2019/2086(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Calls for the Agency, as one of the Union agencies responsible for assessing regulated products, to receive sufficient funding to carry out its tasks;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10b. Calls for details of the steps the Agency has taken in response to the Commission's Synthesis Report on the implementation of REACH, and the actions proposed directly to the Agency within that report;

Amendment 11 #

Anna ZALEWSKA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Notes that the recruitment target for 2018 was achieved with 97 % of posts filled at the end of the year for the implementation of the REACH Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1272/20085, the PIC Regulation and the Regulation on biocidal products; stresses that, given that work on assessing registered chemicals will continue and that new tasks have arisen in relation to the circular economy, staffing levels in the Agency must remain stable or even be increased if necessary; _________________ 5 Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 ~~(OJ~~ L 353, 31.12.2008, p. 1).

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that 2018 was the year of the final registration deadline under Regulation (EC) No 1907/20061 (‘REACH Regulation’); stresses that the Agency received 37 400 dossiers in that year, which represents an increase of 135 % compared to 2017; stresses that non- compliant dossiers that are handed in by applicants create undue difficulties for the work of the Agency and therefore calls for the introduction of higher fees in such cases to compensate for the extra work generated in order to achieve compliance; _________________ 1Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that 2018 was the year of the final registration deadline under Regulation (EC) No 1907/20061 (‘REACH Regulation’); stresses that the Agency received 37 400 dossiers in that year, which represents an increase of 135 % compared to 2017; stresses the way Agency has coped with the dramatic increase in registrations over the past year; _________________ 1Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Calls for higher fees for applicants who submit incomplete applications for authorisation, in order to help achieve a higher level of compliance with the application requirements;

Amendment 5 #

Martin HOJSÍK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that the fees paid by industry vary substantially year by year and that it is therefore not possible for the Agency to estimate the need for a balancing subsidy from the Union budget at a reasonable margin, which complicates budget planning ~~and~~; notes furthermore that fees paid with regard to ~~one regulation~~different legislative mandates can only be used in that section of the Agency’s budget, which can mean surplus in one section and deficit in other sections of the budget; notes moreover that the Agency’s income from fees paid by industry under the REACH Regulation is scheduled to decrease; calls on the Agency therefore to report to the discharge authority the steps that are taken together with the Commission to explore a sustainable financial model, as concluded in the Commission Communication of 5 March 2018 entitled 'Commission General Report on the operation of REACH and review of certain elements'1a _________________ 1a COM(2018) 116 final

Amendment 6 #

Monika BEŇOVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that the fees paid by industry vary substantially year by year, which complicates budget planning and that fees paid with regard to one regulation can only be used in that section of the Agency’s budget, which can mean surplus in one section and deficit in other sections of the budget;, and notes that the sustainability of financing of the budget was not yet achieved; calls for a dialogue on how to reform the financing mechanism of the Agency with the aim of putting it on sustainable basis.

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that the fees paid by industry vary substantially year by year, which complicates budget planning and that fees paid with regard to one regulation can only be used in that section of the Agency’s budget, which can mean surplus in one section and deficit in other sections of the budget; calls on the Commission to carry out a study to explore budget flexibilities in order to make it easier for the Agency to plan ahead;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

9. ~~Takes note of the new organisational structure that was set up in the Agency~~Welcomes the efforts that were made to streamline the organisational structure in 2018, which is aimed at enabling further efficiencies through better linking and coordination across tasks; notes that the Agency has managed to meet the vast majority of its objectives;

Amendment 9 #

Andrey NOVAKOV, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Petri SARVAMAA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Calls for information on the state of preparations for a prototype database under the Waste Framework Directive, which is to be presented in early 2020;

source: 641.167

2020/02/03 CONT 25 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year ~~2018 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year~~ 2018;

Amendment 10 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Andrey NOVAKOV

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes that the Agency has revenues coming from both fees and charges payable by industry and a balancing subsidy from the Union budget; notes with concern that, according to the Court’s report, as the third registration deadline under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 expired in May 2018, income from fees and charges is expected to drop significantly from 2019 onwards; points out that there is a risk that relatively stable expenditure and much less predictable revenue may have a negative effect on the Agency’s operations and budget implementation; ~~takes note, however, that~~stresses the necessity of putting in place a new, viable and thorough financing model, about which, according to the Agency’'s reply, ithe Agency has initiated discussions with the Commission ~~on a new, viable financing model~~; calls on the Agency to keep the discharge authority updated on developments in this regard;

