2019/2057(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas, under the terms of ~~Article 319(2) of the Treaty~~Rule 100 of the Rules of Procedure onf the ~~Functio~~European Parliament “other discharge procedures”, the provisions governing of the ~~European Union, the Commission must submit to~~procedure for granting discharge to the Commission in accordance with Article 319 of the TFEU, in respect of the implementation of the budget, shall also apply to the procedure for granting discharge to the President of the European Parliament, ato the ~~latter’s request, any necessary informatio~~persons responsible for the implementation of the budget of the Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Auditors, the European Econ~~cerning the execution of expenditure and the operation of financial control system~~omic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Development Fund and to the bodies responsible for the budgetary management of legally independent entities which carry out Union tasks;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. UNotes the persisting problems highlighted by the European Parliament with regard to the discharge procedure; underlines the urgent need for a memorandum of understanding between the European Parliament, Council and the Commission on the provision of the information necessary for Parliament to take an informed decision on discharge; considers that the negotiations with the Council to this end should be resumed and extended to the Commission, so as to ensure that Parliament is provided with the necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commission;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Believes that answers to a number of recurring questions in the questionnaires to the different institutions, bodies and agencies, such as those on gender- and geographical balance, conflict of interests, lobbying and whistle-blowers' protection, could possibly be included in the evaluation report on the Union's finances, drawn up in accordance with Article 318 TFEU, insofar as these issues have a link with the implementation of the budget; recalls that the report referred to in Article 318 TFEU is explicitly mentioned in Article 319(1) TFEU as one of the documents to be examined in the context of the discharge procedure;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Underlines the role of Parliament within the discharge procedure, as governed by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Financial Regulation, and, fully acknowledging the Council’s role as an institution giving recommendations in the discharge procedure, stresses that a distinction must be maintained in respect of the different roles played by Parliament and the Council in order to comply with the institutional framework laid down in the Treaties and in the Financial Regulation;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. Recalls that Parliament grants discharge to the other institutions after considering the documents provided, the replies given to the questions and after hearing the secretaries-general of the other institutions;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Considers that the commitments of the Commissioners-designate constitute a positive change in attitude compared to the stance taken by the Commission hitherto, as expressed in its letter of 23 January 2014, in which it stated that the Commission should not be expected to oversee the implementation of the budgets of the other institutions;

Amendment 15 #

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Suggests that, if the negotiations on a memorandum of understanding are not resumed swiftly, Parliament insists on inserting a “rdv-clause”, in the context of the negotiations on the next MFF, in the proposal for an Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, by which the three institutions would commit themselves to jointly defining the practical arrangements for the sharing and provision of the necessary information to the European Parliament in the framework of the discharge procedure, as well as to starting negotiations to that effect without delay;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Is of the opinion that ~~Parliament should address its decisions~~ , if no interinstitutional solution dis~~charge in respect of the implementation of the bud~~ found, Parliament should grant discharget to the Commission ~~alone~~only, while continuing with the practice of adopting accompanying resolutions with observations addressed to each of the Union’s institutions and bodies, so as to ensure that no section of the EU budget is implemented without proper scrutiny;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Is of the opinion that Parliament should ~~address its decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget to the Commission alone, while continuing the practice of~~continue to grant discharge to each of the institutions and bodies of the Union and continue to adopt~~ing~~ accompanying resolutions with observations addressed to ~~each of the Union’s institutions and bodies, so as~~them as it has been doing regularly, in order to ensure that no section of the EU budget is ~~implemen~~executed without proper scrutiny;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Recalls that each institution and body is required under the Financial Regulation to take appropriate measures to act on the observations accompanying the European Parliament’s discharge decision and to report on the measures taken in light of those observations; points out that a refusal by an institution to comply with this requirement, after being called upon to act, might give rise to an action for failure to act under Article 265 TFEU;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Recalls the difficulties repeatedly encountered in the Council discharge procedures to date, due to the lack of cooperation from the Council, which led Parliament to refuse to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council in relation to the financial years 2009 to 2017; reiterates that the Council must take part fully and in good faith in the annual discharge procedure, just as the other institutions do, in order to be transparent and fully accountable to Union citizens for the funds entrusted to it as a Union institution;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas all institutions are bound to cooperate to ensure the smooth functioning of the discharge procedure in full respect of the relevant provisions in the TFEU and in the relevant secondary law; whereas the lack of cooperation from the Council in the discharge procedure has resulted in Parliament’s refusal to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council since 2009; whereas the sustained lack of cooperation from the Council makes it impossible for Parliament to take an informed decision on granting a discharge, which, as a result, has a lasting negative effect on citizens’ perception of the credibility of the EU institutions and of transparency in the use of EU funds; whereas this lack of cooperation also has an adverse impact on the functioning of the institutions and discredits the procedure for political scrutiny of budget management as laid down in the Treaties;

