Awaiting committee decision
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Lead | CONT | STAES Bart (Verts/ALE) | SARVAMAA Petri (EPP), LIBERADZKI Bogusław (S&D), 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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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 Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA). 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 Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (EU-LISA), 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 eu-LISA. eu-LISA: the Agency, based in Tallinn (EE) was set up under Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its main aim is to ensure the operational management of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), Eurodac and Visa Information Systems (VIS). As regards the eu-LISA’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 85 million; made: EUR 80 million. Payment appropriations: available: EUR 104 million; made: EUR 94 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the eu-LISA Agency.
- 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
Amendments | Dossier |
50 |
2017/2178(DEC)
2018/01/19
LIBE
30 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 (new) -1. Welcomes the Court of Auditors' conclusions that the annual accounts of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (“the Agency”) present fairly its financial position on 31 December 2016 and that its transactions are legal and regular;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets that in 2016 the Agency received and accepted supplies amounting to EUR 2.8 million without having budget and contracts in place for it; requests the Agency to
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Notes the high level of carry-overs of committed appropriations for Title II at EUR 5 million, i.e. 63%; acknowledges that it is mainly due to arrangements regarding building works for the Agency headquarters; recommends to the Agency to respect the budgetary principle of annuality;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Regrets that according to the Agency’s Internal Audit Capability report on IT project management the Agency's project management process is in urgent need of revision and improvement in terms of appropriate ownership, staffing, tools, support and supervision;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Regrets the conclusions of the Court of Auditors that the Agency did not always check for the most economical solution in 2016, for example by purchasing a new software license for an amount of EUR 4,6 million under a framework contract without checking that the framework contractor, who acted as an intermediary between the Agency and potential software suppliers, had found the best price;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the internal whistleblowing procedure has not yet been implemented
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the internal whistleblowing procedure has not yet been implemented
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that the internal whistleblowing procedure has not been implemented yet; notes, however, that the Agency was waiting for guidance or input from the Commission before it could finalise its rules; calls on the Agency for an immediate and effective implementation of the internal whistleblowing procedure;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes with concern that there is no specific legal requirement in the Regulation (EU) 1077/2011, establishing the Agency
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes with concern that there is no specific legal requirement in the Regulation (EU) 1077/2011, establishing the Agency
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Stresses with concern that the first annual monitoring report on the implementation of the Agency’s anti-fraud strategy (April 2016) showed a
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Regrets that no particular steps have been taken regarding the gender balance in the composition of the Agency’s
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Regrets that no particular steps have been taken regarding the gender balance in the composition of the Agency’s management board; urges the Agency to take measures to regulate this situation .
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Welcomes the audit report of the Commission's Internal Audit Service (IAS) that did not identify major issues related to the operation, maintenance security and continuity of SIS II, VIS and Eurodac IT systems; welcomes as well conclusions that the Agency operates and fulfills its tasks effectively according to the external evaluation conducted on behalf of the Commission, notes that there is still room for improvement and acknowledges the commitment of the Agency to follow up on this important audit;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Welcomes the Agency’s staff retention policy, implemented by the Management Board, which foresees the possibility that Temporary Agents can receive indefinite contracts at the end of their first contractual term, allowing the Agency to retain key in-house knowledge and expertise.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Is concerned that the public procurement procedure launched for the further development and maintenance of the VIS system (EUR 192 million six year contract) without precisely defining the services requested required tenderers to have access to the Biometric Matching Service technology developed by one single company with no obligations to provide commercial access to tenderers; calls on the Agency to avoid being locked- in to any vendors
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Regrets the conclusions by the Internal Audit Service of the European Commission that weaknesses still exist in the Agency's process for managing human resources, in particular elements that are not fully compliant with the procedural aspects of the Implementing Rules and the Agency’s own internal guidelines; calls on the Agency to address the two ‘Very Important’and the two ‘Important’ findings identified by the audit, related to performance appraisal and promotion procedures, compliance with procedures, accurate maintenance of personnel files, and HR management and planning;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Notes that at EUR 5 million, equivalent to 63 % of committed appropriations, appropriations carried over under Title II (administrative expenditure) in 2016 are high and that they mainly concern building maintenance and consultancy services to be delivered in 2017; agrees with the Court of Auditors that such high level of carry overs is in contradiction with the budgetary principle of annuality; calls on the Agency to improve the management of its administrative expenditure;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Welcomes the Court of Auditors' conclusions that the annual accounts of the European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (“the Agency”) present fairly its financial position on 31 December 2016 and that its transactions are legal and regular;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Welcomes the fact that the Agency ensured stable and continuous operations of the systems entrusted to it and provided broad support to the Commission in development of number of key legal proposals (EES,ETIAS, ECRIS TCN, EURODAC Recast and SIS II recast);