Amendment 11 #

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

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Notes that the Agency has revenues coming from both fees and charges payable by industry and a balancing subsidy from the Union budget; notes with concern that, according to the Court’s report, as the third registration deadline under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 expired in May 2018, income from fees and charges is expected to drop significantly from 2019 onwards; points out that there is a risk that relatively stable expenditure and much less predictable revenue may have a negative effect on the Agency’s operations and budget implementation; ~~takes note, however, that according to the Agency’s reply, it has~~welcomes the fact that the Agency has already initiated discussions with the Commission on a new, viable financing model; calls on the Agency and the Commission to keep the discharge authority updated on developments in this regard;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Acknowledges that, despite the risks and constraints in some areas, the Agency reached 58 out of 69 of its key performance indicator targets; further urges the Agency to strive to achieve 100 % fulfilment of its KPI targets;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Notes that the Agency completed the registration phase under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 without causing market disruption and that it provided support to companies in the registration of 28 357 dossiers and the preparation of their registration dossiers;

Amendment 14 #

Katalin CSEH, Gilles BOYER, Ramona STRUGARIU, Martina DLABAJOVÁ, Olivier CHASTEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that the Agency continues to share its internal audit capability with the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency and closely collaborates with other agencies, including by way of sharing services in the context of an inter- agency network and by way of sharing resources through memoranda of understanding; commends this cooperation as an example for other Agencies worth following; encourages the Agency to seek further and broader cooperation with the Union agencies; encourages the Agency to initiate discussions on the topic of resources-sharing on overlapping tasks among other agencies with similar activities;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Encourages the Agency to pursue the digitalisation of its services;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Notes that the Agency has an anti- harassment policy and related guidelines that were updated in 2018 in place; acknowledges that it organised training sessions and enabled confidential counselling;deleted

Amendment 17 #

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

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Welcomes the fact that the Agency publishes on its website the CVs of all members of the Management Board and its Committees, including those of its chairs who are ECHA members of staff, the Executive Director and all members of the Board of Appeal;

Amendment 18 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Raffaele FITTO, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI, Patryk JAKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Notes with satisfaction that a good gender balance was achieved in 2018 with regard to the senior management positions (4 men and 3 women), notes, however, that balance was not achieved to the same extent, with regard to the Management Board (15 men and 21 women);

Amendment 19 #

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

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Welcomes the fact that the Agency collects annually updated declarations of interest from all staff and external experts, each of which is published on the website of the Agency;

Amendment 2 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes from the Court’s report that the Agency does not have a sensitive post policy which would identify sensitive functions, and that the absence of such a policy is not in line with the Agency’s internal control standards; calls on the Agency to adopt and implement such a sensitive post policy without delaythat the Agency has adopted and started implementing a policy on sensitive functions, in September 2019, which would identify sensitive functions, keep them up to date and define appropriate measures to mitigate the risk of vested interests;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes from the Court’s report that the Agency does not have a sensitive post policy which would identify sensitive functions, and that the absence of such a policy is not in line with the Agency’s internal control standards; calls on the Agency to adopt and implement such a sensitive post policy without delaythat the Agency has adopted and started implementing a policy on sensitive fonctions, in September 2019, which would identify sensitive functions, keep them up to date and define appropriate measures to mitigate the risk of vested interests;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Notes that in 2018 the Commission’s Internal Audit Service issued an audit report on “Conflict of Interest and Ethics in ECHA” and that, in September 2018, the Agency is prepar~~ing~~ed and discussed an action plan to address some potential areas for improvement, and that as of mid-2019 all actions have been implemented;

Amendment 23 #

Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Ryszard CZARNECKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that, having selected the new building and having signed a lease contract in 2017 due to the expiry of the previous lease contract on 31 December 2019, the Agency ishad plann~~ing~~ed to move to new premises in Helsinki in January 2020; notes that ~~that move is due to the partial malfunctioning of its current building, particul~~removal to the new premises was completed on 7 Januarly ~~as regards air quality~~2020;

Amendment 25 #

Andrey NOVAKOV, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Petri SARVAMAA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Calls upon the Agency to aim its focus on disseminating the results of its research to the general public, and to reach out to public via the social media and other media outlets;

Amendment 3 #

1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Chemicals Agency for the financial year ~~2018 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Chemicals Agency for the financial year~~ 2018;

Amendment 4 #

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Calls for funding to be granted to the Agency, as one of the Union agencies responsible for assessing regulated products, that is sufficient to allow it to carry out its tasks;