Amendment 20 #

Maria GRAPINI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Considers that, in the context of the discharge granted by Parliament to the Commission, the democratic legitimacy of the Union’s institutions will need to be further strengthened by improving transparency and accountability, and the discharges should be granted to each individual agency, so as to avoid the dilution of agencies’ responsibilities and so that the real problems are known in each agency;

Amendment 21 #

Laura HUHTASAARI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Takes the view that, while the current situation could be improved through better cooperation between Union institutions inside the Treaties framework, a revision of the Treaties could ultimately be required in order to render the discharge procedure more clear, in the sense that the Parliament is tasked with the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions and bodies individually.deleted

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Takes the view that~~, while the current situation could be improved through better cooperation between Union institutions inside the Treaties framework, a~~ the next revision of the Treaties cshould ~~ultimately be required in order to render the discharge procedure more clear, in the sense~~consider clarifying the discharge procedure, so that ~~the~~ Parliament ~~is tasked wi~~has the theask and explicit competence to grant ~~discharge~~management approval to all institutions and ~~bodie~~organisations individually.

Amendment 23 #

4. Takes the view that, while the current situation could be improved through better cooperation between Union institutions inside the Treaties framework, the possibility of a revision of the Treaties could ultimately be re~~quired~~flected upon in order to render the discharge procedure more clear, in the sense that the Parliament is tasked with the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions and bodies individually; underlines that the impact of such changes on the inter- institutional balance as provided for in the Treaties should be thoroughly examined by the competent Committee.

Amendment 24 #

Maria GRAPINI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Considers that the European Parliament should grant discharge to the Commission taking into account the Report of the European Court of Auditors;

Amendment 25 #

Maria GRAPINI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Considers that the European Court of Auditors should present a comparative and duly justified analysis of the costs of the European Agencies in its annual report, in order to further enhance the efficiency and the economy of operations as well as the transparency and the responsibility of the Union’s institutions and to implement the principles of budgeting according to the performance and good governance of human resources;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas, under the terms of Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Parliament shall give a discharge to the Commission;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the procedure of giving discharge separately to the individual Union institutions and bodies is a long- standing practice accepted by all the other institutions except the Council, and whereas this procedure has been developed to guarantee transparency and democratic accountability towards Union citizens and to pursue the necessary fight against fraud;

Amendment 5 #

Laura HUHTASAARI

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas, under the terms of Article 15(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the European Council provides the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and defines its general political directions and priorities; whereas the Council is the major institution of the European Union, representing the Member States, which solely can endow the Union with a popular mandate and democratic legitimacy, as there is no ‘demos’ at the supranational European level;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

B b. whereas the discharge procedure is used to examine the accounts of the institution in question in order to verify implementation is lawful and regular and respects the principles of sound financial management;

Amendment 7 #

Laura HUHTASAARI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Underlines the need for a ~~memorandum of understanding~~continuing dialogue between the European Parliament, Council and the Commission on the provision of the information necessary for Parliament to take an informed decision on discharge; considers that the negotiations with the Council to this end should be resumed ~~and extended to the Commission, so as to ensure that Parliament is provided with the necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commission~~;

