2007/2053(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

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Procedure completed

2007/2053(DEC) 2006 discharge: Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union CdT

Role	Committee	Rapporteur	Shadows
Lead	CONT	MARTIN Hans-Peter (NI)

Lead committee dossier: CONT/6/53869
Legal Basis RoP 094

Subjects

8.70.03.07 Previous discharges

Links

Activites

2009/03/31 Final act published in Official Journal
2008/04/22 Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament
- T6-0145/2008 summary
  
  The European Parliament adopted, by 630 votes in favour, 15 against and 39 abstentions, a Decision to grant the Executive Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2006. The decision to grant discharge also constitutes closure of the accounts of this EU agency.At the same time, the Parliament adopted by 632 votes in favour, 16 against and 39 abstentions, a Resolution containing the comments which form part of the decision giving discharge. The report had been tabled for plenary by Hans-Peter MARTIN (NI, AT) on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control. As is the case for all EU agencies, Parliament's Resolution is divided into two parts: part one contains general comments on EU agencies, while part two focuses on the specific case of the Centre.1) General comments on the majority of EU agencies: the Parliament notes that the budgets of the 24 agencies and other satellite bodies audited by the Court of Auditors totalled more than EUR 1 billion and that the number of agencies is constantly increasing. The number of agencies subject to the discharge procedure evolved from 8 in 2000 to 20 in 2006. It concludes therefore that the auditing/discharge process has become cumbersome and disproportionate compared to the relative size of the agencies and that, in the future, this type of procedure should be simplified and rationalised for decentralised agencies.On the basis of the financial analysis, the Parliament is of the following opinion:Fundamental considerations: given the constantly increasing number of agencies, the Parliament requests that, before the creation of a new agency, the Commission provide clear explanations regarding agency type, objectives of the agency, internal governance structure, products, services, clients and stakeholders of the agency, formal relationship with external actors, budget responsibility, financial planning, and personnel and staffing policy. It also requests that each agency be governed by a yearly performance agreement which should contain the main objectives for the coming year and that the performance of the agencies be regularly audited by the Court of Auditors (and extend the financial analysis of expenditure to also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness). More generally, the Parliament takes the view that, in the case of agencies, which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts in order to reduce the assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also lower administrative costs of the EU. It recalls that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc., and considers that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions rather than for small agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to seek a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness of the legislation by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together or by establishing implementing rules which are better adapted to the agencies. The Parliament also insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years and revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly. If the Commission does not undertake this revision, the Parliament invites the competent committee to revise, itself, the budget in question to a realistic level. At the same time, the Parliament recalls that it expects the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency and to not hesitate to close an agency if it is deemed useless by the analysis. Such an assessment is expected as soon as possible given that this type of assessment has yet to be presented. Furthermore, the Parliament insists that recommendations of the Court of Auditors should be promptly implemented and the level of subsidies paid to the agencies should be aligned with their real cash requirements. Presentation of reporting data: noting that there is no standard approach among the agencies with regard to the presentation of information, the Parliament recalls that it already invited the directors of the agencies to accompany their annual activity report with a declaration of assurance concerning the legality and regularity of operations, similar to the declarations signed by the Directors General of the Commission. It therefore asks the Commission to amend its standing instructions to the agencies and to produce a harmonised model for presenting information, including: i) an annual report intended for a general readership on the body's operations, work and achievements; ii) financial statements and a report on implementation of the agency’s budget; iii) an activity report of the Directors of the agency (as requested by the Parliament since 2005); iv) a declaration of assurance signed by the body's director. General findings by the Court of Auditors: the Parliament refers to certain recurring findings by the Court, including the disbursement of subsidies paid by the Commission (not sufficiently justified estimates of the agencies' cash requirements), the non implementation of the ABAC accounting system by some agencies or the accrued charges for untaken leave which are accounted for by some agencies. It calls for rapid measures in these areas as well as improvements to the internal audit procedures of the agencies. The Parliament also calls on the agencies to consider an inter-agency disciplinary board, as some individual agencies have difficulty in setting up their own disciplinary boards due to their size. Draft inter-institutional agreement: the Parliament recalls the Commission's draft Interinstitutional agreement on the operating framework for the European regulatory agencies (see ACI/2005/2035), which was intended to create a framework for the creation, structure, operation, evaluation and control of the European regulatory agencies and awaits its adoption as soon as possible. It particularly welcomes the Commission's commitment to bring forward a Communication on the future of the regulatory agencies during the course of 2008.2. Specific points concerning the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union: the Parliament notes along with the Court that the accumulated budget surplus for 2006 was EUR 16.9 million and that, in 2007, the Centre will refund EUR 9.3 million to its clients. Such an accumulation of surpluses suggests that the Centre’s method for pricing its translations is not precise enough.The Parliament also criticises the Centre’s recruitment procedure for translators.At the same time, the Parliament hopes that a solution will soon be found to the problem of the Centre's premises and to the question of the payment of employers' pension contributions, currently pending before the Court of Justice.For the rest, the Parliament welcomes the Court’s comments in terms of the Centre’s internal audit and management.
2008/04/03 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- A6-0124/2008
2008/03/26 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
#2847
2008/02/12 Council Meeting
2007/10/25 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
2007/03/30 Non-legislative basic document published
- SEC(2007)1055 summary
  
