2021/2108(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. Whereas the applicable provisions of the Financial Regulation and Parliament's Rules of Procedure establish the power to grant discharge in order to maintain transparency and to ensure democratic accountability towards Union taxpayers;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Regrets the Council’s continuing refusal to engage in loyal cooperation in the framework of the discharge procedure for more than a decade, which prevents Parliament making an informed decision, and its lack of respect for Parliament’s role as guarantor of the democratic accountability of the Union budget;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Recalls the role of Parliament and of other institutions in the discharge procedure, as provided for by TFEU, in particular Article 319 thereof, and by the Financial Regulation, in particular Articles 260 to 263 thereof; underlines that Parliament's role is reinforced by a well-established and respected practice;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Council to implement the recommendations adopted by the European Parliament on the budget discharge procedure and to resume negotiations on the memorandum of understanding on the ~~cooperation during the budget discharge procedure~~interinstitutional cooperation on that matter; reiterates that, if those negotiations do not succeed, they should be extended to the Commission to ensure that Parliament is provided with necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commission; notes that the Commission agrees that the practice of giving discharge to each institution for their administrative expenditure should be pursued in the future;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Council to resume negotiations on the memorandum of understanding on the cooperation during the budget discharge procedure; reiterates that, if those negotiations do not succeed, they should be extended to the Commission to ensure that Parliament is provided with necessary information on how the Council is implementing its budget, either directly or via the Commission; considers that the Conference on the Future of Europe provides an opportunity to come forward with proposals to improve the transparency and readability of the Council’s budget for citizens;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Council to comply fully with the obligations deriving from the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management in order to guarantee democratic scrutiny by Parliament and strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the work of the Council and transparency;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Reiterates that the budget of the European Council and of the Council should be divided into two separate budgets to increase transparency, and to improve expenditure efficiency and accountability;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Recalls to mind the European Ombudsman's inquiry (OI/2/2017) and recommendations on the transparency of the Council's legislative work; considers complying with the Ombudsman's recommendations to be an important step that would enable citizens to be involved in the legislative process of the European Union and better understand it, and that this would enable the Council to comply with Parliament's requests made during discharge; calls therefore for the Council to improve legislative transparency by making a greater number of documents, including those on interinstitutional negotiations, available;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Considers that the Conference on the Future of Europe provides an opportunity to discuss proposals to enhance transparency and democratic accountability with regard to the protection of the Union’s financial interests and the Union’s accountability vis-à-vis citizens;

Amendment 18 #

Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Considers that the Conference on the Future of Europe provides an opportunity to discuss proposals to enhance transparency and democratic accountability with regard to the protection of the Union’s financial interests within the boundaries that are clearly and strictly determined by the Treaties;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Considers that the Conference on the Future of Europe ~~provides an opportunity~~gives citizens and civil society organisations the opportunity to express their views and to discuss proposals to enhance transparency and democratic accountability with regard to the protection of the Union’s financial interests;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

B b. Whereas over the course of almost twenty years Parliament has implemented the well-established and respected practice of granting discharge to all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Believes that increased transparency and a proactive approach to sharing information on the part of the Council would be conducive to a better- informed discharge procedure from the outset;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Reiterates its full endorsement of the European Ombudsman’s recommendation in Case OI/2/2017/TE on the transparency of the Council legislative process, following its strategic inquiry; urges the Council to take all necessary measures to implement that recommendation without undue delay;

Amendment 22 #

Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines that ~~while~~ the current situation could be improved through better interinstitutional cooperation within the Treaties framework, the revision of the Treaties could be considered 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 individuallyframework of the Treaties.

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines that while the current situation could be improved through better interinstitutional cooperation within the ~~Treaties~~ framework, of the Treaties, a revision of the Treaties could be considered in order to render the discharge procedure more clear and transparent, in the sense that the Parliament is tasked with the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions and bodies individually.

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines that while the current situation could be improved through better interinstitutional cooperation within the ~~Treaties~~ framework, of the Treaties, a revision of the Treaties ~~could be considered in order~~is necessary to render the discharge procedure more clear, for example by giving the ~~sense that the Parliament is tasked with~~European Parliament the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions and bodies individually.

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Regrets that the budget of the European Council and of the Council has not been divided into two separate budgets, as recommended by Parliament in its recent discharge resolutions, in order to improve transparency and accountability of each institution.