Amendment 8 #

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Underlines the urgent need for a memorandum of understanding between the European Parliament~~, Council and the Commission~~ and the Council, that duly respects their respective roles, on the provision of the information necessary for Parliament to take an informed decision on discharge; considers that the negotiations with the Council to this end should be resumed and extended to the Commission, so as to ensure that Parliament is provided with the necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commisssatisfactory cooperation between both institutions in the form of an open and formal dialogue procedure would send a positive signal to the citizens of the Union;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Underlines the need for a memorandum of understanding between the European Parliament~~, Council~~ and the Co~~mmission~~uncil on the provision of the information necessary for Parliament to take an informed decision on discharge; ~~considers that the negotiations with the Council to this end should be resumed and~~welcomes the progress that has been achieved so far in the negotiations between the Parliament and the Council on the “Non Paper” on the cooperation between the European Parliament and the Council during the annual discharge procedure and calls on both institutions to intensify their efforts in order to achieve an agreement without undue delay; considers that, if those negotiations with the Council do not succeed, they should be extended to the Commission, so as to ensure that Parliament is provided with the necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commission;

source: 643.228

2020/01/31 CONT 42 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Grants the Secretary-General of the Council discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Council and of the Council for the financial year 2018 /~~ Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the Council discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Council and of the Council for the financial year 2018;

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that appropriations carried over from 2018 to 2019 amounted to a total of EUR 56 599 584, equivalent to 10,7 % (compared to EUR 60 576 175 or 11,5 % in 2017), coming mainly from categories such as computer systems (EUR 18,3 million), buildings (EUR 16,0 million) and interpretation (EUR 11,9 million); takes note of the cancelled appropriations in 2018 of EUR 46 348 862 (compared to EUR 35 025 789 in 2017); reminds the Council that carry-overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality and should reflect actual needs and, thus, calls on the Council to strengthen its efforts to avoid budget over-estimates;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that appropriations carried over from 2018 to 2019 amounted to a total of EUR 56 599 584, equivalent to 10,7 % (compared to EUR 60 576 175 or 11,5 % in 2017), coming mainly from categories such as computer systems (EUR 18,3 million), buildings (EUR 16,0 million) and interpretation (EUR 11,9 million); reminds the Council that carry-overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality and should reflect actual needs; takes note of the cancelled appropriations in 2018 of EUR 46 348 862 (compared to EUR 35 025 789 in 2017); calls on the Council to strengthen its efforts to avoid budget over- estimates;

Amendment 12 #

Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ, Lara WOLTERS, Agnes JONGERIUS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Welcomes the Council’s efforts in the implementation of the ‘Action Plan for a more dynamic, flexible and collaborative General Secretariat of the Council (GSC)’; notes the steps to further improve the Council’s financial management and performance by measures such as the establishment of an Advisory Management Board, the adoption of guidelines for a Common Project & Task Force Management Framework (CPMF) ~~and~~, the creation of a task force “Reorganisation”~~, etc.~~ and the review of the internal rules following the publication of the new Financial Regulation;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Expresses its concerns about the alarming information reported by the media regarding the construction of the new building Europa; calls on the Council thoroughly research the main contractor and the whole chain of subcontractors (up to 12 according to the media), as well as the working conditions of the workers employed, and to provide the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control with all the findings;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Notes the European Ombudsman's recommendation that the President and Cabinet of the European Council publish a full list of any lobby meetings held; is disappointed that the new President of the European Council has yet to implement this recommendation; notes that while the President of the European Council does not appear to meet with many lobbyists, the principle of lobby transparency is nonetheless important; urges the President of the European Council to ensure that he and his Cabinet refuse all meetings with unregistered lobbyists and proactively publish a comprehensive list of lobby meetings held; calls upon the secretariat of the Council to ensure that the ethics rules governing the President of the European Council are brought into line with those of the President of the European Commission so that 'revolving door' rules apply for three years and formal approval is required for any new roles with a link to the activities of the Union;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)