  PURPOSE: presentation of the final accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2006.CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the 2006 budget, including the revenue and expenditure and the balance sheet for the year concerned.According to this document, the final budget amounted to EUR 40.88 million (in comparison to EUR 27.9 million in 2005).As regards the staffing policy, the Centre, which is based in Luxembourg, officially set out 189 posts in its establishment plan. 169 posts are currently occupied and are assigned to operational and administrative duties. Staff expenditure amounted to EUR 13.793 million in 2006.The Centre’s role is to provide the EU bodies, and any other EU institutions and bodies which call upon its services, with the translation services necessary for their activities. During 2006, the Centre:- translated 546 735 pages. The number of pages per language: 537 797 in the official languages and 8 938 in other languages;- translated 531 454 pages for the EU bodies and 15 281 pages for the institutions with 260 301 pages translated freelance.The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.cdt.europa.eu/cdt/ewcm.nsf
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, KALLAS Siim

Documents

Non-legislative basic document published: SEC(2007)1055
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0124/2008
Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0145/2008

Amendments	Dossier
52	2007/2053(DEC) 2008/03/06 CONT 52 amendments... Amendment 1 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Proposal for a decision on discharge Paragraph 1 ~~1. Postpones its decision on g~~Grant~~ing~~s the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union discharge in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2006; Amendment 10 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Emphasises, in that connection, that in its White Paper on the reform of the Commission the Commission laid down as guidelines for the formulation of an externalisation policy cost-effectiveness and the ability to exercise its powers to implement the budget, pursuant to Article 274 TEC;deleted Amendment 11 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Emphasises that pursuant to Article 253 TEC regulations, directives and decisions adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council and such acts adopted by the Council or the Commission must state the reasons on which they are based and refer to any proposals or opinions which were required to be obtained pursuant to the TEC;deleted Amendment 12 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Notes that decentralisation and devolution were key results of the process of reforming the Commission started in 1999, but that to date the Commission has submitted neither a study, nor an activity report nor an interim assessment of this form of administration; by the same token, the Commission has never given a convincing explanation of the added value provided by the agencies and of why their tasks could not equally well be performed within the Commission itself;deleted Amendment 13 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Emphasises, in that connection, that between the year 2000 (publication of the White Paper on the Reform of the Commission) and 2007 the staff complement of the Commission and agencies (excluding executive agencies) increased by a total of 85%;deleted Amendment 14 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Notes, in that connection, that in recent years the pace at which decentralised agencies are being set up has steadily increased, and that they are being established unsystematically and with no uniform framework: whereas in 1990 only three, in 1995 six, and in 2000 seven agencies existed, the 2008 budget lists no fewer than 25, seven of which have been added since 2005 alone;deleted Amendment 15 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Emphasises, in that connection, that the agencies to which it grants discharge make up only a part of the total and that the increase in permanent and temporary posts for all the decentralised agencies from 166 in the year 2000 to a total of 3151 in 2007 (+1800%) clearly illustrates the problems in this area;deleted Amendment 16 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 ~~17. Emphasises further, in that connection, that average staff costs increased by more than 40% between 2006 and 2008;~~deleted Amendment 17 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Emphasises finally, in that connection, that the subsidies paid to the agencies from the Community budget have increased disproportionately in recent years, that the appropriations from the Community budget paid to agencies to which Parliament grants discharge, which were established between 1975 and 1997 and have thus gone well beyond the start- up and initial growth phases, increased by some 90% between 2000 and 2008, and that during that period the subsidies paid to some of these agencies increased by more than 210%;deleted Amendment 18 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 ~~19. Emphasises that only two agencies are not in any way dependent on EU subsidies, whilst most of them are funded exclusively from EU budget appropriations;~~deleted Amendment 19 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Notes, in that connection, that a clear trend is emerging whereby the agencies revise their need for Community subsidies disproportionately upwards every six months, thus committing a steadily increasing proportion of the available appropriations, and that there are insufficient incentives to use financial resources sparingly;deleted Amendment 2 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Proposal for a decision on closure of accounts Paragraph 2 2. ~~Postpon~~Approves the closure of the accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2006; Amendment 20 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Takes the view that direct and indirect payments and subsidies to the agencies from host countries (e.g. funding for building projects, office facilities, municipal taxes, etc.) have made it impossible to draw up a comprehensive breakdown of the cost of the agencies and that this practice disguises the true costs;deleted Amendment 21 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 22. Takes the view that in most cases there has been no proper strategy underpinning the process of establishing agencies and that political considerations and factors, such as the attempt, with the help of the agencies, to influence the balance of power among the institutions, outweigh, and in some cases run entirely counter to, the original objectives, such as greater responsibility, transparency and efficiency in European