Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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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 | LIBE | CHRYSOGONOS Kostas (GUE/NGL) |
Activites
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2018/04/18
Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament
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T8-0138/2018
summary
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) in regard to the implementation of the agency’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 agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2016 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 554 votes to 126 with 9 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: College’s financial statements: the final budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2016 was EUR 10 291 700, representing an increase of 17.34 % compared to 2015 due to the grant agreement with the Commission on the EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership. The entire budget of the College derives from the Union budget. Budget and financial management: the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 95.95 %, representing an increase of 0.44 % compared to 2015. Following the signature of the grant agreement with the Commission in 2005 on EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership, a budget of EUR 2 490 504 was agreed, out of which a second instalment of EUR 1 243 891 became available for commitments and payments. 89 % of the available credits have been committed and 48 % of the available credits have been paid. It should be noted that a number of staff brought a legal claim against the College disputing the conditions in which the relocation was carried out and its financial impact on their income. An amicable settlement has been reached with some members of staff and the payments were made to this end in 2015 and 2016. Commitments and carry-overs: Members observed that a total of EUR 1 477 288 was carried over to 2017, amounting to 17 % of the overall 2016 budget. The level of carryovers of committed appropriations was high for expenditure for support activities at EUR 140 055, i.e. 30 % (compared to EUR 212 456, i.e. 49 %, in 2015). These carry-overs mainly refer to IT consulting and IT related goods and services ordered late in the year. Members noted that carry-overs are often justified and do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation. Staff policy: Members noted with satisfaction the gender balance achieved by the posts occupied in 2016, since the ratio is 50 % female to 50 % male. However, the gender balance ratio of 69 % to 31 % in the management board. They highlighted that, as a consequence of the College’s relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary, and due to the significantly lower correction coefficient applied to staff salaries in the new location, the number of resignations has increased. Although a number of mitigating actions have been implemented, the low grading of posts combined with low correction coefficient does not encourage foreigners (especially from West and Northern Europe) to move to Hungary, and that as a result, the geographical balance of staff is not ensured. In 2016, 30% of all College staff were Hungarian, which is a disproportionate number. Conflicts of interest: the declarations of interest of senior management and of the Management Board Members have been published on the College’s website. Members called on the College to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken to publish the declarations of interest on the conflicts of interest and the confidentiality of external remunerated experts. They noted with satisfaction that rules on fraud reporting and the protection of whistleblowers are embedded in the College’s anti-fraud strategy. Members also made a series of observations regarding transfers, procurement, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits and controls. On performance, Members noted with satisfaction that for the sixth year in a row the outreach of the College has increased, resulting in the College training 18 009 law enforcement professionals in 2016 compared to 12 992 in 2015, representing an increase of over 38 %. Members noted that the five-year external evaluation of the College (2011-2015) was completed by the external evaluator in January 2016. It was concluded that the College is efficient. However, there is a clear need for a significant reinforcement of the College with both human and financial resources and improve the online visibility of the College. Lastly, Members noted with concern that for the time being the College does not have sufficient information to allow a thorough preparation for carrying out future activities after Brexit. Brexit will limit the College’s access to United Kingdom law enforcement expertise and its ability to organise training with United Kingdom officials. These aspects might negatively impact the development of common practices, information exchange and ultimately cross-border cooperation on fighting and prevention of crime. Members recommended that measures be implemented to maintain - at the least - the current level of cooperation.