18 b. Observes that the President of the European Council must abide by an 18 months notification period for post-office activities related to Union legislation and does not require prior approval; asks for the Code of Conduct for the President of the European Council to be brought in line with that of the Commission and the Parliament, in order to insure formal approval for activities related to Union legislation until three years after having left the Council;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that related to the proposal for a new Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register for interest representatives covering the Parliament, the Council and the Commission two negotiating rounds took place in 2018 under the Bulgarian Presidency and one in 2019 under the Romanian Presidency; regrets that the Council has still not joined the Transparency Register despite all these negotiations; calls on the Council to follow-up negotiations to reach a successful outcome which will finally include the Council in the registry; calls on all Presidency trios to lead by good example by refusing meetings with unregistered lobbyists, proactively publishing the lobby meetings of permanent representation staff, and by proactively publishing the lobby meetings of national ministers that deals with Union matters;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that related to the proposal for a new Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register, accessible in a machine-readable format, for interest representatives covering the Parliament, the Council and the Commission two negotiating rounds took place in 2018 under the Bulgarian Presidency and one in 2019 under the Romanian Presidency; recalls the Ombudsman’s decision of 18 June 2019 that the General Secretariat of the Council should keep a full record of any meetings held between interest representatives and the President of the European Council or members of his cabinet and that this should be made public; calls on the Council to follow-up negotiations to reach a successful outcome which will finally include the Council in the registry;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that related to the proposal for a new Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register for interest representatives covering the Parliament, the Council and the Commission two negotiating rounds took place in 2018 under the Bulgarian Presidency and one in 2019 under the Romanian Presidency; calls on the Council to follow-up negotiations to reach a successful outcome which will finally include the Council in the registry; calls on the Council to demonstrate a real commitment to the principles of transparency and accountability by adopting concrete measures, such as publishing the meetings held by the Member States' permanent representatives and their deputies and ministers when dealing with Union atters during their Presidency, building on the example set by the Finnish Presidency;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Recognises the added value that free and open source software can bring to the Council; underlines in particular its role in increasing transparency and avoiding vendor lock-in effects; recognises also its potential for security improvements as it permits the identification and fixing of weaknesses; strongly recommends any software developed for the Council to be made publicly available under free and open-source software licence;

Amendment 2 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Notes the intense media coverage and the particularly high level of media interest in the Brexit negotiations; welcomes the continuous development of the Council’s website and the intense work to increase its audience on all channels (increases of 9 % visits on the website, 13 % fans on Facebook, 26 % followers on Twitter and 92 % followers on Instagram); notes the high amount of background briefings and press conferences; notes the newsroom platform which allows the press and media to view, download and embed the Council’s video and photo output in high-resolution quality; encourages further the use of non-proprietary social- network platforms, having special regards to users data protection;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Recalls the conclusions of the Ombudsman’ Special Report in strategic inquiry OI/2/2017/TE on the transparency of the Council legislative process, in February 2018, which found that 'the Council’s current practices constitute maladministration'; recalls the joint non- paper by Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Sweden and the Netherlands, from October 2019, on increasing the transparency and accountability of the EU, which specifically asks the Council to 'increase openness in trilogue negotiations by systematic publication of legislative milestone documents'; asks the Council to seriously considers these recommendations in the interest of transparency and report back to Parliament;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Asks the Council to strengthen its efforts to make the legislative process more traceable and reader friendly, to centre transparency around milestones in the legislative process and to normalise the publication of Member States inputs (statements, proposals for amendments) into legislative debates; acknowledges the Council’s efforts to improve transparency with ongoing changes to its website and the activities of its internal transparency team; ~~encourages the Council to introduce further measures in order to reach a successful transparency policy allowing the public to follow the Union legislative process with greater ease~~notes, however, that national parliamentarians, through the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) forum, have repeatedly expressed their concern that the secrecy in the Council prevents national parliaments from fulfilling their monitoring and scrutinising role with respect to their governments' Union law- making; encourages the Council to introduce further measures in order to reach a successful transparency policy allowing the public to follow the Union legislative process with greater ease such as the formal minute-taking of all Council preparatory bodies, to include full reporting of all discussions including of member state contributions, and the prompt publication of such minutes;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. AReiterates its support to the recommendations of the European Ombudsman on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council1a; asks the Council to strengthen its efforts to make the legislative process more traceable and reader friendly, to centre transparency around milestones in the legislative process and to normalise the ~~publication~~identification and publication in due time of Member States' inputs (statements, proposals for amendments) into legislative debates either at Council meetings, preparatory discussions in the Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives or in any of the preparatory bodies; acknowledges the Council’s efforts to improve transparency with ongoing changes to its website and the activities of its internal transparency team; encourages the Council to introduce further measures in order to reach a successful transparency policy allowing the public to follow the Union legislative process with greater ease; _________________ 1a European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0045).

