Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | CONT | STAES Bart (Verts/ALE) | SARVAMAA Petri (EPP), LIBERADZKI Bogusław (S&D), FITTO Raffaele (ECR), ALI Nedzhmi (ALDE), DE JONG Dennis (GUE/NGL), VALLI Marco (EFD), KAPPEL Barbara (ENF) |
Opinion | CULT | ZDROJEWSKI Bogdan Andrzej (EPP) |
Activites
-
2018/04/18
Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament
-
T8-0136/2018
summary
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) in regard to the implementation of the Centre’s budget for the 2016 financial year and to approve the closure of the accounts for the financial year in question. Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Centre’s annual accounts for the financial year 2016 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 560 votes to 127 with 8 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Centre’s financial statements: the final budget of the Centre for the financial year 2016 was EUR 50 576 283, representing an increase of 2 % compared to 2015. Follow-up of the 2015 discharge: Members strongly regretted that the Centre does not yet have a business continuity plan in place and thus is not complying with Internal Control Standard. The Centre is urged to inform the discharge authority about further action; Budget and financial management: monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 89.37 %, representing an increase of 1.21 % compared to the previous year. Members noted that cash and short term deposits held by the Centre decreased to EUR 34.2 million (compared to EUR 38.3 million at the end of 2015) and reserves decreased to EUR 31.1 million compared to EUR 34 million end of 2015). This decrease results from a budgetary approach which intends to reduce the accumulated surplus from previous years. Members acknowledged that, according to the Centre, it envisages that the decrease of the budgetary surpluses will be further accelerated in 2017 as a result of the implementation of the new pricing structure that will decrease the average price for translation paid by the Centre’s clients. Commitments and carry-overs: the Centre slightly reduced the overall rate of committed appropriations carried over to the following year from 9.63% in 2015 to 7.56% in 2016, representing a 2.07% decrease. Performance: Members noted the review of the client satisfaction system in order to develop a more effective process for engaging with clients. They also noted with satisfaction that the Centre adopted a new translation quality assurance action plan for 2015-2016. A 98.2 % achievement implementation rate was noted. The focus was placed on the implementation of a new corpus management tool (MultiTrans) and the automation of the information flow on related translation requests via the new workflow tool, eCdT. Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carry-overs, staff policy, internal audits, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and performances of the Centre. In particular, they recommended that the gender imbalance in favour of women who, in 2016, represented 61.64 % of the workforce should be addressed and redressed as soon as possible. They also noted the fact that the Centre has so far complied with the target of a 5% staff reduction (plus 5% as a “cruising speed” agency) from 2014 to 2018. They insisted that the Centre must have the resources required to deliver a first-class translation and language service and advised against future cuts to the Centre’s budget or establishment plan. With regard to preventing conflicts of interest, Members emphasised the need to establish an independent body with sufficient budgetary resources to support whistleblowers wishing to disclose information on possible irregularities negatively impacting on the Union’s financial interests, while ensuring their confidentiality is protected. Lastly, Parliament reiterated its unwavering commitment to multilingualism in the Union as a key platform for engaging with citizens and, as such, as an essential condition for the success of the Union’s democratic system.
-
2018/03/26
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
-
A8-0106/2018
summary
The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) for the financial year 2016. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Centre discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2016. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2016 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the Centre’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: Centre’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the Centre for the financial year 2016 was EUR 50 576 283, representing an increase of 2 % compared to 2015. Follow-up of the 2015 discharge: Members strongly regretted that the Centre does not yet have a business continuity plan in place and thus is not complying with Internal Control Standard. The Centre is urged to inform the discharge authority about further action; Budget and financial management: monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 89.37 %, representing an increase of 1.21 % compared to the previous year. Members noted that cash and short term deposits held by the Centre decreased to EUR 34.2 million (compared to EUR 38.3 million at the end of 2015) and reserves decreased to EUR 31.1 million compared to EUR 34 million end of 2015). This decrease results from a budgetary approach which intends to reduce the accumulated surplus from previous years. Members acknowledged that, according to the Centre, it envisages that the decrease of the budgetary surpluses will be further accelerated in 2017 as a result of the implementation of the new pricing structure that will decrease the average price for translation paid by the Centre’s clients. Commitments and carry-overs: Members noted that the Centre slightly reduced the overall rate of committed appropriations carried over to the following year from 9.63% in 2015 to 7.56% in 2016, representing a 2.07% decrease. Performance: Members noted the review of the client satisfaction system in order to develop a more effective process for engaging with clients. They also noted with satisfaction that the Centre adopted a new translation quality assurance action plan for 2015-2016. A 98.2 % achievement implementation rate was noted. The focus was placed on the implementation of a new corpus management tool (MultiTrans) and the automation of the information flow on related translation requests via the new workflow tool, eCdT. Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carry-overs, staff policy, internal audits, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and performances of the Centre. They noted the fact that the Centre has so far complied with the target of a 5% staff reduction (plus 5% as a “cruising speed” agency) from 2014 to 2018. They insisted that the Centre must have the resources required to deliver a first-class translation and language service and advised against future cuts to the Centre’s budget or establishment plan.
