18 Amendments of Lena DÜPONT related to 2022/2124(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Highlights the importance of a strong, effective and well-functioning European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex or the Agency), able to assist Member States to manage the common external borders of the European Union and to ensure an integrated border management with a view to managing those borders efficiently and in full compliance with fundamental rights, and to increasing the efficiency of the Union return policy; stresses that effective management of the external borders is of crucial importance for the protection of the Schengen as an area of freedom, security and justice; stresses that close cooperation and agreements with third countries in aspects like readmission agreements, technical assistance, training, and return activities, together with development aid are important to guarantee an efficient EU border management;1a _________________ 1a FRONTEX Strategic Risk Analysis 2022
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that Frontex is by large the EU Agency that received more significant budget increases in the last years; recalls that the Agency budget has skyrocketed from €118 million in 2011 to €741 million in 2021, and to an annual average of €900 million for the 2021-2027 period, in line with its new responsibilities; recalls that Frontex started with a budget of €6 million in 2005, and it is receiving now €741 million in 2021; recalls that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency has been strengthened in terms of staff and technical equipment with its new mandate in 2019; notes that in view of the complex geopolitical situation, the importance of Frontex in supporting Member States increased significantly and efforts must continue in terms of human and material resources;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the Court’s observation concerning weaknesses in recruitment procedures, which undermine the principles of transparency and equal treatment of the candidates; notes the serious internal control weaknesses in the Agency’ delegation process, ex-ante controls and procurement procedures; deplores the many payment delays; takes also note of Frontex' reply stating that Frontex acknowledged a room for improvement in the implementation of the defined rules on selection procedures and that in January 2022 adopted more clear instructions to the selection committee members ensuring more consistent assessment and harmonised procedures; notes the serious internal control weaknesses in the Agency’ delegation process, ex-ante controls and procurement procedures; deplores the many payment delays but likewise takes note that there were various reasons for these delays that were not always under the Agency’s control, for example, several late payments, with high amounts that stem from delays of the Member States in introducing their claims for grants; welcomes the Agency's commitment to continuously improving in the field of late payments, as stated in its reply to the Court;3a _________________ 3a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/AGENCIES_2021/AGENCIES_2 021_EN.pdf
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that the Court, in two audited recruitment procedures, found that the selection committees applied the arithmetical average of their members’ individual assessments, instead of the consensual method prescribed by the Agency internal guidelines; further notes the lack of clear standards or instructions to selection committee members on how to assess the individual selection criteria; acknowledges that these weaknesses undermine the principles of transparency and equal treatment of the candidates in recruitment procedures and may expose Frontex to reputational and legal risks;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Notes that the current occupancy rate in the Agency is 79%, the highest occupancy rate since the new European Border and Coast Guard Regulation in 2019 (2019/1896); acknowledges that timely recruitment and achieving geographical balance remain challenging mainly due to a low coefficient rate for Poland; further notes that the low coefficient rate for Poland is a long standing challenge for the Agency, which has been exacerbated in recent months by record high inflation in the country, reaching 16,6% in December 2022;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. NotWelcomes the drawing up of a fundamental rights strategy and action plan; regretnotes that the obligation included in Article 110(6) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 to deploy at least 40 fundamental rights monitors has been met with significant delay; notes thatwelcomes however that since mid-October 2022, the number of fundamental rights monitors now stands at 46; deeply deplores that despite the significant overall staffrecalls that, according to the same provision, the executive director shall assess on an annual basis whether the number of fundamental rights monitors needs to be increased in consultation with the fundamental rights officer; following that assessment, the executive director shall, where necessary, propose an increase forin the Agency, the Fnumber of fundamental Rrights Officer still lacks adequate human resourcesmonitors to the management board for the following year depending on operational needs; notes that out of the 46 staff members, 31 are Administrators and 15 are at Assistant level; furges the Agency to provide its fther notes that in addition to Fundamental Rights monitors, the