2020/2148(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Notes with satisfaction that in its annual report for 2019, the Court observed no serious weaknesses in respect of the audited topics related to the Supervisor’s human resources and procurement activities;

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Underlines the EDPS' initiatives aimed at using office space more sustainably and optimising it as well as reducing the energy level in the building, such as the promotion of structural and occasional teleworking, reimbursement of 50% of the cost of public transport tickets to staff who cease to use office parking spaces and return their parking vignette;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Notes that the EDPS is a smaller organisation with a need for highly specialised staff, however, there is a slight geographical imbalance in staff, where only 19 Union nationalities are represented in the EDPS from which Belgian citizens occupy 28 % of the positions; invites the Supervisor to consider further steps to provide a more balanced representation of all Member States;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. ~~Asks~~Calls on the Supervisor to envisage the preparation of a code of conduct for the EDPB ~~Chai~~senior mandagement (Chair, Vice Chairs, etc); highlights that the two revised codes of conduct (for staff and for the Supervisor) were adopted on 6 December 2019; notes that the revised code of conduct for staff has paid particular attention to whistle blower protection; welcomes the fact that all newcomers are provided with an awareness-raising session on the Supervisor’s ethical framework and the new code of conduct for staff.;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Finds the EDPS equal opportunities clause an excellent example for inclusion of those with disabilities and ensuring equal opportunities as well as strengthening work place diversity;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Commends the Supervisor for having put all guidelines and procedures related to the ethical framework on the Intranet immediately after their adoption; calls on the Supervisor to organise raise- awareness activities for the staff, also other than newcomers, regarding the applicable ethical framework and to adopt a proactive system to avoid conflicts in the workplace; notes the revised decision on external activities which was adopted on 13 September 2019, and the fact that the related presentations with real life examples had to be postponed due to the pandemic;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes that due to the original plans the Supervisor would occupy the whole MTS building as of September 2019; notes, however, that due to external factors~~, mainly to the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the European Union, the move of the Ombudsman was delayed~~ the move of the Ombudsman was delayed and consequently the expansion didn’t happen, which affected the execution under Title 2 of the Supervisor’s budget;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Notes that the new telework decision allows staff to work at home, this step allows the EDPS to make more use of shared offices and make savings on the related expenditure;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recognises that due to the very small size of the office of Supervisor, the concluding of service level agreements (SLA) such as with the Commission for trainings, medical service, use of Sysper, appraisal system, for the payment of salaries, the staff insurances and the organisation of missions, for accounting services and transportation services is important for efficiency gains; notes that the Supervisor has SLAs with the Parliament for IT and building-related expenditure and that in addition the Supervisor also participates in many inter-institutional calls for tenders, resulting in a current participation of 60 framework contractsencourages the inter-institutional activities of the EDPS, including 60 framework contracts initiated by different Union institutions; notes that the Supervisor has SLAs with the Parliament for IT and building-related expenditure;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Encourages the Supervisor to explore the possibility of joining the transparency registry on the basis of a SLA; acknowledges the inter-institutional cooperation through SLA between the Supervisor and other Union institutions and bodies; ~~is interested to see if any~~calls on the Supervisor to carry out comprehensive and realistic cost benefit analysis ~~takes place~~ before entering in any agreement;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. ~~Encourag~~Invites the Supervisor to explore the possibility of joining the transparency registry on the basis of a SLA; acknowledges the inter-institutional cooperation through SLA between the Supervisor and other Union institutions and bodies; is interested to see if any cost benefit analysis takes place before entering in any agreement;

Amendment 2 #

Luke Ming FLANAGAN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Regrets, as an overall remark, that chapter 9 ‘Administration’ of the Annual Report of the Court has a rather limited scope and conclusions, even if Heading 5 "Administration" of the Multiannual Financial Framework is considered low risk; requests that the audit work for the chapter on Administration be more focused on issues of high relevance or even critical for the Supervisor