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Regrets the lack of information on the implementation of the Council’s gender action plan and of the measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities at the Council as a workplace; calls on the Council to provide information on the proportion of staff with disabilities, geographical and gender distribution, and measures taken in order to ensure equal opportunities, geographical balance and gender equality at the Council;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Regrets the use of corporate sponsorship to cover some of the expenses incurred by Member States to finance their Council Presidency; is highly concerned by the possible reputational damage that this practice might cause to the Council and to the Union; urges for the adoption of clear guidelines aimed at preventing situations of conflicts of interest and for the definition of transparent and binding rules on sponsorship;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Regrets that reporting by the Council on measures taken to improve legislative transparency remains less than satisfactory and reiterates its call on the Council to step up its transparency efforts by, inter alia, publishing Council working documents in a machine-readable format, by recording and publishing Member States’ positions and making available more trilogue documents;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4 e. Considers that the lack of cooperation from the European Council and from the Council with the discharge authority sends a negative signal to citizens of the Union;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management concluded in December 2020 between the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council provides for rules on cooperation between the institutions on the budget, in line with the principles of budget discipline and sound financial management; whereas the aforesaid agreement is binding on the institutions that signed it and entails budget cooperation and transparency obligations;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

C a. Whereas the European Council and the Council, as Union institutions, should be democratically accountable towards the citizens of the Union, in so far as they are beneficiaries of the general budget of the Union;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

C a. Whereas democratic scrutiny of the spending of public funds is vital if citizens are to have confidence in the functioning of the institutions;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)

Cb. whereas the 2018 recommendations of the European Ombudsman in case OI/2/2017/TE found that the Council's practices in regard to transparency in the legislative process constituted maladministration; whereas the Council did not comply with these recommendations which would have enabled citizens to follow the EU's legislative process;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)

C b. Whereas the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union confirms the right of taxpayers and of the public to be kept informed about the use of public revenues;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)

C c. Whereas, pursuant to Article 15(1) of the Treaty on the European Union, the European Council is not to exercise legislative functions;

Amendment 9 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. RCalls for full respect of Parliament's prerogatives and regrets the Council’s continuing refusal to engage in loyal cooperation in the framework of the discharge procedure, which prevents Parliament making an informed decision, and its lack of respect for Parliament’s role as guarantor of the democratic accountability of the Union budget;

source: 700.546

2022/02/03 CONT 46 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Gilles BOYER, Michal WIEZIK, Olivier CHASTEL

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 2020 /~~ 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 2020;

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Recalls that key performance indicators are a widely recognized tool for measuring achievement against targets; calls on the Council to provide summaries of its key performance indicators and the related results in its management reports;

Amendment 11 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

20. Regrets the lack of information on the implementation of the Council’s gender action plan and the measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities at the Council as a workplace; calls on the Council to provide information to the budgetary authority on gender balance, geographical distribution and disabilities of its members of staff and on the related internal policies in force;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Regrets the lack of information on the ~~implementation of the Council’s gender action plan and the~~ measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities at the Council as a workplace; calls on the Council to provide information on ~~gender balance,~~ geographical distribution and disabilities of its members of staff and on the related internal policies in force;

Amendment 13 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Gilles BOYER, Michal WIEZIK, Olivier CHASTEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Recalls its resolution of 17 December 2020 on the need for a dedicated Council configuration on gender equality2 as a dedicated institutional forum to ensure stronger integration of gender equality in Union strategies, coordination of all related policies and progress in the main files related to gender equality, as well as harmonisation of the protection of women’s rights and gender equality; regrets that the Council has thus far ignored this call of Parliament; _________________ 2 OJ C 445, 29.10.2021, p. 150.

Amendment 14 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Recalls its resolution of 17 December 2020 on the need for a dedicated Council configuration on gender equality2as a dedicated institutional forum to ensure stronger integration of gender equality in Union strategies, coordination of all related policies and progress in the main files related to gender equality, as well as harmonisation of the protection of women’s rights and gender equality; _________________ 2 OJ C 445, 29.10.2021, p. 150.deleted

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Recalls that the Council appoints the members of the Court after consultation with Parliament and understands the difficulties in achieving gender balance as nomination of candidates is the sole responsibility of the Member States and each Member State can only nominate one candidate at a time; finds it unacceptable, however, that the Court has had only 16 female members out of a total of 112 members since its establishment in 1977 (85,7 % male and 14,3 % female) and that in 2020 the Court had only 8 female members compared to 18 male members; strongly calls on the Council to tackle this problem with concrete actions, such as presenting Parliament with at least two candidates from each Member State, one being a woman and one being a man;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Welcomes the political agreement on the Transparency Register for interest representatives, reached by Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 15 December 2020; emphasises the importance for the Council, including the Member States’ representatives, of harmonising, improving and enforcing the existing ethics rules, in particular with regard to conflicts of interest, revolving doors and lobby transparency rules; regrets, however, that the Transparency Register does not apply to the Member States representatives working through the Council, who are heavily lobbied;