administration;deleted Amendment 22 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 23. Takes the view that the lack of a proper strategy on setting up agencies has generated unnecessary costs and that the true costs have been hidden from taxpayers, since, for example, missing infrastructure has not been taken into account and additional costs – for instance for the construction of new office and conference buildings, the setting-up of new schools, the development of transport infrastructure in response to an increase in missions between places of work scattered throughout Europe, as a result of serious recruitment problems, etc. – have arisen as a result;deleted Amendment 23 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 24 24. Notes that the Commission's devolution policy has given rise to the duplication of work, above all in the area of administration, generating unnecessary additional costs and requiring the same know-how to be available several times over; notes, at the same time, that many agencies' administrative expenditure is far too high;deleted Amendment 24 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 25. Takes the view that, with a few exceptions, no efforts have been made systematically to involve the agencies in the work of the Commission and that the agencies' spheres of responsibility frequently relate only to areas covered by 'open coordination' and bear no relation to the European Union's real needs and taxpayers' expectations;deleted Amendment 25 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 26 26. Takes the view that the Commission no longer regards the decentralised agencies as a means of implementing its policies and has attempted to shed all responsibility for them, for example by stipulating that the Commission's Internal Auditor should no longer be responsible for auditing the decentralised agencies and should in future only confirm that their internal audit practices are consistent with international standards;deleted Amendment 26 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 ~~27. Notes that in the case of some agencies the number of members of the administrative board exceeds the total number of staff, ruling out efficient and cost-effective decision-making;~~deleted Amendment 27 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 28. Notes, on that basis, that the aim behind the practice of devolution - which is seen as one of the three main aspects of externalisation policy and was put forward as a reform strategy by the Commission in its White Paper - namely the more efficient, more rational and more effective provision of responsible administration, has not been achieved through the setting-up of decentralised agencies and that the Commission's reform efforts in this area have failed;deleted Amendment 28 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 29 ~~29. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the subsidiarity principle;~~deleted Amendment 29 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 30 ~~30. Calls on the Commission to meet to the letter the requirements to justify compliance with the subsidiarity principle;~~deleted Amendment 3 # Hans-Peter MARTIN Motion for a resolution Recital N N. calling on the Director of the Centre to propose, by 1 June 2008 at the latest, practical measures to achieve savings, above all in the area of administrative costs; to explain in detail why administrative costs are unacceptably high; to explain in detail why staff expenditure per post increased by 24% between the financial year 2006 and the 2008 preliminary draft budget; and to explain in detail why staff privileges ~~– budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183 –~~ make up more than 5% of the Centre's final budget and are thus much higher than for other agencies, ~~General points~~Or. de Amendment 30 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 ~~31. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the principle of sound financial management;~~deleted Amendment 31 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 33 ~~33. Calls for every decision on the final location of an agency to be taken when the regulation establishing that agency is adopted;~~deleted Amendment 32 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 34 34. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which provides for the number of full members of the administrative board of an agency to be reduced as quickly as possible to a figure equal to no more than 10% of the posts in that agency’s establishment plan and to no more than 20 in total;deleted Amendment 33 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 36. Requests that the performance of the agencies be regularly (and on an ad hoc basis) audited by the Court of Auditors or another independent auditor; considers that this should not be limited to traditional elements of financial management and the proper use of public money, but should also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness and should include a rating of the financial management of each agency; Amendment 34 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 a (new) 36a. Takes the view that in the case of agencies which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts; is of the opinion that this will lead in the long run to less assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also to lower administrative costs; Amendment 35 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 b (new) 36b. Notes that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc.; considers that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions and that most of the small agencies do not have the critical mass to be able to cope with these regulatory requirements; therefore asks the Commission to look for a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together, in order to achieve this critical mass (taking into consideration the necessary changes in the basic regulations governing the agencies and their budgetary independence), or urgently to draft specific rules for the agencies (in particular implementing rules for the agencies) which allow them to be in full compliance; Amendment 36 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 c (new) 36c. Insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years, in particular in year n-1, and, revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly; invites its competent committee to respect this revision and, if not undertaken by the Commission, to revise itself the budget in question to a realistic level matching the absorption and implementation capacity of the agency in question; Amendment 37 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 d (new) 36d. Recalls its decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2005, in