Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Opinion | AFET | ||
Lead | CONT | AYALA SENDER Inés (S&D) | ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš (EPP), FITTO Raffaele (ECR), ALI Nedzhmi (ALDE), DE JONG Dennis (GUE/NGL), JÁVOR Benedek (Verts/ALE), VALLI Marco (EFD), KAPPEL Barbara (ENF) |
Opinion | LIBE | JEŽEK Petr (ALDE) |
Activites
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2017/04/27
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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T8-0186/2017
summary
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015. The vote on the discharge decision covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex IV, Article 5(1)(a) to its Rules of Procedure). Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2015, Parliament adopted by 492 votes to 124, with 3 abstentions, a resolution containing 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 resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies. These recommendations may be summarised as follows: Agency’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (now European Border and Coast Guard Agency) for the financial year 2015 was EUR 143.3 million, representing an increase of 46.31 % compared to 2014. The increase was mainly due to two amendments for the relevant operations in the Mediterranean amounting to EUR 28 million. Reliability of the accounts: Parliament noted that the Court issued a qualified opinion on the reliability of the Agency’s accounts. The basis being the underestimation of the cost incurred in 2015 but not yet invoiced for pre-financed services related to maritime surveillance by EUR 1 723 336. It acknowledged that the Agency has already taken corrective measures to prevent such issues from taking place in the future. It noted, in the Court’s opinion, except for the effects of the matter regarding the underestimation of the incurred but not yet invoiced costs, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2015 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its financial regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. Members detected however irregular payments in Iceland as well as double funding relating to the Internal Security Fund (ISF). Parliament also made a series of observations regarding the budget and financial management, commitments and carry-overs, transfers and internal audits. It noted that Frontex did not sufficiently address the existing potential for conflicts of interest when setting up teams managing the negotiations of joint operation grants. It called on the Agency to introduce measures and an appropriate policy to safeguard the principles of transparency and ensure the absence of conflicts of interest on the part of negotiation teams. Parliament recalled that in previous years the high and constantly increasing number of grant agreements, as well as the magnitude of related expenditure to be verified by the Agency, indicated that a more efficient and cost-effective alternative funding mechanism could be used to finance the Agency’s operational activities. It acknowledged that the Agency’s new founding regulation has removed the term “grants” as the contractual instrument for the operational activities between the Agency and the institutions of the Members States. Members hoped that this modification will allow the Agency to streamline the financial management of its operational activities. Lastly, Parliament welcomed both the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015 and the support provided to national authorities in hotspot areas in relation to the identification and registration of migrants, return-related activities and Union internal security. It welcomed the support provided to national authorities in hotspot areas in relation to the identification and registration of migrants, return-related activities and Union internal security and the signature of an operational cooperation agreement with Europol to deter cross-border crime and migrant smuggling.
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T8-0186/2017
summary
- 2017/04/26 Debate in Parliament
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2017/03/31
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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A8-0137/2017
summary
The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (S&D, ES) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2015 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on 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 European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (now European Border and Coast Guard Agency) for the financial year 2015 was EUR 143.3 million, representing an increase of 46.31 % compared to 2014. The increase was mainly due to two amendments for the relevant operations in the Mediterranean amounting to EUR 28 million. Reliability of the accounts: Members noted that the Court issued a qualified opinion on the reliability of the Agency’s accounts. The basis being the underestimation of the cost incurred in 2015 but not yet invoiced for pre-financed services related to maritime surveillance by EUR 1 723 336. They acknowledged that the Agency has already taken corrective measures to prevent such issues from taking place in the future. They noted, in the Court’s opinion, except for the effects of the matter regarding the underestimation of the incurred but not yet invoiced costs, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2015 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its financial regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. Members detected however irregular payments in Iceland as well as double funding relating to the Internal Security Fund (ISF). Members also made a series of observations regarding the budget and financial management, commitments and carry-overs, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, transfers and internal audits. The report recalled that in previous years the high and constantly increasing number of grant agreements, as well as the magnitude of related expenditure to be verified by the Agency, indicated that a more efficient and cost-effective alternative funding mechanism could be used to finance the Agency’s operational activities. Members acknowledged that the Agency’s new founding regulation has removed the term “grants” as the contractual instrument for the operational activities between the Agency and the institutions of the Members States. They hoped that this modification will allow the Agency to streamline the financial management of its operational activities. Lastly, they welcomed both the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015 and the support provided to national authorities in hotspot areas in relation to the identification and registration of migrants, return-related activities and Union internal security.
