Awaiting committee decision
Next event: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading 2015/04/28
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Lead | CONT | CZARNECKI Ryszard (ECR) | ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš (EPP), VAUGHAN Derek (S&D), ALIOT Louis (NI), DE JONG Dennis (GUE/NGL), VALLI Marco (EFD) |
Opinion | TRAN | RIQUET Dominique (ALDE) |
Activites
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2015/04/28
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
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2015/03/23
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
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2014/10/20
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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2014/07/30
Non-legislative basic document published
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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 Railway Agency (ERA). 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 Railway Agency (ERA). 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. ERA: in 2013, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of ERA's tasks: ERA, which is located in Lille-Valenciennes, was created by Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its aim is to : (i) enhance the level of interoperability of railway systems and; (ii) develop a common approach to safety in order to contribute to creating a more competitive European railway sector with a high level of safety; ERA'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 26 million; - paid : EUR 25 million; - carried-over : 0. § Payment appropriations : - committed : EUR 28 million; - paid : EUR 25 million; - carried-over : EUR 2 million. Please refer also to the final accounts of the ERA.
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina
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COM(2014)0510
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2014)0510
Amendments | Dossier |
32 |
2014/2111(DEC)
2015/01/28
TRAN
17 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the finding of the Court of Auditors that the accounts of the European Railway Agency for the 2013 financial year are in order; criticises, however, the current 2-seat solution and the unnecessary extra costs this entails; therefore calls for conferences to be held in future in Valenciennes instead of Lille so that the available budget can be used efficiently and effectively; calls for an accounting procedure to be carried out so that the resultant savings can be determined;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Laments the lack of transparency in the recruitment procedure; stresses that a transparent public selection procedure should be adopted for recruiting external experts;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Reminds that the accuracy and transparency used in the Agency´s interview procedures has to be improved;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5b. Recalls that the Agency has two seats and according to the principle of operating efficiency this situation should be clarified, therefore suggest that a revision of the ERA regulation should take this issue into account;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Reiterates that every year since 2006 the European Court of Auditors has reminded the ERA to save money by operating in just one location; calls on the ERA to implement this as quickly as possible and reserves the right to stop making budget resources available for a second location;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Calls for a single location for the Agency, in a place easily accessible for the Agency's staff and the ERA meetings' attendees (incl. ERA Administrative Boards and its Sub-committee, ERA Working Parties, Task Forces or other meetings) by public transport in order to save scare resources and increase its efficiency.
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6b. Stresses the importance of the Agency improving its recruitment procedures as rapidly as possible, this measure having been commenced in 2011, so as to ensure business continuity and to prevent loss of knowledge and experience as well as transparency and equal treatment for applicants.
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6c. Stresses the need for the Agency to comply with its Internal Control Standard regarding business continuity and to set up IT Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Proposes that Parliament should not grant the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2013.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Highlights the constant problems in the monitoring of calls for tender and operating activities; stresses that ex-ante checks should be tightened up and ex-post checks introduced, as a means of verifying performances;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights the Agency
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights the Agency’s vital role in ensuring the safety and interoperability of rail systems in Europe; also notes that a review of the Agency’s powers is currently under way as part of the Fourth Railway Package; stresses that should it be accorded greater powers, the Agency will need to be given the necessary financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 – indent 1 (new) Highlights the Agency’s vital role in ensuring the safety and interoperability of rail systems in Europe; also notes that a review of the Agency’s powers is currently under way as part of the Fourth Railway Package; stresses that should it be accorded greater powers, the Agency will need to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks successfully, with these helping to increase the interoperability of rail systems in the central and eastern part of the EU;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Considers that if the Agency is to receive new powers as a result of the extension of its tasks as a certifying agency for railway material, part of the funding for the Agency should come from taxes and charges levied on private railway operators, which must in all circumstances be proportional to the expenses incurred by the Agency and must not represent a disproportionate cost for operators.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Laments the fact there are still two separate seats of the ERA (in Lille and Valenciennes) and the unnecessary additional budgetary costs this creates;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Regrets that using two locations (Lille and Valenciennes) to carry out its activities exposes the Agency to additional costs and represents an unnecessary waste of taxpayers' money; calls for this issue to be addressed before any increase in the Agency's budget is approved, in order to restore value for money and operational efficiency;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Calls for a single seat for the ERA to be established in a location easily accessible using public transport, as already requested by the European Parliament in its Decision 2013/2228(DEC);
source: 546.789
2015/03/06
CONT
15 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Acknowledges from the Agency that it has set out to adopt its revised policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests as well as to publish the CVs and declarations of interest of the members of the Management Board during 2015; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority once the new policy is adopted and the CVs and declarations of interest are made publicly available;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Expresses its deep disappointment that the Agency has still not adopted a clear, comprehensive and objective policy for the prevention and management of conflict of interests despite consecutive years of the discharge authority and the Court’s special recommendations;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Acknowledges from the Agency that apart from one ‘Very Important’ recommendation from the Audit on Human Resources Management within the Agency, all the other recommendations have been closed during 2014; urges the Agency to take necessary measures to close the remaining recommendation;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Regrets that the recruitment procedure for the ICC post was lengthy and that as of January 2014, the selected candidate had not yet started working at the Agency;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 b (new) 13 b. Notes with concern that the Court indicates in its annual audit report for 2012 that the Agency does not comply with its Internal Control Standard regarding business continuity and that no approved IT Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans exist; acknowledges that the Agency has decided to implement adequate measures in order to ensure the continuity of the IT services and systems that are horizontal to the Agency's business; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority on actions implemented;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 2 2. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. Highlights the Agency's vital role in ensuring the safety and interoperability of rail systems in Europe; notes furthermore that a review of the Agency's powers is currently under way as part of the Fourth Railway Package; stresses that should it be accorded greater powers, the Agency will need to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks successfully;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Notes with concern from the Court's report that the Agency's procurement procedures would benefit from an improvement in the accuracy and documentation of information; Expresses its deep concern about the Agency's staff management policy since it will have to replace half of its operational staff in the period of 2013-2015, which may cause major disruptions in the Agency's operational activities; Urges the Agency to develop a coherent, transparent and objective policy in order to deal with the termination of contracts of its temporary staff;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Notes with concern that in 2013 the Agency re-employed four temporary employees, whose contracts with the Agency had ended in 2013 after the maximum eight-year period, for a further eight-year period contrary to its Founding Regulation; takes note that the proposal for a revised founding regulation for the Agency, which has not yet been adopted by Parliament and Council, includes similar provisions; Finds unacceptable the Agency's breach of its own laws and rules and urges the Agency to respect its recruitment procedures;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. notes that there is room to improve the Agency's recruitment procedures in order to fully ensure transparency and equal treatment of candidates;
source: 539.786
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