which it invited the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency; invites all relevant institutions in the case of a negative evaluation of the added value of an agency to take the necessary steps by reformulating the mandate of that agency or by closing it; notes that there has not been one single evaluation undertaken by the Commission in 2007; insists that the Commission should present at least 5 such evaluations before the decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2007, starting with the oldest agencies; Amendment 38 # Jan MULDER Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 e (new) 36e. Is of opinion that recommendations of the Court of Auditors should be promptly implemented and the level of subsidies paid to the agencies should be aligned with their real cash requirements; considers further that the amendments to the general Financial Regulation should be incorporated into the agencies' framework financial regulation and into their various specific financial regulations; Amendment 39 # Jan MULDER Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 f (new) 36f. Is concerned that a significant number of staff is employed on a temporary basis in a way that could undermine the quality of their work; therefore asks the Commission to improve its monitoring of the implementation of the Staff Regulations by the agencies; Amendment 4 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1.Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of the limited conferral of powers, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and which stipulates that the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors exercise their powers under the conditions and for the purposes provided for, on the one hand, by the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the subsequent Treaties and Acts modifying and supplementing them and, on the other hand, by the other provisions of the TEU;deleted Amendment 40 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 37 ~~37. Calls on the Council to agree to a binding horizontal funding ceiling for the agencies;~~deleted Amendment 41 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 38 38. Acknowledges that Parliament, as the body responsible for financial control of the agencies, creates unacceptable conflicts of interest through its practice of appointing members of the agencies’ administrative boards and management bodies, and calls, therefore, for Parliament to halt this practice;deleted Amendment 42 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG ~~Privileges~~deleted Amendment 43 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 ~~39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges, in particular under budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183;~~deleted Amendment 44 # Hans-Peter MARTIN Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges~~, in particular under budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183~~; Amendment 45 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 40 ~~40. Refuses to accept that agency staff and members of their families should be able to undertake private travel paid for from the agency's budget;~~deleted Amendment 46 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 41 41. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which seeks to amend the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities, so that private travel by staff and members of their families, as governed by Annex VII, Section 3 C, Article 8, can no longer be paid for from public funds, and to achieve drastic savings in the area of staff privileges; Specific pointsdeleted Or. en Amendment 47 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 61 ~~61. Notes that the Centre's administrative spending in 2006 accounted for much too high a proportion of its overall costs, making effective and efficient working impossible;~~deleted Amendment 48 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 62 ~~62. Notes that no strict logic was applied to the choice of location for the Centre and that as a result a substantial volume of unnecessary additional costs has arisen;~~deleted Amendment 49 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 63 ~~63. Notes that it is not clear how this activity can be carried out more efficiently and more effectively in a decentralised agency and in this location than in the Commission itself;~~deleted Amendment 5 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of subsidiarity, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5, second paragraph, of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and which stipulates that in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence the Community shall take action only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community;deleted Amendment 50 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 64 ~~64. Notes that in the financial year 2006 the cost of privileges for Centre staff made up more than 5% of the Centre's budget;~~deleted Amendment 51 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 65 ~~65. Notes that the cost of private travel for Centre staff and members of their families is unacceptably high;~~deleted Amendment 52 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 66 ~~66. Notes that the Centre's staff expenditure per post increased by 24% between the financial year 2006 and the 2008 preliminary draft budget;~~deleted Amendment 6 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality for any proposed Community legislation the reasons on which it is based must be stated with a view to justifying its compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and the reasons for concluding that a Community objective can be better achieved at Community level must be substantiated by qualitative or quantitative indicators;deleted Amendment 7 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 3 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality Community action within the limits of its powers can be either expanded or restricted or discontinued where it is no longer justified;deleted Amendment 8 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 9 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality due account must be taken of the need for any financial or administrative burden falling on the Community to be minimised and proportionate to the objective to be achieved;deleted Amendment 9 # Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of sound financial management, as laid down, inter alia, in Article 274 TEC, and, hence, the objective of achieving the best possible result with a given volume of appropriations or achieving a given result using the smallest possible volume of appropriations;deleted source: PE-402.808