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

Amendment 25 #

Lara WOLTERS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Asks the Council to strengthen its efforts to make the legislative process more traceable and reader friendly, to centre transparency around milestones in the legislative process and to normalise the publication of Member States inputs (statements, proposals for amendments) into legislative debates; ~~acknowledges the Council’s efforts to improve transparency with ongoing changes to its website and the activities of its internal transparency team~~calls, however, on the Council to step up its transparency efforts, inter alia by the publication of Council legislative documents, having formal minute-taking of Council preparatory bodies which records member states positions and publishing of those minutes, and making available more trilogue documents in line with the Ombudsman's recommendations; encourages the Council to introduce further measures in order to reach a successful transparency policy allowing the public to follow the Union legislative process with greater ease;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Expresses its deep concerns about the information reported by the European media regarding the corporate sponsorship of Member States hosting the Union Presidency and echoes the concerns expressed by Union citizens and Members of Parliament on the matter; acknowledges that the Member States are expected to finance their own Presidencies and regrets that resorting to corporate sponsorship to cover some of their expenses in this regards has become common practice in recent years; is highly concerned about the possible reputational damage and the risk of loss of trust that this practice may afflict to the Union, its institutions and especially to the Council in the eyes of the citizens of the Union; fully supports the Ombudsman's assessment and recommendation1a for the Council to issue guidance to Member States on the issue; moreover, strongly recommends the Council to envisage budgetisation of the Presidencies; requests the Council to forward this concern to the Member States, in particular to the current trio Presidency; _________________ 1aRecommendation of the European Ombudsman in case 1069/2019/MIG on sponsorship of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Reiterates its concerns about the corporate sponsorship of Member States hosting the Union Presidency and echoes the concerns expressed by Union citizens and Members of Parliament; acknowledges that the Member States are expected to finance their own Presidencies and regrets that resorting to corporate sponsorship to cover some of their expenses in this regards has become common practice in recent years; is highly concerned about the possible reputational damage and the risk of loss of trust that this practice may incur on the Union, its institutions and especially to the Council in the eyes of the citizens of the Union; suggests that the Council adopt guidelines in order to promote the financial transparency and independency of the Presidencies; recommends strongly the Council to envisage budgetisation of the Presidencies; requests the Council to forward this concern to the Member States, in particular to the current trio Presidency;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)

18 b. Welcomes the recommendation of the European Ombudsman on sponsorship of the Presidency of the Council which finds that Council inaction on the matter amounts to maladministration, and invites the Council to ban all sponsorship of Council presidencies by third parties in view of the 'reputational risk' that the Ombudsman has highlighted;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)

18 c. Is deeply concerned by the current practice of Council presidencies sponsorships from private companies; recalls the Ombudsman's recommendation to issue guidance on the sponsorship of Council Presidencies, on 6 January 2020, so as to mitigate the reputational risks to the Union; notes that the Council argues that the issue of sponsorship is the sole responsibility of the government of the Member State holding the Presidency; is of the same opinion as the Ombudsman that the public does not distinguish between the Council Presidency and the Member State holding Presidency; asks the Council to take these recommendations into serious consideration and report back to Parliament;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)

- having regard to the Recommendation of the European Ombudsman in case 1069/2019/MIG on sponsorship of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union,

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)

18 d. Is deeply concerned by the conflict of interests allegations against a number of Member State representatives involved in the high-level policy and budget decision-making process; asks the Council to ensure that Member State representatives who are subject to benefit directly from Union subsidies through the businesses they own are not participating in the related policy or budgetary discussions and votes; further asks the Council to join Parliament in its call to the Commission to propose new audit procedures to speed up the investigation of urgent and grave cases of conflict of interests and ensure that Parliament be properly informed of the audit conclusions;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)