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Appreciates the fact that the Supervisor continued to work with its regional and international partners to mainstream data protection in international agreements and ensure consistent protection of personal data worldwide over the past five years; welcomes the fact that the Supervisor has dedicated significant time and e~~nergy~~ffort to the development of greater data protection convergence globally, as data flows internationally, across borders, while data protection rules are still decided on a largely national, and even regional basis;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19 a. Welcomes the Supervisor's efforts to improve digitalisation and cybersecurity of Union institutions through the inspection of their websites using an open source software tool, which revealed that several of the websites were not compliant with the EUDPR or with the ePrivacy Directive and did not follow the EDPS Guidelines on web services; invites the EDPS to report to the Parliament on any persisting issues regarding the non-compliance of institutions with EUDPR and the ePrivacy Directive;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a. Welcomes the set up an internal Task Force on COVID-19, which produced a number of orientation papers and technology primers to improve data protection compliance of contact tracing apps, provided feedback to the Commission on their interoperability solution and worked with the EDPB to fight the potential misuse of digital data in the context of the pandemic; encourages the EDPS to continue providing the institutions with detailed opinions regarding the data protection issues that may arise from digital initiatives used to counter the pandemic, including contact tracing-apps and vaccination or tests certificates;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20 a. Welcomes the activities aimed at verification for compliance with data protection rules and its assessment of Union bodies in this regard; notes that the supervisory activities of EDPS are guided by the accountability principle and follow a risk-based approach;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Welcomes the efforts made by the Supervisor to improve transparency and communication to the public through a dedicated transparency officer, publication on the official website, newsletter, social media campaigns, open source platforms and awareness raising events; encourages the EDPS to establish a presence on additional free and open- source social media networks, such as Mastodon, to achieve further transparency and broader outreach;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)

22 a. Notes that a complex approach is needed in order to make the European institutions’ homepages accessible to persons with all kind of disabilities, including the availability of national sign languages; suggests that disability- related are involved in this process;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Is aware that the Supervisor uses a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) to help the monitoring of its performance; welcomes the fact that the Supervisor met or surpassed - in some cases significantly - the targets set in six out of the eight KPIs, e.g. the number of cases dealt with at international level were 62 in 2019 (exceeding a target of 10), and the number of opinions/comments issued in response to consultation requests (26 consultations in 2019, exceeding a target of 10 consultations); invites the Supervisor to closely monitor and adapt where needed weaker performing objectives;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Is aware that the Commission’s internal auditor (IA) is the internal auditor of the Supervisor; notes that during 2019, the IA did not perform any audit, but rather issued its annual internal audit report for 2019 with only two statements and there are no open recommendations; asks the Supervisor to facilitate closer cooperation with the IA and ensure proper annual auditing;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Is aware that the Commission’s internal auditor (IA) is the internal auditor of the Supervisor; ~~note~~regrets that during 2019, the IA did not perform any audit, but rather issued its annual internal audit report for 2019 with only two statements and there are no open recommendations;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)

29 a. Welcomes the efforts of the Supervisor to improve its working methods and thus making savings; calls on the Supervisor to duly report to the budgetary authority on the new systems and applications developed in this area, namely the Speedwell workflow system for the payment of invoices and Bluebell to improve the contribution of the units to the establishment of the budget;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Acknowledges that the overall budget increase was mainly due to the impact of the new tasks resulting from the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR), which lays down the data protection obligations for the Union institutions and bodies when they process personal data and develop new policies) and the necessary growth of the European Data Protection Board (hereafter EDPB) that was created on 25th May 2018 and for which the Supervisor was entrusted to provide an independent secretariat; recognises that 2019 was the first full year of operations of the EDPB Secretariat and of the implementation of the GDPR which justifies the increase; the related allocated budget increase amounted to 51% (from 3 594 746 EUR in 2018 to 5 413 838 EUR in 2019);

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)

30 a. Welcomes that the new supervisory framework came into force for the processing of personal data at the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) taking over responsibility for monitoring Eurojust’s compliance with the applicable EU rules on data protection.