Amendments

Dossier

2007/2053(DEC)

2008/03/06 CONT 52 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Proposal for a decision on discharge
Paragraph 1

~~1. Postpones its decision on g~~Grant~~ing~~s the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union discharge in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2006;

Amendment 10 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Emphasises, in that connection, that in its White Paper on the reform of the Commission the Commission laid down as guidelines for the formulation of an externalisation policy cost-effectiveness and the ability to exercise its powers to implement the budget, pursuant to Article 274 TEC;deleted

Amendment 11 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Emphasises that pursuant to Article 253 TEC regulations, directives and decisions adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council and such acts adopted by the Council or the Commission must state the reasons on which they are based and refer to any proposals or opinions which were required to be obtained pursuant to the TEC;deleted

Amendment 12 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes that decentralisation and devolution were key results of the process of reforming the Commission started in 1999, but that to date the Commission has submitted neither a study, nor an activity report nor an interim assessment of this form of administration; by the same token, the Commission has never given a convincing explanation of the added value provided by the agencies and of why their tasks could not equally well be performed within the Commission itself;deleted

Amendment 13 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Emphasises, in that connection, that between the year 2000 (publication of the White Paper on the Reform of the Commission) and 2007 the staff complement of the Commission and agencies (excluding executive agencies) increased by a total of 85%;deleted

Amendment 14 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes, in that connection, that in recent years the pace at which decentralised agencies are being set up has steadily increased, and that they are being established unsystematically and with no uniform framework: whereas in 1990 only three, in 1995 six, and in 2000 seven agencies existed, the 2008 budget lists no fewer than 25, seven of which have been added since 2005 alone;deleted

