2017/2178(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

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 #

Auke ZIJLSTRA, Nicolas BAY, Gilles LEBRETON, Lorenzo FONTANA, Janice ATKINSON, André ELISSEN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Not~~Deplores 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; points out that by November 2016 the Agency had paid the full contract amount although less than half of the work had been completed; requests the Agency to better assess the necessity of taking such financial risks as the use of financial guarantees does not cover all financial risks;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Regret~~Notes that, in 2016, the Agency received and accepted supplies amounting to EUR 2.8 million without having budget and contracts in place for it; understands that such a move was made to ensure the stability and continuity of the border management of external borders of the Schengen area; requests the Agency to better adhere to public procurement procedures;

Amendment 12 #

Auke ZIJLSTRA, Nicolas BAY, Gilles LEBRETON, Lorenzo FONTANA, Janice ATKINSON, André ELISSEN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Regrets~~Finds it unacceptable 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 better adhere to public procurement procedures;

Amendment 13 #

Maria GRAPINI

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 ~~better adhere to~~respect in full public procurement procedures;

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 ~~yet~~; calls on the ~~Agency for an~~European Commission to ensure the swift adoption of its guidelines on whistleblowing that will consequently be immediately and effective ~~implementation of the internal whistleblowing procedur~~ly adopted and implemented by EU Agencies, including the Agency; understands that, as an interim measure, the Agency has been pro-active by including general whistleblowing principles in its code of conduct, which is easily accessible on the Agency's website;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Regrets that the internal whistleblowing procedure has not yet been implemented ~~yet~~; calls on the ~~Agency for an immediate~~European Commission to ensure the swift adoption of its guidelines on whistleblowing that will consequently be immediately adopted and effectively implement~~ation of the internal whistleblowing procedur~~ed by EU Agencies, including the Agency; understands that, as an interim measure, the Agency has been pro-active by including general whistleblowing principles in its code of conduct, which is easily accessible on the Agency's website;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Regrets~~Welcomes the publication of whistleblowing rules; reiterates that transparency is a key issue for creating and maintaining a trusting relationship between the citizens, the Union and the Union institutions; regrets, however, that the internal whistleblowing procedure has not been implemented yet; and calls on the Agency for an immediate and effective implementation of the internal whistleblowing procedure;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Is concerned~~Notes that the public procurement procedure launched for the further development and maintenance of the VIS system (EUR 192 million six year contract) ~~withou~~does not precisely defin~~ing~~e the services requested and it 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~~underlines, however, that according to the Agency, t~~o avoid being locked- in to any~~he selected vendor~~s a~~ is this would be detrimental to its long term financial interests, damaging the cost-effectiveness of procurement procedures and limiting competition; urges the Agency to conclude agreements with multiple suppliers and to define the services required precisele owner of the intellectual property rights for the software necessary to operate the technology and thus any other vendor would not be in position to provide better value for money as they could only be sub-contractors; notes the long term estimated savings and the existence of the 'most favored customer' clause that further protects the financial interests of the Agency;

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;, on publication of the individual statements of commitment, including the declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board and of the Advisory Group; urges the Agency to adopt and effectively implement legal requirements and guidelines for a coherent policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as to develop a clear and transparent policy on these matters; regrets that the members of the Management Board and of the Advisory Group have published declarations of 'absence of conflict of interest' and not declarations of interest as it is not for the members to themselves declare absence of conflict of interest but that rather independent verification of the declarations of interest should be ensured;

Amendment 22 #

Péter NIEDERMÜLLER

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes with concern that there is no specific legal requirement in the Regulation (EU) 1077/2011, establishing the Agency; on publication of the individual statements of commitment, including the declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board and of the Advisory Group; uUrges the Agency to adopt and effectively implement ~~legal requirements and~~ guidelines for a coherent policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as to develop a clear and transparent policy on these matters;

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;, on publication of the individual statements of commitment, including the declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board and of the Advisory Group; urges the ~~Agency~~co- legislators to adopt, and consequently for the Agency to effectively implement, legal requirements and guidelines for a coherent policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as to develop a clear and transparent policy on these matters; welcomes that, in the absence of any legal requirement, the Agency has published individual statements of commitment of the members of the Management Board;

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 ~~low~~ level of implementation close to 60%, while the next monitoring report (~~March~~November 2017) showsed a level of quantitative implementation of at least 80%; notes the progress made in this regard; calls on the Agency to constantly improve the implementation of its anti-fraud strategy;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Stresses with concern~~Notes that the first annual monitoring report on the implementation of the Agency’s anti-fraud strategy (April 2016) showed a low level of implementation close to 60%, while the next monitoring report (March 2017) showsed a level of quantitative implementation of at least 80%; calls on the Agency to constantly improve the implementation of its anti-fraud strategy;

Amendment 26 #

Roberta METSOLA

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~~Management Board; calls on Member States to ensure gender balance when nominating their member and alternate member for the Agency's Management Board; calls on the Agency to pro-actively remind Member States of the importance of gender balance.

