Activites

• 2017/04/27 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T8-0194/2017 summary

    The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015. Based on the statement of assurance provided by the Court of Auditors concerning the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, it decided to approve the closure of the accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the same financial year. Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2015 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 499 votes to 105 with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the decision on discharge. General: 2015 was the first year of real transition from SESAR 1 (funded from FP 7 and TEN-T) to SESAR 2 (funded from Horizon 2020). Members noted research and innovation in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM) continued beyond the initial 2007-2013 financial framework into the 2014-2020 financial framework under Horizon 2020. They noted the transition to the SESAR 2 Programme and the launch and execution of exploratory research, industrial research and innovation projects within the framework of SESAR 2020. Budget and financial management: the final budget for SESAR1 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 30 229 774 and payment appropriations of EUR 126 733 842. The final budget for SESAR 2020 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 51 470 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 10 300 000. Members noted that: the utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 82.3 %, respectively. The payment appropriations rate of 82.3 % was due to delay of two months for the first Horizon 2020. Related unused 2015 payment appropriations were fully reintroduced into the 2016 budget; of the total operational commitments made in 2015, 29 % were individual commitments based on completed award procedures for grants and contracts and that the remaining 71 % were global commitments for which the award procedure was not completed. Other observations: the resolution also contained a series of observations on procurement and recruitment procedures, the adoption of an anti-fraud strategy and prevention and management of conflicts of interests, calls for proposal, internal audits and control systems. In July 2015, the Commission issued guidelines to the Joint Undertakings related to rules on conflicts of interest. Members urged the Joint Undertaking to report to the discharge authority on the issue. Parliament noted that the Administrative Board adopted in December 2015 the ATM Master Plan (2015 Edition) covering both SESAR development and deployment. It welcomed the development of a SESAR vision 2035+. Members welcomed the successful delivery of the work mandated by the Commission concerning the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) definition phase. Lastly, they highlighted the vital role of the Joint Undertaking in coordinating and implementing research into the SESAR project.

• 2017/04/26 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2017/03/28 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A8-0096/2017 summary

    The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Miroslav POCHE (S&D, CZ) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the joint undertaking’s Executive Director discharge in respect of the implementation of the joint undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015. 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, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertaking’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted. They may be summarised as follows: Budget and financial management: 2015 was the first year of real transition from SESAR 1 (funded from FP 7 and TEN-T) to SESAR 2 (funded from Horizon 2020). The final budget for SESAR1 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 30 229 774 and payment appropriations of EUR 126 733 842. The final budget for SESAR 2020 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 51 470 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 10 300 000. The utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 82.3 %, respectively. The payment appropriations rate of 82.3 % was due to delay of two months for the first Horizon 2020. Related unused 2015 payment appropriations were fully reintroduced into the 2016 budget. Other observations: the report also contained a series of observations on procurement and recruitment procedures, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, calls for proposal, internal audits and control systems. In July 2015, the Commission issued guidelines to the Joint Undertakings related to rules on conflicts of interest, including a common template for the declaration of absence of a conflict of interest. Members urged the Joint Undertaking to reflect those guidelines in its procedures and to report to the discharge authority on the completion of the aforementioned declarations. The report noted that the Administrative Board adopted in December 2015 the ATM Master Plan (2015 Edition) covering both SESAR development and deployment. It welcomed the development of a SESAR vision 2035+. Members welcomed the successful delivery of the work mandated by the Commission concerning the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) definition phase. Lastly, they highlighted the vital role of the Joint Undertaking in coordinating and implementing research into the SESAR project.

• 2017/03/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2016/10/04 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2016/07/11 Non-legislative basic document published
  • 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 SESAR Joint Undertaking to develop the new generation European air traffic management. 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 SESAR JU, 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 the SESAR JU. The SESAR Joint Undertaking: the SESAR JU, located in Brussels (BE), was set up in 2007 by Regulation (EC) 219/2007 for a period extending to 31 December 2017. The aim of this Joint Undertaking is to ensure the modernisation of the European air traffic management system and the rapid implementation of the European air traffic management Master Plan by coordinating and concentrating all relevant research and development efforts in the EU. As regards SESAR’s accounts, these are presented in detail in the document published by the Joint Undertaking (please refer to the final accounts of the SESAR JU).

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2016)0475
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0096/2017
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0194/2017