Amendment 15 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Emphasises, in that connection, that the agencies to which it grants discharge make up only a part of the total and that the increase in permanent and temporary posts for all the decentralised agencies from 166 in the year 2000 to a total of 3151 in 2007 (+1800%) clearly illustrates the problems in this area;deleted

Amendment 16 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

~~17. Emphasises further, in that connection, that average staff costs increased by more than 40% between 2006 and 2008;~~deleted

Amendment 17 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Emphasises finally, in that connection, that the subsidies paid to the agencies from the Community budget have increased disproportionately in recent years, that the appropriations from the Community budget paid to agencies to which Parliament grants discharge, which were established between 1975 and 1997 and have thus gone well beyond the start- up and initial growth phases, increased by some 90% between 2000 and 2008, and that during that period the subsidies paid to some of these agencies increased by more than 210%;deleted

Amendment 18 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

~~19. Emphasises that only two agencies are not in any way dependent on EU subsidies, whilst most of them are funded exclusively from EU budget appropriations;~~deleted

Amendment 19 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Notes, in that connection, that a clear trend is emerging whereby the agencies revise their need for Community subsidies disproportionately upwards every six months, thus committing a steadily increasing proportion of the available appropriations, and that there are insufficient incentives to use financial resources sparingly;deleted

Amendment 2 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Proposal for a decision on closure of accounts
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Postpon~~Approves the closure of the accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2006;

Amendment 20 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Takes the view that direct and indirect payments and subsidies to the agencies from host countries (e.g. funding for building projects, office facilities, municipal taxes, etc.) have made it impossible to draw up a comprehensive breakdown of the cost of the agencies and that this practice disguises the true costs;deleted

Amendment 21 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Takes the view that in most cases there has been no proper strategy underpinning the process of establishing agencies and that political considerations and factors, such as the attempt, with the help of the agencies, to influence the balance of power among the institutions, outweigh, and in some cases run entirely counter to, the original objectives, such as greater responsibility, transparency and efficiency in European administration;deleted

Amendment 22 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Takes the view that the lack of a proper strategy on setting up agencies has generated unnecessary costs and that the true costs have been hidden from taxpayers, since, for example, missing infrastructure has not been taken into account and additional costs – for instance for the construction of new office and conference buildings, the setting-up of new schools, the development of transport infrastructure in response to an increase in missions between places of work scattered throughout Europe, as a result of serious recruitment problems, etc. – have arisen as a result;deleted

Amendment 23 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Notes that the Commission's devolution policy has given rise to the duplication of work, above all in the area of administration, generating unnecessary additional costs and requiring the same know-how to be available several times over; notes, at the same time, that many agencies' administrative expenditure is far too high;deleted

Amendment 24 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Takes the view that, with a few exceptions, no efforts have been made systematically to involve the agencies in the work of the Commission and that the agencies' spheres of responsibility frequently relate only to areas covered by 'open coordination' and bear no relation to the European Union's real needs and taxpayers' expectations;deleted

Amendment 25 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Takes the view that the Commission no longer regards the decentralised agencies as a means of implementing its policies and has attempted to shed all responsibility for them, for example by stipulating that the Commission's Internal Auditor should no longer be responsible for auditing the decentralised agencies and should in future only confirm that their internal audit practices are consistent with international standards;deleted

Amendment 26 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

~~27. Notes that in the case of some agencies the number of members of the administrative board exceeds the total number of staff, ruling out efficient and cost-effective decision-making;~~deleted

Amendment 27 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Notes, on that basis, that the aim behind the practice of devolution - which is seen as one of the three main aspects of externalisation policy and was put forward as a reform strategy by the Commission in its White Paper - namely the more efficient, more rational and more effective provision of responsible administration, has not been achieved through the setting-up of decentralised agencies and that the Commission's reform efforts in this area have failed;deleted

Amendment 28 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

~~29. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the subsidiarity principle;~~deleted