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A8-0137/2017
summary
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2017/03/22
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
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2016/10/04
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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2016/07/11
Non-legislative basic document published
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COM(2016)0475
summary
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2015, as part of the 2015 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex). CONTENT: the organisational governance of the EU consists of institutions, agencies and other EU bodies whose expenditure is included in the general budget of the Union. The EU's operational expenditure of these institutions takes different forms, depending on how the money is paid out and managed. From 2014 onwards, the Commission classifies its expenditure as follows: Direct management: the budget is implemented directly by the Commission services. Indirect management: the Commission confers tasks of implementation of the budget to bodies of EU law or national law, such as the EU agencies. Shared management: under this method of budget implementation tasks are delegated to Member States. About 80 % of the expenditure falls under this management mode covering such areas as agricultural spending and structural actions. This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2015 and details how spending by the EU institutions and bodies was carried out. The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide financial information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from an accrual accounting and budgetary perspective. It is the responsibility of the Commission's Accounting Officer to prepare the EU's consolidated annual accounts and ensure that they present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position, the result of the operations and the cash flows of the EU institutions and bodies, including the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex), with a view to granting discharge. Discharge procedure: the final step of a budget lifecycle is the discharge of the budget for a given financial year. It represents the political aspect of the external control of budget implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission (and other EU bodies) from its responsibility for management of a given budget by marking the end of that budget's existence. The European Parliament is the discharge authority within the EU. The discharge procedure may produce three outcomes: (i) the granting; (ii) postponement or; (iii) the refusal of the discharge. The final discharge report including specific recommendations to the Commission for action is adopted in plenary by the European Parliament and are subject to an annual follow up report in which the Commission outlines the concrete actions it has taken to implement the recommendations made. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure, including Frontex. FRONTEX: the Agency, which is located in Warsaw (PL), was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004, amended by Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its main task is to coordinate Member States' activities in the field of the management of external borders and to set up European Border Guard Teams (EBGT) to be deployed during joint operations. As regards Frontex’s accounts, these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2015: Commitment appropriations: - committed: EUR 152 million; - paid: EUR 151 million; - carried-over: EUR 1 million. Payment appropriations: - committed: EUR 180 million; - paid: EUR 125 million; - carried-over: EUR 50 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to final accounts of Frontex.
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina
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COM(2016)0475
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2016)0475
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0137/2017
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0186/2017
Amendments | Dossier |
34 |
2016/2179(DEC)
2017/01/23
LIBE
21 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Regrets the conclusions of the European Court of Auditors in its Special Report No 12/20161a that the Agency does not have quantitative objectives and targets for its joint operations, which hampers the measurement of the joint operations' effectiveness in the long term; notes the Agency's reply that quantification of objectives may not be possible in the field of irregular migration; calls on the Agency to develop and implement quantitative objectives with specific target values as soon as possible and where applicable; _________________ 1aEuropean Court of Auditors, Special Report No 12/2016: Agencies’ use of grants: not always appropriate or demonstrably effective, p. 26.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 c (new) 3 c. Regrets the conclusions of the European Court of Auditors in its Special Report No 12/20161a that the Agency has not established an appropriate conflict of interest policy for the staff members of the bilateral negotiation teams; calls on the Agency to establish formal conflict of interest policies for external experts, internal staff and governing board members involved in the selection and award process of grants, taking into account the accumulated effect of several minor conflict of interest and defining effective mitigating measures; _________________ 1aEuropean Court of Auditors, Special Report No 12/2016: Agencies’ use of grants: not always appropriate or demonstrably effective, p. 30.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015; welcomes the increase of the Agency’s search and rescue capacity following the tragic events of spring 2015; looks forward to those capacities being strengthened further following the adoption of the new mandate in mid-2016 which includes search and rescue as a stand along component of European integrated border management and assigns it as a specific task of the Agency; welcomes the signature of an important agreement with CSDP Mission EUNAVFOR Med regarding maritime surveillance;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015; welcomes the increase of the Agency’s search and rescue capacity following the tragic events of spring 2015;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015; welcomes the increase of the Agency’s search and rescue capacity following the tragic events of spring 2015;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the support provided to national authorities in hotspot areas in relation to identification and registration of migrants, return-related activities and Union internal security; welcomes the signature of an operational cooperation agreement with Europol to deter cross- border crime and migrant smuggling; calls for further and more effective cooperation with Europol and other agencies in the area of justice and home affairs.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Regrets that the Agency continues to operate on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with its host Member State Poland; calls on both parties to conclude a comprehensive headquarters agreement as soon as possible to enhance transparency regarding the conditions under which the Agency and its staff operate;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Believes that there is insufficient assurance of the legality of grant transactions in the area of joint land/sea/air operations and in joint return operations.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Notes the high level of carry-overs for committed appropriations for administrative (Title II, 38 %) and operational expenditure (
