Activites

• 2015/04/29 Vote in plenary scheduled
• 2015/04/28 Debate in plenary scheduled
• 2015/03/30 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A8-0074/2015 summary

    The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the financial year 2013. The committee recommended that the European Parliament grant the Executive Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members called on the Parliament to approve the closure of the Agency’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies. Agency’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2013 was EUR 167 023 535, representing an increase of 5.15% compared to 2012. The overall contribution of the Union to the Agency's budget for 2013 amounted to EUR 40 518 135. Commitments and carry-overs: Members noted a general reduction of the overall level of committed appropriations carried over from EUR 10 100 000 (11 %) in 2012 to EUR 7 200 000 (8 %) in 2013. They were concerned that although the general level of carry-overs had reduced, it remained high for operational expenditure, amounting to 42 %. They stressed that although the multiannual nature of the Agency's operations partly justified the carry-overs, such a high level was at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality. Members also made a series of observations on procurement and recruitment procedures, internal controls and internal audits and the prevention and management of conflicts of interest. Regarding the legality and regularity of transactions, the committee noted that in 2013, the Agency spent some EUR 22 000 000 on procurement procedures to outsource part of its certification activities to National Aviation Authorities and Qualified Entities. However, the transparency of outsourcing should be improved through the improved documentation of the allocation processes, including assessments made on the basis of the criteria set in the guidelines. On the issue of conflicts of interest, Members observed with concern that this issue was extremely relevant with regards to the members of the panel of experts who are called to test and authorise the products. They expressed deep concern about the two revolving door cases identified by the Agency in 2013 and recommends that the Agency further strengthen its independence policy, especially in publishing the CVs and declarations of interests of the panel of experts by the end of September 2015. They called upon the Agency to adopt comprehensive policies for the management of situations where conflicts of interests arise, such as the rearrangement of the public official's duties or the resignation of the public official from their office. Lastly, Members noted that since 2004, when the Agency became operational, it had been working on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with the host Member State but that a comprehensive headquarters agreement had not yet been signed with the host Member State. Such an agreement would promote transparency in respect of the conditions under which the Agency and its staff operated.

• 2015/03/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2014/10/20 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2014/07/30 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2014)0510 summary

    PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013, as part of the 2013 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based. Discharge procedure of the EU agencies: the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies. The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective. The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure. EASA: in 2013, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of EASA's tasks: EASA, which is located in Cologne, was established by Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council and its role is to maintain a high uniform level of civil aviation safety in Europe and to ensure the proper development of civil aviation safety. It shall issue opinions and recommendations to the Commission and take decisions in this area; EASA's budget for the 2013 financial year: the Agency’s budget for 2013, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union, gives the following figures: §         Commitment appropriations : - committed : EUR 169 million; - paid : EUR 135 million; - carried-over : EUR 32 million. §         Payment appropriations : - committed : EUR 180 million; - paid : EUR 125 million; - carried-over : EUR 52 million. Please refer also to the final accounts of the EASA.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2014)0510
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0074/2015