Fundamental rRights oOfficer with adequate resources and staff has also almost 20 staff members; welcomes the Agency commitment to further appoint staff at Administrative level should the Agency Establishment Plan allow it;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes the position that the Management Board should play a proactive role in identifying and preventing serious risk of fand the Executive Director must work closely with the Fundamental Rights Officer and play a proactive role in ensuring that Frontex activities are always in compliance with Fundamental rRights violations; reiterates the importance to implement the standard operating procedures to withdraw the financing of, or suspend or termina; welcomes the positive progress made by the Agency, particularly the decision of 25 January 2022 detailing standard operating procedures for the implementation of Article 46 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 drafted in accordance with the comments and observations of the Member States and Schengen Associated Countries, Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer, and the Frontex Consultative Forum on Fundamental Rights; takes note,s or not launch Frontex activities in cases where such risks arf the opinion of the Fundamental Rights Officer arguing for more Frontex involvement to monitor and support Member States in their obligations set out in the EU acquise;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Expresses its utmost concerns with regard to allegations of push backs in the context of Frontex operations in Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Greece; reiterates its call on the Agency to susptakes note of the findings of the Fundamental Rights Officer Annual report 2021 which states that there was no evidence of Frontex staff’s involvemendt its open unlawful practions supporting return- related operations from Hungary as long as, and as concluded by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the return decisions issued by the Hungarian authorities are incompatible with Directive 2008/115/EC and the Charter of Fces in Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria, and the admissible complaints concerned Frontex operational areas in Albania, Croatia, Greece, and Spain; demands the Agency to monitor the correct implementation of return procedures by the Hungarian authorities and to ensure the respect of fundamental rights in returns carried out with Frontex assistance, in line with the Fundamental Rights Officer’s recommendations; takes note that since 2020, there have been no operational reports, either by staff deployed in returns from Hungary or by the independent monitors, no complaints, no serious incident reports, and no communication of any other type to the Agency on alleged violations of fundamental rights in cases of Frontex assisted returns from Hungary; also notes that there is no evidence of violations of fundamental Rrights of the European Union; in case of returns carried out with Frontex assistance in Hungary;6a _________________ 6a https://frontex.europa.eu/assets/Images_N ews/2022/Fact_Sheet_on_Frontex_discha rge.pdf
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes the finding that the Agency had never been involved in returns relating to the Hungarian laws Act LXXXIX of 2009 and Act LVIII of 2020 which were deemed not in line with the European acquis by the Court of Justice of the European Union; notes the confirmation by the Hungarian authorities that they had not requested nor would request Frontex support of cases of migrants to be returned in application of national act LXXXIX of 2007 and Act LVIII of 2020; notes that Frontex increased monitoring activities in Hungarian returns and strengthened consultation and cooperation with the Fundamental Rights Officer on Hungary, among others, in terms of monitoring activities, to further ensure the respect of fundamental rights in returns carried out with Frontex assistance; welcomes that following the opinions and recommendations of the Fundamental Rights Officer regarding his assessment of the situation in Greece, the former Executive Director ad interim and the Fundamental Rights Officer engaged with the Hellenic authorities to establish safeguards for the implementation of the fundamental rights framework in operational activities carried out in Greece; endorses that further to these discussions, the Hellenic authorities drew up an Implementation Plan for the implementation of the safeguards, which was recognized as a good achievement by the Agency’s Fundamental Rights Officer and the Management Board;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reiterates its profound concerns about the findings of the OLAF report of 15 February 2022 on investigations into Frontexon the misconductof several individuals employed by the Agency in, and expresses its utter dismay in the behaviour and actions described in the findings and the lack of accountability; considerstakes note that in October 2022 some media organisations have released the report; while acknowledging that the findings of the OLAF report arcan be a matter of public interest and should be made public without further delay, deplores the fact the publication of a confidential report is in clear breach violation of the requirements laid down in Articles 10(3) and 17(4a) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, to respect the confidentiality of the investigation conducted by OLAF as well as the legitimate rights of the persons concerned, including their data protection