009, the year of the last European elections, when and recognises the efforts already made to accommodate these one-off costs within the budget; believes, however, that greater effort must be made to find further savings, such as delaying capital projects or deferring non-essential spending where possible, in order to absorb theis increase was 5,33 %, even thoughithin a real terms freeze; regrets that these above mentioned legal requirements which are related to elections have increased by almost 52 % between 2009 and 2014dditional costs must be borne in one single budget year and urges the Secretary General to identify a way of ensuring these costs are spread over the lifetime of the parliamentary legislature in future;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Appreciates the fact that all other expenditure is reduced in total by 0,15 %, according to preliminary draft estimates, compared with the 2013 budget; observes that the reduction is even more significant in real terms, considering that the rates of inflation in Belgium, Luxembourg and France, where most of the Parliament's activities take place, were, respectively, 2,6 %, 2,9 %, and 2,2 % in 2012; welcomes the fact that reductions were made possible by structural savings introduced in the past, the different nature of parliamentary activity in an election year and the freezing of expenditure items, where possible, in all sectors;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the efforts made by the Bureau to present realistic preliminary draft estimates; appreciates that the rate of increase in the 2014 budget, as proposed by preliminary draft estimates, is particularly low when compared with the corresponding period under the previous MFF (2007-2013) when the rate was lower only in the 2012 and 2013 financial years; notes that the 2014 rate would be the lowest by some margin (1,38 %) if the additional expenditure linked to the election of a new Parliament was to be factored out;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the proposed decreases compared with the 2013 budget in the areas of translation (-56%) and interpreting costs (-23%), without endangering the principle of multilingualism, lease payments (-60%), web TV (-38%) and fitting-out of premises (-31%) and asks for detailed information proving the feasibility of these proposed cuts;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that the Joint Bureau and Committee on Budgets Working Group on the Parliament budget could, on the basis of work it began in 2012, continue to play a usefuln important role byin identifying possible structural savings and reflecting on and presenting to the Committee on Budgets ideas for further savings, more effectiveness and efficiency; encourages the continuation of its work through the thorough examination of possible efficiencies, synergies and savings which could create space for investment into institutional development for 2014 and beyond;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Is aware that the KAD project is a significant undertaking for Parliament which aims to rationalise Parliament's administration in Luxembourg to obtain synergies; recognises the efforts to communicate the state of play of the KAD building to the Committee on Budgets and requests that this communication continue throughout the duration of the project; notes that adaptations and a downsizing of 8 000 m2 have been made and, therefore, welcomes that the second Call for Tender shows that the KAD project will most likely remain under and, in any case, not exceed the predetermined financial framework; welcomes the savings of more than EUR 10 million in interest payments in the coming years – relative to the 2012 financing estimates for the project – achieved by transfers for early advance payments for both the KAD and the Trebel buildings; notes that due to construction of the KAD building, the total payments per year in future would be lower than rent expenses of comparable property;