Amendment 29 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

~~30. Calls on the Commission to meet to the letter the requirements to justify compliance with the subsidiarity principle;~~deleted

Amendment 3 #

Hans-Peter MARTIN

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. calling on the Director of the Centre to propose, by 1 June 2008 at the latest, practical measures to achieve savings, above all in the area of administrative costs; to explain in detail why administrative costs are unacceptably high; to explain in detail why staff expenditure per post increased by 24% between the financial year 2006 and the 2008 preliminary draft budget; and to explain in detail why staff privileges ~~– budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183 –~~ make up more than 5% of the Centre's final budget and are thus much higher than for other agencies, ~~General points~~Or. de

Amendment 30 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

~~31. Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with the principle of sound financial management;~~deleted

Amendment 31 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

~~33. Calls for every decision on the final location of an agency to be taken when the regulation establishing that agency is adopted;~~deleted

Amendment 32 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which provides for the number of full members of the administrative board of an agency to be reduced as quickly as possible to a figure equal to no more than 10% of the posts in that agency’s establishment plan and to no more than 20 in total;deleted

Amendment 33 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. Requests that the performance of the agencies be regularly (and on an ad hoc basis) audited by the Court of Auditors or another independent auditor; considers that this should not be limited to traditional elements of financial management and the proper use of public money, but should also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness and should include a rating of the financial management of each agency;

Amendment 34 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)

36a. Takes the view that in the case of agencies which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts; is of the opinion that this will lead in the long run to less assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also to lower administrative costs;

Amendment 35 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 b (new)

36b. Notes that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc.; considers that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions and that most of the small agencies do not have the critical mass to be able to cope with these regulatory requirements; therefore asks the Commission to look for a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together, in order to achieve this critical mass (taking into consideration the necessary changes in the basic regulations governing the agencies and their budgetary independence), or urgently to draft specific rules for the agencies (in particular implementing rules for the agencies) which allow them to be in full compliance;

Amendment 36 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 c (new)

36c. Insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years, in particular in year n-1, and, revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly; invites its competent committee to respect this revision and, if not undertaken by the Commission, to revise itself the budget in question to a realistic level matching the absorption and implementation capacity of the agency in question;

Amendment 37 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 d (new)

36d. Recalls its decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2005, in which it invited the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency; invites all relevant institutions in the case of a negative evaluation of the added value of an agency to take the necessary steps by reformulating the mandate of that agency or by closing it; notes that there has not been one single evaluation undertaken by the Commission in 2007; insists that the Commission should present at least 5 such evaluations before the decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2007, starting with the oldest agencies;

Amendment 38 #

Jan MULDER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 e (new)

36e. Is of opinion that recommendations of the Court of Auditors should be promptly implemented and the level of subsidies paid to the agencies should be aligned with their real cash requirements; considers further that the amendments to the general Financial Regulation should be incorporated into the agencies' framework financial regulation and into their various specific financial regulations;

Amendment 39 #

Jan MULDER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 f (new)

36f. Is concerned that a significant number of staff is employed on a temporary basis in a way that could undermine the quality of their work; therefore asks the Commission to improve its monitoring of the implementation of the Staff Regulations by the agencies;

Amendment 4 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1.Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of the limited conferral of powers, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and which stipulates that the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors exercise their powers under the conditions and for the purposes provided for, on the one hand, by the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the subsequent Treaties and Acts modifying and supplementing them and, on the other hand, by the other provisions of the TEU;deleted

Amendment 40 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

~~37. Calls on the Council to agree to a binding horizontal funding ceiling for the agencies;~~deleted

Amendment 41 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Acknowledges that Parliament, as the body responsible for financial control of the agencies, creates unacceptable conflicts of interest through its practice of appointing members of the agencies’ administrative boards and management bodies, and calls, therefore, for Parliament to halt this practice;deleted

Amendment 42 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

~~Privileges~~deleted

Amendment 43 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

~~39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges, in particular under budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183;~~deleted