rights;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Welcomes the follow-up by the Agency on the publication of the OLAF report, in particular the identification of, aside from findings on serious misbehaviour of individual former employees, three key issues, namely the fact that the Fundamental Rights Officer was prevented from accessing operational information, the fact that the Fundamental Rights Officer was not assigned as case handler for reports on serious incidents with alleged violations of fundamental rights, and the fact that staff members who reported serious incidents to the hierarchy were ignored by the individuals investigated by OLAF; welcomes the work done by the Agency to improve the management culture and promote staff well-being, including the decentralization of decision-making to distribute responsibility and ownership of decisions, encouragement of open dialogue through Agency’s Management meetings, the development of a comprehensive internal communication strategy, strengthening of internal communications team, the enlargement of the network of Confidential Counsellors, whose aim is to foster a safe and inclusive working culture where there is zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination or inappropriate behaviour; further welcomes the decision of the Management Board of July 2022 on the obligations of the Management Board and Executive Director to inform the Consultative Forum on the follow-up of its recommendations and to ensure that action is taken with regard to the recommendations of the Fundamental Rights Officer; notes that the first Internal Audit Capacity internal audit is foreseen for Q-4 2022 - Q-1 2023 focusing on Frontex codes of conduct;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Expresses its deep concerns in relation to media revelations that in the context of the expansion of a mass surveillance programme at Europe’s external borders (PeDRA, or ‘Processing of PNotes that PeDRA (Processing of Personal Data for Risk Analysis) was a project implemented between 2015 and 2017 to fight against cross-border crime and that it allowed the Agency to develop capabilities required for processing personal data, as one of the measures undertaken to combat criminal smuggling networks; notes that Frontex has been processing only operational personal Ddata for Risk Analysis’), Frontex and the European Commission side-lined their own dof suspects of cross-border crime and terrorism; notes that after receiving the EDPS opinions on Frontex data processing rules, the Agency’s Data pProtection oversight bodies and pursued an intrusive collection of personal data from migrants and refugees to feed into Europol’s criminal databasesOfficer prepared an Action Plan to implement the EDPS recommendations; asks the Management Board to inform the European Parliament about the implementation of these recommendations and the measures taken to ensure full compliance with the EU data protection rules; further notes that the PeDRA team has not implemented any processing activities that have not been approved by the EDPS;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that Frontex’ structural problems regarding fundamental rights protection of asylum seekers and migrants, transparency, data protection, and alleged sexual harassment within the Agencythe conclusions presented in the OLAF report on the investigation conducted with respect to the activities of the Agency under the former executive leadership, together with other observations led the European Parliament to refuse discharge of the Agency’s 2020 budget; notes however that those circumstances were not present in 2021;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Reminds that the Agency is accountable to the European Parliament, and that the Parliament is resolved to ensure that the Agency contributes to the continuous and uniform application of Union law, including the Union acquis on fundamental rights, in particular the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; highlights that, in order to achieve this goal, an enhanced cooperation with the Frontex Management Board by strengthening the transparency, accountability and democratic oversight of the Agency is needed;
Amendment 69 #
9 b. Welcomes the various actions taken by Frontex in the past months to improve its activities and standards and to meet the expectations; welcomes particularly the actions taken in the field of budgetary and financial management, fundamental rights, organisational culture and transparency; takes note of the decision of the Management Board in its extraordinary meeting on 20 December 2022, to appoint Mr Hans Leijtens as the new Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9 c. Welcomes the establishment of Public Register of Documents where a wide range of documents is published; notes that to process the increasing number of applications for public access to document in a timely manner, the Transparency Office has been strengthened; welcomes also the development of the Agency’s external communication strategy cutting down response time to media requests; welcomes the establishment of an Internal Audit Capacity and the adoption of the internal Audit Charter; notes the strengthening of Inspection and Control Office of the Agency;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recommends the Committee on Budgetary Control to postpone granting the discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2021, until the structural shortcomings related to respect by Frontex of its fundamental rights obligations have been fully addressed.