Amendments

Dossier

18

2016/2195(DEC) 2017/02/06 TRAN 10 amendments... Amendment 1 # Pavel TELIČKA, Dominique RIQUET, Jozo RADOŠ, Matthijs van MILTENBURG Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Points out that to ensure the proper deployment of SESAR, and in the interest of achieving global interoperability, a specific and ambitious budget, other than the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) budget, should be allocated for its implementation; Amendment 10 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 12 12. Highlights the vitalimportant role of the Undertaking in coordinating and implementing research into the SESAR project, which is a pillar projec so as to enaure fluid management of the Single European Ssky; Amendment 2 # Jill SEYMOUR Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Deeply regrets that, as the renewed Eurocontrol/SESAR Joint Undertaking agreement was not signed in 2015, it has not been possible to show a budget for in- kind contribution, a detailed multi-annual budget or report on its implementation other than the EUR 585 million contributions of the Union as fixed in the 2014 amendment of the Undertaking Regulation; insists that a reason why the renewed Eurocontrol/SESAR Joint Undertaking agreement was not signed to be presented to Parliament immediately; Amendment 3 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Welcomes the factNotes that the Undertaking has set up in 2015 its own anti-fraud strategy in line with the methodology provided by the European Commission as well as an action plan taking into account the results of the anti- fraud risk assessment performed in 2015; regrets that that Court of Auditors does not give details about the type and effectiveness of the procedures put in place; Amendment 4 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Notes that the Administrative Board has adopted in December 2015 the ATM Master Plan (2015 Edition) covering both SESAR development and deployment; welcomes the development of a SESAR vision 2035+,vision setting aspirational performance ambitions and preliminary business views for the long term, but remains concerned at the social consequences of decisions taken at European level that affect occupational categories within air navigation, in particular traffic controllers; laments the fact that the report on the socioeconomic impact of SESAR, called for by Parliament in 2015 and 2016, is still only at the draft stage; calls on the Joint Undertaking to submit that report to the discharge authority; Amendment 5 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. WelcomNotes the successful delivery of the work mandated by the European Commission concerning the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Definition phase; underlines the importance of a preliminary agreement with the wider Aaviation industry and national oversight authorities on the safe integration of drones into civilian air space; notes also that a “Drones outlook study”, intended to form the basis for the proper coverage of RPAS activities in the ATM Master Plan was kicked off in December 2015; Amendment 6 # Pavel TELIČKA, Dominique RIQUET, Jozo RADOŠ, Matthijs van MILTENBURG Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Welcomes the successful delivery of the work mandated by the European Commission concerning the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Definition phase; underlines the importance of a preliminary agreement with the wider Aviation industry on prerequisites for the safe integration of drones into civilian air space; notes also that a “"Drones outlook study”", intended to form the basis for the proper coverage of RPAS activities in the ATM Master Plan was kicked off in December 2015; Amendment 7 # Karima DELLI Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Welcomes the fact that the Undertaking has adopted in 2015 a multi- faceted approach to effectively review, manage and mitigate risks and that it has verification mechanisms in place to enable proper prevention and management of conflict of interest and expects that the European Parliament, the Council and the public will be annually informed on the results and follow-up of these measures; Amendment 8 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Welcomes the factNotes that the Undertaking has adopted in 2015 a multi- faceted approach to effectively review, manage and mitigate risks and that it has verification mechanisms in place to enable proper prevention and management of conflict of interest; regrets, however, that the Court of Auditors remains evasive as to the measures taken, and changes expected, in that area; Amendment 9 # Claudia SCHMIDT Draft opinion Paragraph 11 11. Notes the results of the 2015 Human Resources bench marking exercise: 54% operational posts, 474% administrative and 2% of neutral posts; source: 599.583 2017/03/06 CONT 8 amendments... Amendment 1 # Proposal for a decision 1 Citation 9 a (new) - having regard to the Court of Auditor's Special Report No 15/2012 "Management of conflict of interest in selected EU Agencies"; Amendment 2 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Raffaele FITTO, Notis MARIAS Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015; Amendment 3 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Raffaele FITTO, Notis MARIAS Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015; Amendment 4 # Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes that the lower-than-expected implementation rate for payment appropriations was due to the fact that the launch of the first Horizon 2020 calls was delayed and the related grant agreements could only be signed in early 2016; Amendment 5 # Ryszard CZARNECKI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Regrets that despite the Joint Undertaking 's policy on conflicts of interests, there are no declarations of absence of a conflict of interest on the Joint Undertaking's website; reminds that transparency is a core issue for the credibility of the Joint Undertaking's operations and for the public trust in the integrity of its staff and the use of financial and human resources for its operations; calls upon the Joint Undertaking to make immediately available for the public the declarations of absence of a conflict of interest of its executive and administrative staff until June 2017; asks the Joint Undertaking to present by June 2017 the list of the conflicts of interests identified (if any) and how they were handled and finalized; Amendment 6 # Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Notes from the Court’s report that in July 2015, that the Commission issued guidelines to the Joint Undertakings related to rules on conflicts of interest, including a common template for the declaration of absence of a conflict of interest; invites the Joint Undertaking to reflect those guidelines in its procedures; urges, however, the Joint Undertaking to enact the submission of declaration of absence of a conflict of interest; urges the Joint Undertaking to entrust an independent third party with the task of evaluating declarations of the absence of conflicts of interest because the self-evaluation of such an absence in itself is a conflict of interest; asks the Joint Undertaking to report by June 2017 those changes and to indicate who is checking the situations of conflicts of interest; reiterates that transparency is key to the public trust; Amendment 7 # Petri SARVAMAA, Brian HAYES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Notes from the Court’s report that in July 2015, that the Commission issued guidelines to the Joint Undertakings related to rules on conflicts of interest, including a common template for the declaration of absence of a conflict of interest; inviturges the Joint Undertaking to reflect those guidelines in its procedures and to report to the European Parliament on the completion of the aforementioned declarations; Amendment 8 # Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. deplores the fact that the Joint Undertaking has not established rules regarding the protection of whistle- blowers and "revolving doors" and urges the Joint Undertaking to put in place such rules as a matter of urgency; asks the Joint Undertaking to provide by June 2017 details on the whistle-blower cases in 2015 (if any) and how they were handled and finalized; reiterates only integrity and transparency uphold the public trust; urges the Joint Undertaking to put in place measures to prevent "revolving doors" establishing dissuasive sanctions such us the reduction of pensions or prohibition to work at least three years in similar bodies; source: 599.876

History

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