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2018/03/26
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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A8-0098/2018
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 European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (before 1 July 2016: European Police College) (CEPOL) for the financial year 2016. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training 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 College 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 College’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: College’s financial statements: the final budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2016 was EUR 10 291 700, representing an increase of 17.34 % compared to 2015 due to the grant agreement with the Commission on the EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership. The entire budget of the College derives from the Union budget. Budget and financial management: the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 95.95 %, representing an increase of 0.44 % compared to 2015. Following the signature of the grant agreement with the Commission in 2005 on EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership, a budget of EUR 2 490 504 was agreed, out of which a second instalment of EUR 1 243 891 became available for commitments and payments. 89 % of the available credits have been committed and 48 % of the available credits have been paid. It should be noted that a number of staff brought a legal claim against the College disputing the conditions in which the relocation was carried out and its financial impact on their income. An amicable settlement has been reached with some members of staff and the payments were made to this end in 2015 and 2016. Commitments and carry-overs: Members observed that a total of EUR 1 477 288 was carried over to 2017, amounting to 17 % of the overall 2016 budget. The level of carryovers of committed appropriations was high for expenditure for support activities at EUR 140 055, i.e. 30 % (compared to EUR 212 456, i.e. 49 %, in 2015). These carry-overs mainly refer to IT consulting and IT related goods and services ordered late in the year. Members noted that carry-overs are often justified and do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation. Staff policy: Members noted with satisfaction the gender balance achieved by the posts occupied in 2016, since the ratio is 50 % female to 50 % male. However, the gender balance ratio of 69 % to 31 % in the management board. The report highlighted that, as a consequence of the College’s relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary, and due to the significantly lower correction coefficient applied to staff salaries in the new location, the number of resignations has increased. Although a number of mitigating actions have been implemented, the low grading of posts combined with low correction coefficient does not encourage foreigners (especially from West and Northern Europe) to move to Hungary, and that as a result, the geographical balance of staff is not ensured. In 2016, 30% of all College staff were Hungarian, which is a disproportionate number. Members also made a series of observations regarding transfers, procurement, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits and controls. On performance, Members stated that in 2016 the College’s training portfolio encompassed 174 training activities, of which 87 residential activities and 87 webinars, 492 exchanges in the frame of the European Police Exchange Programme, 27 online modules, one online course. They noted with satisfaction that for the sixth year in a row the outreach of the College has increased, resulting in the College training 18 009 law enforcement professionals in 2016 compared to 12 992 in 2015, representing an increase of over 38 %. Members noted that the five-year external evaluation of the College (2011-2015) was completed by the external evaluator in January 2016. It was concluded that the College is efficient. However, there is a clear need for a significant reinforcement of the College with both human and financial resources. Lastly, Members noted with concern that for the time being the College does not have sufficient information to allow a thorough preparation for carrying out future activities after Brexit. Brexit will limit the College’s access to United Kingdom law enforcement expertise and its ability to organise training with United Kingdom officials. These aspects might negatively impact the development of common practices, information exchange and ultimately cross-border cooperation on fighting and prevention of crime. Members recommended that measures be implemented to maintain - at the least - the current level of cooperation.
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A8-0098/2018
summary
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2018/03/20
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
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2017/09/13
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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2017/06/26
Non-legislative basic document published
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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 European Police College (CEPOL). 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 cash flows of the EU institutions and bodies, including the European Police College (CEPOL), 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 CEPOL. CEPOL: CEPOL which is located in Budapest (HU) since October 2014 was established by Council Decision 2005/681/JHA. It supports, develops, implements and coordinates training for law enforcement officials, while putting particular emphasis on the protection of human rights in the context of law enforcement, in particular in the areas of prevention of and fight against serious crime affecting two or more Member States and terrorism. As regards CEPOL’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 10 million; made: EUR 9 million. Payment appropriations: available: EUR 11 million; made: EUR 9 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of CEPOL.