Amendment 5 #

Bas EICKHOUT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that the Agency is partly financed from the fees it receives from companies that request the registration of chemicals as required under Regulation (EC) No 1907/200617 ; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered (different thresholds); notes that, according to the Court’s report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 27 % of the companies claimed to be micro, small or medium size; notes with concern, however, that thanks to the Agency’s effective system of ex-post verifications,; notes that the Agency has identified that some 52 % of the companies had incorrectly declared their size, resulting in lower fees; stresses that this finding demonstrates the limitations of a system that relies excessively on self- declarations made by applicants; notes that~~, in order to mitigate this situation,~~ the Agency has, over the years, invoiced fee corrections and administrative charges amounting to EUR 17,9 million and that the Agency has made considerable progress in recovering undue fee reductions and collecting overdue administrative charges; notes, however, that there is still a considerable verification workload ahead and that the remaining amount of necessary fee corrections was unknown at the end of 2018; furthermore, urges the national enforcement authorities to enhance the verification systems used to check the volumes of chemicals declared by the companies; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the results achieved, to continue to reduce the considerable verification backlog and to implement the fee corrections; _________________ 17Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 6 #

Younous OMARJEE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that the Agency is partly financed from the fees it receives from companies that request the registration of chemicals as required under Regulation (EC) No 1907/200617 ; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered (different thresholds); notes that, according to the Court’s report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 27 % of the companies claimed to be micro, small or medium size; notes with concern, however, that thanks to the Agency’s effective system of ex-post verifications, the Agency has identified that some 52 % of the companies had incorrectly declared their size, resulting in lower fees; stresses that this finding demonstrates the limitations of a system that relies excessively on self-declarations made by applicants; notes that, in order to mitigate this situation, the Agency has, over the years, invoiced fee corrections and administrative charges amounting to EUR 17,9 million and that the Agency has made considerable progress in recovering undue fee reductions and collecting overdue administrative charges; notes, however, that there is still a considerable verification workload ahead and that the remaining amount of necessary fee corrections was unknown at the end of 2018; furthermore, urges the national enforcement authorities to enhance the verification systems used to check the volumes of chemicals declared by the companies; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the results achieved, to continue to reduce the considerable verification backlog and to implement the fee corrections; calls on the Commission to propose measures to solve this situation, avoiding fraud in declaring the size of the applicants and granting a more stable budget planning for the agency; _________________ 17Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 7 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Andrey NOVAKOV

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that the Agency is 2. partly financed from the fees it receives from companies that request the registration of chemicals as required under Regulation (EC) No 1907/200617 ; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered (different thresholds); notes that, according to the Court’s report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 27 % of the companies claimed to be micro, small or medium size; notes with concern, however, that thanks to the Agency’s effective system of ex-post verifications, the Agency has identified that some 52 % of the companies had incorrectly declared their size, resulting in lower fees; stresses that this finding demonstrates the limitations of a system that relies excessively on self-declarations made by applicants; notes that, in order to mitigate this situation, the Agency has, over the years, invoiced fee corrections and administrative charges amounting to EUR 17,9 million and that the Agency has made considerable progress in recovering undue fee reductions and collecting overdue administrative charges; notes, however, that there is still a considerable verification workload ahead and that the remaining amount of necessary fee corrections was unknown at the end of 2018; urges the Agency to put in place similarly thorough ex-ante verifications to minimize the risk of fraudulent self-declarations; furthermore, urges the national enforcement authorities to enhance the verification systems used to check the volumes of chemicals declared by the companies; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the results achieved, to continue to reduce the considerable verification backlog and to implement the fee corrections; _________________ 17Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Emphasises that the Agency is partly financed from the fees it receives from companies that request the registration of chemicals as required under Regulation (EC) No 1907/200617 ; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered (different thresholds); notes that, according to the Court’s report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 27 % of the companies claimed to be micro, small or medium size; notes with concern, however, that thanks to the Agency’s effective system of ex-post verifications, the Agency has identified that some 52 % of the companies had incorrectly declared their size, resulting in lower fees; stresses that this finding demonstrates the limitations of a system that relies excessively on self-declarations made by applicants; notes that, in order to mitigate this situation, the Agency has, over the years, invoiced fee corrections and administrative charges amounting to EUR 17,9 million and that the Agency has made considerable progress in recovering undue fee reductions and collecting overdue administrative charges; notes, however, that there is still a considerable verification workload ahead and that the remaining amount of necessary fee corrections was unknown at the end of 2018; furthermore, urges the national enforcement authorities to enhance the verification systems used to check and publish the volumes of chemicals declared by the companies; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the results achieved, to continue to reduce the considerable verification backlog and to implement the fee corrections and the recovery of unpaid fees; _________________ 17Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

Amendment 9 #