-
A8-0106/2018
summary
-
2018/03/20
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
-
2017/09/13
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
-
2017/06/19
Non-legislative basic document published
-
COM(2017)0365
summary
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT). 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. This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 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 cashflows of the EU institutions and bodies, including the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT), 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 Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT). Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union: the Centre, which is located in Luxembourg (LU) was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 and its role is to provide any European Union Institutions and Bodies, which call upon its services with the translation services necessary for their activities. As regards Centre’s accounts, these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2016: Commitment appropriations: available: EUR 51 million; made: EUR 45 million. Payment appropriations: available: EUR 55 million; made: EUR 46 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the Translation Centre.
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, OETTINGER Günther
-
COM(2017)0365
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2017)0365
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0106/2018
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0136/2018
Amendments | Dossier |
18 |
2017/2153(DEC)
2017/12/11
CULT
5 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to multilingualism in the European Union as a key platform for engaging with citizens and, as such, as an essential condition for the success of the EU’s democratic system;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to multilingualism in the European Union as a key platform for engaging with citizens and, as such, as an essential condition for the success of the EU’s democratic system; welcomes the role that the Translation Centre plays in facilitating the work of the EU’s agencies and bodies by delivering high-quality translation and language services in many different areas;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Welcomes the Centre's cooperation with the European Union's other translation services;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Expresses its satisfaction that new agreements were signed between the Centre and three entities in 2016, bringing the Centre’s total number of clients to 64; calls on EU agencies and bodies to avoid the duplication of translation services wherever possible by making greater use of the Centre's services;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Notes that the Centre has so far complied with the target of a 5% staff reduction (plus 5% as a “cruising speed” agency) from 2014 to 2018; insists that the Centre must have the resources required to deliver a first-class translation and language service; advises against future cuts to the Centre’s budget or establishment plan, given that a vast majority of translations is already outsourced and only controlled and that, while digital tools are increasingly used in the process of translation, the skills of the translators remain at the heart of this activity;
source: 615.398
2018/03/02
CONT
13 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants 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
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14.
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Takes note of the Agency’s grounds for refusal to access documents;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Subheading 6 Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Strongly regrets however that the Centre does not use impact indicators, outcome indicators, or input indicators for its programming documents; notes that the Centre does not perform systematic ex ante assessments for planning and controls, and furthermore calls on the Centre to use systematic ex-post evaluations to measure its performance;
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union for the financial year
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Notes out that carry-overs may often be partly or fully justified by the multiannual nature of the agencies’ operational programmes, do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation and are not always at odds with the budgetary principle of annularity, in particular if they are planned in advance by the Agency and communicated to the Court; points out, however, that the high share of cancelled carry-overs (10 %) could be considered a sign of inaccurate budget planning;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Observes that, according to the establishment plan, 195 posts (out of 197 posts authorised under the Union budget) were occupied in 2016, the same figure as it was in 2015; notes with concern that, based on the number of posts occupied on 31 December 2016, the gender imbalance was 61,64 % female to 38,36 % male in 2016, a ratio imbalance of almost two to one; recommends that this imbalance should be addressed and redressed as soon as possible;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Stresses that the work-life balance should be part of the staff policy of the Centre; stresses that the budget spent on well-being activities amounts to EUR 13 754; observes that the average number of sick leave days taken per staff was a worrying 13,04 days in 2016, more than two weeks per individual; recommends that the underlying reasons for this level of sick days should be examined, particularly with workplace stress as a possible cause in mind;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Stresses that the work-life balance should be part of the staff policy of the Centre;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Notes with concern that the Centre opted to publish the declarations of interest without curricula vitae due to management problems associated pertaining to the size of its management board (approximately 130 members and alternate members); notes that the director’s declaration of interests and curricula vitae are published on the Centre’s website;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Expresses the need to establish an independent disclosure, advice and referral body with sufficient budgetary resources, in order to help whistle-blowers use the right channels to disclose their information on possible irregularities affecting the financial interests of the Union, while protecting their confidentiality and offering needed support and advice;
source: 618.234
|
History
(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)
activities |
|
commission |
|
committees/0 |
|
committees/0 |
|
committees/1 |
|
committees/1 |
|
docs |
|
events |
|
links |
|
other |
|
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee |
Old
CONT/8/10786New
|
procedure/final |
|
procedure/stage_reached |
Old
Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official JournalNew
Procedure completed |
procedure/subject |
Old
New
|
activities/1/committees/0/shadows/2 |
|
activities/2 |
|
activities/3 |
|
activities/4 |
|
committees/0/shadows/2 |
|
procedure/stage_reached |
Old
Awaiting committee decisionNew
Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal |
activities/0/docs/0/text |
|
activities/1/committees/0/shadows/5 |
|
committees/0/shadows/5 |
|
activities/0/commission/0 |
|
other/0 |
|
activities/1/committees/1/date |
2017-09-04T00:00:00
|
activities/1/committees/1/rapporteur |
|
committees/1/date |
2017-09-04T00:00:00
|
committees/1/rapporteur |
|
activities/1 |
|
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee |
CONT/8/10786
|
procedure/stage_reached |
Old
Preparatory phase in ParliamentNew
Awaiting committee decision |
committees/0/date |
2017-09-14T00:00:00
|
committees/0/rapporteur |
|
committees/0/shadows |
|
activities |
|
committees |
|
links |
|
other |
|
procedure |
|