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 – point 1 (new) (1) Regrets that not all members of the Management Board published their statements of commitment to the Agency; calls the Management Board members from Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden and the Commission to complete and publish their statements of commitment to the Agency; regrets the lack of separate and full declarations of interest by all Management Board members; regrets that the Executive Director did not publish his declaration of interests; urges the Executive Director to publish his declarations of interest and to ensure its independent verification for preventing and managing conflicts of interest; reiterates that transparency is key to the public trust; calls upon the Agency to establish clear rules regarding the protection of whistle-blowers and "revolving doors";
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Recalls that Frontex should provide its Fundamental Rights Officer with adequate resources and staff for setting up the complaint mechanism and for further developing and implementing the Agency's strategy to monitor and ensure the protection of fundamental rights;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets that the Agency reimbursed depreciation charges for a vessel that had exceeded its useful life; notes that the Agency recovered only the payments from 2015; notes the Agency’s statement that this cost recovery was made in line with the principle of proportionality; highlights the risk of double funding for the reimbursement of vessels and fuel consumption under “Commission ISF Borders” and “Frontex joint operations”; notes that rules for reimbursing costs are complex and calculated differently for every Member State;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets that the Agency reimbursed depreciation charges for a vessel that had exceeded its useful life; notes that the Agency recovered only the payments from 2015; notes the Agency’s statement that this cost recovery was made in line with the principle of proportionality; highlights the risk of double funding for the reimbursement of vessels and fuel consumption under “Commission ISF Borders” and “Frontex joint operations”; notes that rules for reimbursing costs are complex and calculated differently for every Member State; encourages the Agency to
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Notes with concern the high number of ongoing corrective measures in answer to the Court of Auditors' comments in 2012, 2013 and 2014 related to recruitment procedures, headquarters agreement, expenditures claimed by cooperating countries and contributions from Schengen associated countries; calls on the Agency to complete as many corrective actions as possible during the year 2017;
source: 597.594
2017/03/07
CONT
13 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the executive director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 a (new) 19 a. Welcomes the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015; welcomes the increase of the Agency's search and rescue capacity following the tragic events of spring 2015; believes, nevertheless, that a coherent European response to search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean must be independent from border management and control missions and must be designed as a stand-alone mission;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 a (new) 19 a. Calls for a greater exchange of information between Frontex, Union justice and home affairs agencies and the Member States, in full respect of data protection rules and, in particular, the principle of purpose limitation, in order to improve the effectiveness of Frontex grant-funded joint operations; regrets that the actual impact of joint operations is difficult to assess;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 b (new) 19 b. Notes that, according to the Court's report, the majority of Frontex operational programmes lack quantitative objectives and specific target values for the joint operations; notes with concern that this, together with insufficient documentation from cooperating countries, might hamper the ex post evaluation of the effectiveness of joint operations in the long term; invites Frontex to improve its strategic programme planning, to set relevant strategic objectives for its grant activities and to establish an effective result- oriented monitoring and reporting system with relevant and measurable key performance indicators;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 22. Notes with concern a significant gender imbalance
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 2 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union for the financial year
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 3 a (new) - having regard to Special report No 12/2016 of the Court of Auditors, 'Agencies’ use of grants...',
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Acknowledges the Agency's ongoing work on transparency; notes the need for progress and the establishment of the evaluation committees;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Notes that, according to the Court's report, Frontex did not sufficiently address the potential for conflicts of interest when setting up negotiation teams managing the negotiations of joint operation grants; notes with concern that the negotiation teams have the power to accept or renegotiate the resources proposed by the participating states, while neither the decision on team composition nor on the appointment and resources requested is taken by the Director or by the management board; notes with concern that such a procedure can result in granting finances for joint operations that do not fully safeguard the principles of transparency and equal treatment; further notes that there is no formal requirement for staff to declare an absence of conflicts of interest before participating in bilateral negotiation teams; calls on the Agency to introduce measures and an appropriate conflict of interest policy that will ensure the transparency of the procedure and the absence of conflicts of interest on the part of the negotiators;
source: 600.899
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