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Notes that the Agency amended the construction contract for its premises in Strasbourg (EUR 21.2 million) to proceed with advance payments in order to increase its budget consumption; notes that such a change was linked to the financial cycle imposed by the Financial Regulation for non-differentiated appropriations; points out that by November 2016, the Agency had paid the
source: 616.692
2018/03/02
CONT
20 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Agency for the Οperational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Notes that the Court identified procurements where the Agency did not check for the most economical solution by not checking that the framework contractor had found the best price; calls on the Agency to take the principle of economy and cost-effectiveness seriously and carry out all relevant measures in order to avoid this situation happening again; notes from the Agency's reply that Went Computing Consultancy Group ('WCC') is the owner of intellectual property rights of the Elise search engine, and thus any other vendor would be in fact a sub-contractor of WCC, therefore not in position to offer better value for money;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Notes with concern that the Court identified procurements where the Agency did not check for the most economical solution by not checking that the framework contractor had found the best price; calls on the Agency to take the principle of economy and cost- effectiveness seriously and carry out all relevant measures in order to avoid this situation happening again;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Notes that in May 2016 the Agency signed a framework contract for EUR 194 000 000 with a consortium for the further development and maintenance of the Visa Information System and of the Biometrics Matching System for a maximum period of six years; notes that the contract was awarded through a public procurement procedure; notes also that one main requirement for tenderers to be accepted was having commercial access to the BMS technology; expresses its concern, as to a potential risk for the competiveness of the procedure; notes from the Agency´s reply that the acquisition of permanent licences is linked to their subsequent maintenance and resulted in significant savings in the long term, estimated at EUR 402 243,22 over a four year period; notes that Article I.19.1 of the framework contract special conditions foresees the 'most favoured customer' clause, further protecting the financial interest of the Agency when sourcing hardware or software from the contractor;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Observes with concern that the growing operational risk facing the Agency’s operations is related to understaffing of the Agency so that while tasks allocated to it continuously increase, the staffing levels have been reduced as a result of the requirement to reduce staff by 5%; observes that there are a number of functions in the Agency which are either understaffed or have no embedded business continuity (only one staff member performs the tasks and holds the know-how on operations); notes with concern that reducing staff and outsourcing work increase the risks for 'revolving doors' and information leaks; notes with satisfaction that the Agency has published the general principles regarding obligations after leaving service in its code of ethical behaviour and conduct;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Observes
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12.
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Observes
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Notes that the Management Committee of the Agency has approved its Guidelines on Whistleblowing on 23 May 2016 and that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) gave a positive opinion on the text; notes, however, that the Directorate-General for Human Resources of the Commission was not in favour of it and informed the Agency that the Commission is working on new guidelines; notes with satisfaction that in the meantime the Agency has published the general principles relevant for whistleblowing in its code of conduct published on its website; reiterates that transparency is a key issue for creating and maintaining a trusting relationship between the citizens, the Union and its institutions;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Notes that all members of the management board are obliged to issue an annual public statement of interest in writing, which is published on the Agency’s website; notes that the CV of the executive director and the chairperson of the management board are also published and kept up to date; notes that the Agency is preparing new rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 21. Notes that in 2016 the Agency received eleven requests for access to documents to which the Agency granted a full access in nine cases, while for two requests the access was refused on grounds of protecting commercial interests and protecting the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits; expects the Agency, when deciding on limiting the access to documents to protect commercial interests, also to consider with
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Agency for the Οperational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom,
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 5 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Οperational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Notes with concern the number of outstanding issues and ongoing corrective measures in response to the Court’s comments in 2013 and 2015 related to a framework contract for the procurement of services and to the relation between the Agency and Schengen associated countries; urges the Agency to take corrective actions without further delay;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Notes that the Agency signed a construction contract for its premises in Strasbourg with a value of EUR 21 500 000 in June 2015; notes moreover that stage payments were agreed as the main payment method; notes with concern that the Agency amended the contract in July 2015 to make advance payments the default method to increase budget consumption; is gravely concerned that by November 2016 the Agency had paid the full contract amount although less than half of the work had been completed; notes from the Agency’s reply that the pre- financing payments were associated with a matching financial guarantee and a 5% performance guarantee; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on the implementation of this contract;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes from the Agency's reply that carry-overs for Title I and II appropriations are constantly revised and planned with the objective of reducing them over time to the strict and necessary minimum, and that of the EUR 19,5 million non-differentiated appropriations carried over to 2016, only EUR 474 000 were cancelled, representing 2,42 %;
source: 618.263
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