18 c. Regrets that the Council again failed to provide answers to the written questions sent by Parliament and that the Secretary-General of the Council did not attend the hearing organised on 12 November 2019 in the context of the annual discharge which shows the continued and complete lack of cooperation on the Council's side; stresses that the expenditure of Council must be scrutinised in the same way as that of other institutions and points out that the fundamental elements of such scrutiny have been laid down in its discharge resolutions of the past years; points out that Parliament is the only institution directly elected by Union citizens and that its role in the discharge procedure is directly connected with citizens' right to be informed on how public money is spent;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a. Emphasises Parliament's prerogative to grant discharge pursuant to Articles 316, 317 and 319 TFEU in line with current interpretation and practice, namely to grant discharge in respect of each heading of the budget separately in order to maintain transparency and ensure democratic accountability towards Union taxpayers;

Amendment 33 #

Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Gilles BOYER, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. ~~Note~~Recalls that according to TFEU, the institutions enjoy administrative autonomy and their expenditure is set out in separate parts of the budget; notes that according to the Financial Regulation, the institutions are individually responsible for the implementation of their budgets; underlines the importance of the institutions acting responsibly and professionally in the implementation of their budgets;

Amendment 34 #

22. Notes that according to Article 316 and 335 TFEU, the institutions enjoy administrative autonomy and their expenditure is set out in separate parts of the budget; notes that according to the Financial Regulation, the institutions are individually responsible for the implementation of their budgets;

Amendment 35 #

Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Gilles BOYER, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Notes that according to TFEU, the institutions enjoy administrative autonomy and their expenditure is set out in separate parts of the budget; notes that according to Article 59 of the Financial Regulation, the institutions are individually responsible for the implementation of their budgets;

Amendment 36 #

Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Gilles BOYER, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that during the course of almost twenty years Parliament has developed the practice of granting discharge to all Union institutions and bodies; notes that all Union institutions and bodies accept to participate in Parliament’s discharge procedure, with the only exception being the Council;deleted

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that during the course of almost twenty years Parliament has developed the practice of granting discharge to all Union institutions and bodies; recalls that Parliament grants discharge to them after considering the documents provided, their replies given to the written questionnaires and after hearing their Secretaries General; notes that all Union institutions and bodies accept to participate in Parliament’s discharge procedure, with the only exception being the Council;

Amendment 38 #

Olivier CHASTEL, Cristian GHINEA, Gilles BOYER, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a. Welcomes the fact that the Council has showed its openness to arriving at an agreement with Parliament on how to cooperate on the discharge process.

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)

- having regard to the Special Report of the European Ombudsman in strategic inquiry OI/2/2017/TE on the transparency of the Council legislative process,

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. ~~Note~~Regrets the lack of cooperation form the Council in the discharge procedure which has resulted in Parliament’s refusal to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council since the financial year 2009;

Amendment 41 #

24. Notes the lack of cooperation forom the Council in the discharge procedure which has resulted in Parliament’s refusal to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council since the financial year 2009;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25 a. asks the Council to fulfil its particular role and to give discharge recommendations with respect to the other Union institutions;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)

- having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU1a, _________________ 1a Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0045.

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Regrets, as an overall remark, that chapter 10 ‘Administration’ of the 2018 Annual Report of the Court has a rather limited scope and conclusions, even if the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) Heading 5 'Administration' is considered low risk;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes that the Court selected a sample of 45 transactions from the Multiannual Financial Framework (MMF) Heading 5 “Administration” of all Union institutions and bodies; notes that the sample was designed to be representative of the range of spending under Heading 5, which represents 6,3 % of the Union budget; notes that the Court’s work indicates administrative expenditure as low risk; considers, however, the amount of transactions selected in relation to the “other institutions” as not sufficient and asks the Court to increase the number of transactions to be examined by 10 % at least;deleted

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

Amendment 9 #