Amendments

Dossier

22

2014/2106(DEC) 2015/01/28 TRAN 12 amendments... Amendment 1 # Daniela AIUTO, Peter LUNDGREN Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Draws attention to the constant problems in monitoring calls for tender and operating activities; calls for ex ante controls to be improved and ex post controls introduced for the purpose of verifying performance; Amendment 10 # Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Regrets that, despite the efforts made by the Agency, it has not yet been possible to conclude the agreement on the Agency’s headquarter; recalls that according to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies agreed between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, “all agencies should have headquarters agreements, which should be concluded before the agency starts its operational phase;” notes in this regard that another Agency, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), signed a headquarter agreement with the German Government in 2011; calls, therefore, to be notified of the final decision on the Agency’s headquarters by the end of 2015; Amendment 11 # Inés AYALA SENDER Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Regrets that, despite the efforts made by the Agency, it has not yet been possible, 14 years after the Agency was set up, to conclude the agreement on the Agency’s headquarter; recalls that according to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies agreed between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, “all agencies should have headquarters agreements, which should be concluded before the agency starts its operational phase;” notes in this regard that another Agency, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), signed a headquarter agreement with the German Government in 2011; urges the host country to conclude an agreement with the Agency as quickly as possible with a view to clarifying relations between national judicial authorities and enabling the Agency to perform its legal task without let or hindrance; calls on the Commission to take the opportunity available this year to amend the act establishing the Agency with a view to securing a headquarters agreement allowing the Agency to operate unimpeded; Amendment 12 # Daniela AIUTO, Peter LUNDGREN Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Proposes that Parliament should not grant the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013. Amendment 2 # Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights the Agency’s vital role in ensuring the highest possible level of aviation safety throughout Europe; also notes that the current review of the Single European Sky legislation could lead to greater powers being accorded to the EASA; stresses that, should this be the casits powers be increased in keeping with the subsidiarity principle, the Agency will need to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks successfully; manage its affairs effectively and efficiently; calls for the necessity of the existing cost centres to be assessed every year on the basis of annual cost accounting; Amendment 3 # Daniel DALTON Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights the Agency’s vital role in ensuring the highest possible level of aviation safety throughout Europe; also notes that the current review of the Single European Sky legislation could lead to greater powers being accorded to the EASA; stresses that, should this be the case, the Agency will need to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks successfully; but emphasises that the Agency should focus on efficiency savings to ensure maximum value for money for taxpayers before seeking an increased budget. Amendment 4 # Karima DELLI Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes that further to the request made by the EP in the 2012 discharge procedure, EASA has proceeded to complete the publication at its website of the Annual Declarations of Interest and CVs of the EASA managers, Members of its Management Board and Members of its Board of Appeal; and thereby shows its progress to eliminate its conflict of interest. Amendment 5 # Claudia SCHMIDT Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Welcomes the revision of the EASA regulation and underlines the need of revision of the code of conduct of the EASA employees in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest. Proposes that in this relation there should be a regular screening of the implementation of the code of conduct and the cases themselves by the court of auditors; Amendment 6 # Daniela AIUTO, Peter LUNDGREN Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Deplores the fact that there is no transparency in recruitment procedures; calls for the adoption of a transparency protocol setting out a public procedure for the selection of external experts; Amendment 7 # Daniela AIUTO, Peter LUNDGREN Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Notes that the EASA too will have to cut its staff by 2018; Amendment 8 # Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Recalls the EP position in budgetary procedure that the staff financed by fees paid by the industry and consequently not financed by the EU budget should notlikewise be affected by the 2% yearly cut applied by the EC, given that the fees in question have to be paid by the industry; Amendment 9 # Inés AYALA SENDER Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Recalls the EP position in budgetary procedure that the staff financed by fees paid by the industry and consequently not financed by the EU budget should not be affected by the 2% yearly cut applied by the EC; considers that the Commission should treat agencies financed primarily by the EU budget as a separate case and put forward a specific framework for agencies financed mainly by operators’ fees, which should be in proportion to the services provided by the agency concerned; takes note of the current discussion on the use of fees collected by agencies and considers that if the Agency were to yield a surplus, that sum should be paid back to the EU budget; source: 546.823 2015/03/05 CONT 10 amendments... Amendment 1 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013; Amendment 10 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Takes note that since 2004, when the Agency became operational, it has been working on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with the host Member State; however, a comprehensive headquarters agreement has not yet been signed with the host Member State; notes that such agreement would promote transparency in respect of the conditions under which the Agency and its staff operate; calls on the Agency to address this issue as a matter of urgency and to inform the discharge authority on the progress; Amendment 2 # Richard ASHWORTH, Beata GOSIEWSKA, Richard SULÍK Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013; Amendment 3 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 2 2. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2013 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2013; Amendment 4 # Richard ASHWORTH, Beata GOSIEWSKA, Richard SULÍK Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 2 2. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2013 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2013; Amendment 5 # Ryszard CZARNECKI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 – indent 2 - CVs, declarations of interest of the directors have been partiaExecutive Director, the Directors and the Heads of Department were fully published on the agency's website; call as onf the Agency to fully implement this recommendation as a matter of urgency1st December 2014 as requested by the European Parliament on the agency's discharge 2012; Amendment 6 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes with concern that thCalls on the Agency to improve transparency of outsourcing could be improved through the better documentation of the allocation processes, including assessments made on the basis of the criteria set in the guidelines; notes with concern that this is also the case for the allocation of the many other low-value contracts to bidders; Amendment 7 # Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Observes with concern that the issue of conflict of interests is extremely relevant with what regards the members of the Panel of Experts who are called to test and authorize the products; Expresses its deep concern about the two revolving doors cases identified by the Agency in 2013 and calls upon the Agency to make public by the end of October 2015 the CVs and Declaration of Interests of its entire staff and in particular of the Panel of Experts; Calls upon the Agency to adopt comprehensive policies for the management of conflict of interest situations such as: divestment of the interest by the public official, recusal of the public official from involvement in an affected decision-making process, restriction of access by the affected public official to particular information, rearrangement of the public official's duties or resignation of the public official from their office; Amendment 8 # Zigmantas BALČYTIS Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Takes note that the CVs and declarations of interests of the members of the Board of Appeal and the Executive Director are now publicly available on the Agency's website ; urges the Agency to make the CVs and declarations of interests of managers and persons holding sensitive functions as well as the ones of the Managers Board publicly available on the Agency's website; Amendment 9 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Recommends to the Agency to further strengthen its independence policy, especially in terms of publication of CVs and declarations of interest of managers and members of the Administrative Board; source: 539.756

History

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