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)

31 a. Welcomes the completion of the EDPS Strategy 2015-2019, which focused on digitisation, global partnerships and the modernisation of data Protection, bringing the concepts of ethics and accountability to the forefront of data protection discourse and application

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Appreciates that the Supervisor is closely following the EMAS initiatives and has started to convert human resources processes (selections, appraisal) and financial and administrative processes (payments, MiPS) into paperless procedures; acknowledges the initiatives carried out by the Supervisor to reduce the use of plastic bottles by its staff; agrees to the Supervisor’s strategy in providing more flexible ways of working for its staff (occasional and structural teleworking) ~~which~~; notes that those flexible working arrangements helps to reduce energy for the Supervisor as well as toits use office space in a more optimal way;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Appreciates that the Supervisor is closely following the EMAS initiatives and has started to convert human resources processes (selections, appraisal) and financial and administrative processes (payments, MiPS) into paperless procedures; agrees to the Supervisor’s strategy in providing more flexible ways of working for its staff (occasional and structural teleworking) which helps to reduce energy as well as to use office space in a more optimal way; invites the Supervisor to consider actions reducing further the carbon footprint, such as choosing clean and renewable sources of energy;

Amendment 34 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, José Manuel FERNANDES, Ádám KÓSA, Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Agrees that data controllers and processors within the Union now benefit from one single set of rules bringing a single interlocutor through the one-stop- shop mechanism to an increasing extent; agrees that the GDPR also contributes to an increased global visibility of the Union legal framework; appreciates that the Supervisor has greatly contributed to creating a culture of data protection in the Union institutions and has elevated the status of data protection as a fundamental right under Article 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Is however of the opinion that the implementation of GDPR, despite harmonised rules, may be particularly challenging for small and medium sized companies (SMEs); asks the Supervisor to further alleviate the administrative burden for SMEs; ~~is interested in~~calls on the EDPS to consider the possibility of conducting a cost evaluation of the implementation of GDPR in the near future;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Calls on the Supervisor to strengthen further its efforts on ensuring that the Union institutions are able to effectively implement the data protection rules; notes that the Supervisor launched four investigations in 2019 with the objective of improving data protection practices; ~~not~~welcomes in particular the investigation into the use of Microsoft products and services by Union institutions, providing so a platform for discussion both on how to take back control over the IT services and products offered by the big IT service providers and the need to collectively create standard contracts instead of accepting the terms and conditions as they are written by these providers;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Appreciates the diligent and proactive action of the Supervisor in supervising the Union institutions’ respect to data protection; notes in particular the Supervisor’s investigation into the use of NationBuilder, a US-based political campaigning company, to process personal data as part of the Parliament’s activities relating to the 2019 European election, as well as the orientations issued on the use of body temperature checks by EU institutions in the context of the COVID-19;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that at the end of 2014, the Supervisor counted 55 members of staff compared to 96 at the end of 2019, which signifies almost a doubling in the number of staff; is aware that the Supervisor's budget is mostly administrative, with a large amount being used for expenditure relating to persons, buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous running costs; acknowledges that a substantial part of the staff are contract staff which are employed for a temporary period, such as replacement of staff on maternity leaves or implementation of specific actions;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Notes a substantial increase of contract agents from 2013 to 2019 (from 12 to 31) compared to officials in the same period (from 45 to 58); acknowledges the interest of using contract agents in terms of cost-efficiency and flexibility but asks the Supervisor to reflect on offering professional prospects to its staff and retaining specialised knowledge in the institution;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Notes that the Supervisor acknowledges the stronger burden on senior and middle management and, subsequently, on case officers due to the absence of an Assistant Supervisor while the new Regulation (EC) 2018/1725 was entering into force; calls on the institution to re-examine its organisational chart and reports back on the budgetary authority;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Observes that the Supervisor staff consists of 19 Union nationalities and has a gender representation of 39 % male staff and 61 % female staff in 2019; notes that the most important actions supporting gender equality were the nominations at middle management level (one male and three female heads of unit); notes further the introduction of greater flexibility as concerns remote working; calls attention to the fact that women use the flexible working arrangement much more often than men; appreciates an equal opportunity clause, included both in the recruitment materials and vacancy notice, stating that the Supervisor is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from those with disabilities;

Amendment 9 #