Amendment 44 #

Hans-Peter MARTIN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges~~, in particular under budget Items 1101, 1102, 1141, 1182 and 1183~~;

Amendment 45 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

~~40. Refuses to accept that agency staff and members of their families should be able to undertake private travel paid for from the agency's budget;~~deleted

Amendment 46 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal which seeks to amend the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities, so that private travel by staff and members of their families, as governed by Annex VII, Section 3 C, Article 8, can no longer be paid for from public funds, and to achieve drastic savings in the area of staff privileges; Specific pointsdeleted Or. en

Amendment 47 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61

~~61. Notes that the Centre's administrative spending in 2006 accounted for much too high a proportion of its overall costs, making effective and efficient working impossible;~~deleted

Amendment 48 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62

~~62. Notes that no strict logic was applied to the choice of location for the Centre and that as a result a substantial volume of unnecessary additional costs has arisen;~~deleted

Amendment 49 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63

~~63. Notes that it is not clear how this activity can be carried out more efficiently and more effectively in a decentralised agency and in this location than in the Commission itself;~~deleted

Amendment 5 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of subsidiarity, which, in the current documents providing the legal basis for the European Union, is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 5, second paragraph, of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and which stipulates that in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence the Community shall take action only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community;deleted

Amendment 50 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64

~~64. Notes that in the financial year 2006 the cost of privileges for Centre staff made up more than 5% of the Centre's budget;~~deleted

Amendment 51 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65

~~65. Notes that the cost of private travel for Centre staff and members of their families is unacceptably high;~~deleted

Amendment 52 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG, Herbert BÖSCH, Ingeborg GRÄSSLE, Christofer FJELLNER, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66

~~66. Notes that the Centre's staff expenditure per post increased by 24% between the financial year 2006 and the 2008 preliminary draft budget;~~deleted

Amendment 6 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality for any proposed Community legislation the reasons on which it is based must be stated with a view to justifying its compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and the reasons for concluding that a Community objective can be better achieved at Community level must be substantiated by qualitative or quantitative indicators;deleted

Amendment 7 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 3 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality Community action within the limits of its powers can be either expanded or restricted or discontinued where it is no longer justified;deleted

Amendment 8 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Emphasises, in that connection, that pursuant to paragraph 9 of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality due account must be taken of the need for any financial or administrative burden falling on the Community to be minimised and proportionate to the objective to be achieved;deleted

Amendment 9 #

Paulo CASACA, Edit HERCZOG

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Emphasises that it unreservedly endorses the principle of sound financial management, as laid down, inter alia, in Article 274 TEC, and, hence, the objective of achieving the best possible result with a given volume of appropriations or achieving a given result using the smallest possible volume of appropriations;deleted

source: PE-402.808

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

2015-11-04Show (1) Changes | Timetravel

activities/6/docs

url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2009-203&language=EN title: Budget 2009/203
url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2009:088:TOC title: OJ L 088 31.03.2009, p. 0118

2014-11-10Show (5) Changes

activities	date: 2007-03-30T00:00:00 docs: url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2007&nu_doc=1055 type: Non-legislative basic document published title: SEC(2007)1055 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget Commissioner: KALLAS Siim date: 2007-10-25T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: NI name: MARTIN Hans-Peter date: 2008-02-12T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN meeting_id: 2847 date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: NI name: MARTIN Hans-Peter type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading date: 2008-04-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2008-124&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0124/2008 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading date: 2008-04-22T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=14862&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20080422&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2008-145 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0145/2008 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament date: 2009-03-31T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal
committees	body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: NI name: MARTIN Hans-Peter
links
other	body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget commissioner: KALLAS Siim
procedure	dossier_of_the_committee CONT/6/53869 reference 2007/2053(DEC) title 2006 discharge: Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union CdT legal_basis Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 094 stage_reached Procedure completed type DEC - Discharge procedure final url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2009-203&language=EN title: Budget 2009/203 subject 8.70.03.07 Previous discharges

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