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, OETTINGER Günther
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COM(2017)0365
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2017)0365
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0098/2018
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0138/2018
Amendments | Dossier |
29 |
2017/2163(DEC)
2018/01/19
LIBE
14 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Notes that 2016 was the first full year of implementation of the ‘EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership project’;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Welcomes the total of 1.788 participants attended the Agency’s residential courses, webinars and exchanges in the area of fundamental rights reported in the Consolidated Annual Report 2016; encourages CEPOL to continue implementation of trainings in these areas;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Calls upon the College to adopt and implement without delay a clear and solid whistleblowing strategy and rules against "revolving doors" in line with the Union Staff Regulation;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Calls upon the College to implement without delay its aims to increase its online visibility and to further improve its website in order to make it even more relevant to its stakeholders and to better support CEPOL's work; recommends the College to better report effects of its activities, in particular on the security of the Union; recognizes the efforts of CEPOL in this direction;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 c (new) 7 c. Supports the intention of CEPOL to continue implementation of trainings and webinars to provide law enforcement officials with up-to-date information and best practice on identifying and investigating hate crimes and different forms of gender-based violence and to raise awareness about the challenges experienced by vulnerable social groups;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Points out that the budget and the staff of CEPOL increased by about 22% in 2016; notes in that context that carry-overs of committed appropriations were
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Notes the high staff turnover of CEPOL after its relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the outreach of CEPOL has significantly increased in 2016 with
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Agrees with
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 source: 616.699
2018/03/02
CONT
15 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that with regards to external remunerated experts, the College publishes on its website, as part of the annual list of contractors, the expert contracts awarded by the College; notes, however, that the declarations on conflicts of interest and confidentiality for the remunerated experts are not published on the website - this lapse needs to be rectified; acknowledges that the College will revisit its arrangements on the publication of such declarations; calls on the College to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Notes that the College does not publish minutes of management meetings;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 a (new) 21 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;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 23. Notes that in November and December 2016 the Internal Audit Service audited the College on ‘Training Needs Assessment, Planning and Budgeting’ with focus on the core business activities; notes, moreover, that the draft audit report of March 2017 concludes that while the audit did not result in the identification of any critical or very important issues, the Internal Audit Service considers that there is room for improvement in the utilisation of the Justice and Home Affairs Training Matrix to avoid overlap with training courses organised by other justice and home affairs agencies - this issue should be addressed as soon as possible;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 28. Notes with concern - given the fast-reducing time-line - from the College’s answers that for the time being the College does not have sufficient information to allow a thorough preparation for carrying out future activities after Brexit; notes that Brexit will limit the College’s access to the United Kingdom law enforcement expertise and ability to organise training with United Kingdom officials; notes that these aspects might negatively impact the development of common practices, information exchange and ultimately cross-
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 European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training for the financial year
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Acknowledges with approval that, at year-end, the College had paid 91 % of all its financial commitments on time, thereby exceeding the objective of 85 % of all payments being paid within the legally set timeframe; notes with satisfaction that no interest was charged by suppliers for late payments;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes with concern that a number of staff members brought a legal claim against the College disputing the conditions in which the relocation was carried out and its financial impact on their income; notes that an amicable settlement has been reached with some staff members and the payments were made to this end in 2015 and 2016; notes furthermore that some staff appealed the court judgement, which is expected in 2018; calls on the College to report to the Discharge Authority on the outcome of the appeal;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Observes that partly due to the lower correction coefficient applied in Hungary (69 % in 2016), the staff turnover is high, the geographical balance of staff is shifting and the College is employing more and more Hungarian staff members (approximately 30 % of all staff was from the host Member State in 2016); notes furthermore that it has an impact on staff cost, which led to the decision to transfer unused funds from Title 1 to Title 3 allowing the implementation of additional operational activities;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Notes with satisfaction the gender balance achieved by the posts occupied in 2016, since the ratio is 50 % female to 50 % male; notes, however, the gender balance ratio of 69 % to 31 % in the Management Board;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Observes that, as a consequence of the relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary, due to the significantly lower correction coefficient applied to staff salaries in the new location, the number of resignations has increased; notes that a number of mitigating actions have been implemented; notes, however, that the low grading of posts combined with low correction coefficient, does not encourage foreigners (especially from West and Northern Europe) to move to Hungary; therefore, the geographical balance is not always ensured; notes from the Court’s report that the high staff turnover may impact business continuity and the Agency’s ability to implement the activities foreseen in its work programme; expresses its concerns regarding the rule of law in Hungary and, in that regard, regarding the quality of the College in the long-term; emphasizes to take into account the efficiency when (re)locating agencies in Member States; stresses that the College, along with another judicial agency, should be located in The Netherlands;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Observes that, as a consequence of the relocation from the United Kingdom to Hungary, due to the significantly lower correction coefficient applied to staff salaries in the new location, the number of resignations has increased; notes that a number of mitigating actions have been implemented; notes, however, that the low grading of posts combined with low correction coefficient, does not encourage foreigners (especially from West and Northern Europe) to move to Hungary; therefore, the geographical balance is not always ensured; notes with concern from the Court’s report that the high staff turnover may impact business continuity and the Agency’s ability to implement the activities foreseen in its work programme and points out this problem needs to be addressed;
source: 618.236
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