Amendment 27 #

Maria GRAPINI

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 #

Kostas CHRYSOGONOS

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 ~~as this would be detrimental to its long term financial interests, damaging the cost-effectiveness of procurement procedures and limiting competition~~while noting that the services procured need to be tailored to the components actually in use; urges the Agency to conclude agreements with multiple suppliers and to define the services required precisely;

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. ~~Is concerned~~Notes that the public procurement procedure launched for the further development and maintenance of the VIS system (EUR 1924 million for a six -year contract) ~~without precisely defining the services requested~~, as per the system's legal base, 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, whenever possible, avoid being locked- in to any vendors as this would be detrimental to its long term financial interests, damaging the cost- effectiveness of procurement procedures and limiting competition; urges the Agency to, whenever possible, conclude agreements with multiple suppliers and to define the services required precisely;

Amendment 5 #

Auke ZIJLSTRA, Nicolas BAY, Gilles LEBRETON, Lorenzo FONTANA, Janice ATKINSON, André ELISSEN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Is concerned~~Deplores 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 as this would be detrimental to its long term financial interests, damaging the cost-effectiveness of procurement procedures and limiting competition; urges the Agency to conclude agreements with multiple suppliers and to define the services required precisely;

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 ~~full~~ contract amount alin full, even though less than half of the work had been completed; notes that the risk was partly offset by financial and performance guarantees as stipulated in the contract; requests the Agency to better assess the necessity of taking such financial risks ~~as the use of financial guarantees does not cover all financial risk~~in future projects;

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, Security and Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Agency for the Οperational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016;

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 #

Dennis de JONG

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 ~~with concern~~ that the Agency is increasingly dependent on external staff, who are often more expensive to employ than internal staff and may present inherent risks with regards to retention of knowledge and capabilities in the Agency and the sustainability of its operations;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. ~~Regrets~~Notes with concern the lack of gender balance among posts occupied on 31 December 2016, given that the ratio iwas 28% female to 72% male member of staff; regrets that the Management Board is even more imbalanced with a ratio of 11 % and 89 %; calls on the Agency to pay greater attention to the gender balance of its staff ~~and take it into account in future recruitment~~;

Amendment 16 #

Dennis de JONG, Petri SARVAMAA, Patricija ŠULIN, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Observes ~~with some concern~~ that in 2016, the Agency’s staff was on average on sick leave 10,7 days; notes from the Agency’s replies that the number of days spent per staff member on well-being activities in 2016 was between two and three; notes that the Agency organised different team building activities with more days allocated to operational staff and less to administrative staff; calls on the Agency to consult the medical service on how to lower the absence from work due to sick leave;

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 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Dennis de JONG, Richard SULÍK

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; ~~call~~regrets that the members onf the ~~Agency to report to the discharge authority on their adoption and implementation~~Management Board and of the Advisory Group have published declarations of 'absence of conflict of interest' and not declarations of interest, while it is not for the members to declare themselves out of conflict of interest, but to ensure independent verification of the declarations of interest, by third parties; calls on the members of the Management Board and of the Advisory Group to publish declarations of interest listing their membership in any other organisation; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on this matter by the end of July 2018;

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 ~~utmost~~ seriousness citizens’ interests and the Union’s commitment to greater transparency, while taking into account all relevant rules and regulations;

Amendment 2 #

Bart STAES

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Notis MARIAS, Beata GOSIEWSKA, Richard SULÍK, Raffaele FITTO

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7

~~Performance-based budgeting~~Main achievements

Amendment 3 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 4 #

Dennis de JONG

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 5 #

Bart STAES

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, ~~Security and Justice for the financial year 2016 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Οperational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom,~~ Security and Justice for the financial year 2016;

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. ~~Notes from the Court’s repor~~Condemns the fact that the Agency received and accepted supplies amounting to EUR 2 800 000 without having budget and legal commitments (contracts) in place; notes that these were made retroactively in order to regularise the purchases; notes moreover from the Agency´s reply that the purchases were made in this way in order to deal with urgent operational requirements and also in response to rapidly growing storage needs required by Member States; calls on the Agency to significantly improve budget planning and budget implementation; is of the opinion that the growing storage needs of Member States was foreseeable by the Agency; is of the opinion that the Union’s public procurement rules allow for an urgent procedure and thus that retroactive signing of contracts for an urgent purchase is not in accordance with Union law;

Amendment 8 #