Amendment 17 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Gilles BOYER, Michal WIEZIK, Olivier CHASTEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Welcomes the political agreement on the Transparency Register for interest representatives, reached by Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 15 December 2020; ~~emphasises the importance for~~urges the Council, including the Member States’ representatives, tof harmonis~~ing~~e, improv~~ing~~e and enforc~~ing~~e the existing ethics rules, in particular with regard to conflicts of interest, revolving doors and lobby transparency rules;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a. Welcomes the fact that the status of the Council has changed from that of an observer to that of a formal party to the new Interinstitutional Agreement1a on a mandatory Transparency register; reminds, nevertheless, of the European Parliament decision of 27 April 2021 on the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register1b, which in its paragraph 5 considers that the Council's participation is limited to meetings with the most senior officials, and, under voluntary schemes only, meetings of the Permanent Representatives and Deputy Permanent Representatives during their presidency and six months before; insists that for the credibility of the joint framework all Permanent Representations should take an active part in it through voluntary schemes, continue to apply such voluntary schemes after their presidency has ended and extend them, insofar as this is possible, to other officials; _________________ 1aInterinstitutional Agreement of 20 May 2021 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register (OJ L 207, 11.6.2021, p. 1). 1b OJ C 506, 15.12.2021, p. 127.

Amendment 19 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a. Expresses its concern that legislative files are increasingly escalated to the European Council which has neither a legislative nor an executive function, does not apply the same transparency standards as the Council and is not being held accountable;

Amendment 2 #

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Regrets the use of corporate sponsorship to cover some of the expenses incurred by Member States to finance their Council presidency; reiterates its concern with respect to the possible reputational damage that such practice might cause to the Council and to the Union; regrets that a common set of clear, concrete and binding rules has not been set out in the guidance on sponsorship included in 2021 in the Council ‘s Presidency Handbook; reiterates its call on the Council to examine budgeting the Council Presidency; reiterates that any actual or perceived conflict of interests jeopardises the reputation of the Council and the Union as a whole; asks the Council explore the possibility of providing permanent support staff to the Council presidencies in order to ensure continuity and efficiency of the working process;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)

27 a. Reminds of the petition launched by the Corporate Europe Observatory, Observatoires des Multinationales and foodwatch, urging the French government to decline any sponsorship offers when taking on the rotating Council presidency in 2022;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Is aware of the Council’s key role in nomination and appointment procedures for the Union institutions and bodies, in particular for the European Council, the Commission, the Court and the consultative Committees (the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committees); strongly recommends considering a review of that role with a view to guaranteeing and strengthening the democratic participation of relevant stakeholders; regrets that the Council repeatedly failed to take into consideration the recommendations of the Parliament in its consultative role regarding the appointment of the members of the Court;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Is aware of the Council’s key role in nomination and appointment procedures for the Union institutions and bodies, in particular ~~for~~the President of the European Council, the ~~Commission, the Court and the consultative Committees (~~President of the Commission, the members of the Court, and the members of both the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committees); strongly recommends ~~considering~~ a review of th~~at rol~~e exercise of that prerogative with a view to guaranteeing and strengthening the democratic participation of relevant stakeholders;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Is reminded of the Court's statement in its Special Report no 13/2019: The ethical frameworks of the audited EU institutions: scope for improvement that ethical conduct “contributes to sounder financial management and increased public trust, which is indispensable if public policies are to succeed” and, in particular, that “any unethical behaviour by staff and Members of the EU institutions attracts high levels of public interest and reduces trust in the EU”; makes a strong calls on the Council, therefore, to avoid the appointment of candidates who represent a reputational risk for the Union as a whole, taking into account, in particular, existing investigations by the European Anti- Fraud Office (OLAF), legal proceedings underway against them anrespect the opinions of Parliament, especially when they contain negative advice on the appointment of candidates who represent a potential damage to the credibility of the Union, for instance due to insufficient professional competence or established une~~gative recommendations by Parliament or the Commission~~thical behaviour;

Amendment 26 #

Joachim KUHS, Jean-François JALKH, Matteo ADINOLFI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Is reminded of the Court's statement in its Special Report no 13/2019: The ethical frameworks of the audited EU institutions: scope for improvement that ethical conduct “contributes to sounder financial management and increased public trust, which is indispensable if public policies are to succeed” and, in particular, that “any unethical behaviour by staff and Members of the EU institutions attracts high levels of public interest and reduces trust in the EU”; calls on the Council, therefore, to ~~avoid~~reject the appointment of candidates who represent a reputational risk for the Union as a whole, taking into account, in particular, existing investigations by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), legal proceedings underway against them and negative recommendations by Parliament or the Commission;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)

29 a. Seriously questions the need of the Council to hire a sports physiotherapist- coach for the GSC's sports centre and fitness room right before the second lockdown in Europe during which all gyms and sport activities were prohibited for the citizens of Europe; underlines that according to the tender1a the main mission of the sports physiotherapist- coach consisted in the supervision of all users of the fitness room, including the proposal of individual programmes tailored to specific requests and needs, as well as the provision of advice; _________________ 1a https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTI CE:473412-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML

Amendment 28 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Gilles BOYER, Michal WIEZIK, Olivier CHASTEL

30. Reiterates its full endorsement of the Ombudsman’s recommendations on transparency of the Council legislative process, following the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry (Case OI/2/2017/TE) and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on transparency and access to documents; believes that compliance with the Ombudsman's recommendations would enable citizens to be more involved and to better understand Union law making; welcomes the measures adopted by the Council in July 2020 to strengthen legislative transparency in line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations, including the proactive publication of progress reports on negotiations on draft legislative acts as well as the Council mandate for negotiations with Parliament; regrets, however, that the decision- making process in the Council is still far from transparent; calls therefore on the Council to implement the relevant CJEU rulings according to their letter and spirit and not to circumvent them; urges the Council to keep taking all the necessary measures to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations and the CJEU rulings without undue delay;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Shares the Court’s concern about the absence of a common Union ethical framework governing the work of Member States’ representatives in the Council, expressed in the Court’s Special Report no 13/2019; recalls the Council’s obligation to deal with and resolve high-level conflicts of interest, and revolving doors and to extend the existing mandatory lobby transparency rules;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Regrets, despite the Court's general consideration, that its audit has a rather limited scope and conclusions; requests that the audit work for the chapter on Administration be more focused on issues that are of high relevance or even critical for the European Council and the Council;

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)

32 a. Strongly reiterates its call on the Council to bring the code of conduct for the President of the European Council in line with those of Parliament and the Commission in order to have rules in place to approve activities related to Union legislation after the President of the European Council leaves his or her post;

Amendment 31 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Gilles BOYER, Michal WIEZIK, Olivier CHASTEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Supports the Ombudsman’s remarks on the need to improve legislative transparency by recording and making the Member States’ positions more accessible ~~and by making more trilogue documents available;~~ , which has already been established in 2013 by CJEU case law1a, and by making more trilogue documents available; _________________ 1a Judgment of the Court of Justice of 17 October 2013, Council of the European Union v Access Info Europe, C-280/11 P, ECLI:EU:C:2013:671

Amendment 32 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU, Alin MITUȚA, Michal WIEZIK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Supports the Ombudsman’s remarks on the need to improve legislative transparency by recording and making the Member States’ positions more accessible and by making more trilogue documents available; in a machine-readable format;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. Reiterates its call on the Council to use open-source technology in order to prevent vendor lock-in, to retain control over its own technical systems, to provide stronger safeguards for the privacy and data protection of the users, and to increase security and transparency for the public;

Amendment 34 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. Encourages the Council to prioritise open source technology in order to retain control over its own technical systems, avoid dependency and vendor lock-in, provide stronger safeguards for user’s privacy and data protection, and increase security and transparency for the public;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. Encourages the Council to maintain control over its own technical systems, provide stronger safeguards for privacy and increase security and transparency for the public;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

~~35.~~ Observes that the Council’s ~~35.~~ buildings policy since 2004 aims to ultimately accommodate all its activities in Brussels in geographically concentrated buildings under its ownership; encourages the Council to adjust its building strategy in order to take into ~~into~~ account the working arrangements that will likely become part of long-lasting or permanent working modes, in particular with regard to (shared spaces or multipurpose areas);

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Notes the increased audience on several social media platforms from 2019 to 2020 with an increase of 39 % in visits to the Council’s website, approximately 443 000 followers on Facebook (an increase of 8 %), approximately 561 000 followers on Twitter (an increase of 22 %) and approximately 167 000 followers on Instagram (an increase of 37 %); observes that there were more than 16 million visits to the Council’s website in 2020; encourages the Council to establish a presence on free and open-source social media networks, such as Mastodon, to achieve further transparency and broader outreach to Union citizens;

Amendment 38 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Notes the increased audience on several social media platforms from 2019 to 2020 with ~~an increase of 39 % in visits to the Council’s website,~~ approximately 443 000 followers on Facebook (an increase of 8 %), approximately 561 000 followers on Twitter (an increase of 22 %) and approximately 167 000 followers on Instagram (an increase of 37 %); observes ~~that there were more than 16 million visits to the Council’s website~~an increase of 39 % in visits to the Council’s website, reaching more than 16 million visits in 2020;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Emphasises Parliament's prerogative to grant discharge pursuant to Article 319 ~~TFEU~~of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as well as the applicable provisions of the Financial Regulation and Parliament’s Rules of Procedure~~; reiterates that this prerogative allows the Union to maintain transparency, democratic scrutiny and~~ in line with current interpretation and practice, namely, the power to grant discharge in order to maintain transparency and to ensure democratic accountability towards Union taxpayers;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Understands that the Council’s budget is mostly administrative with a large part of it being used for expenditure in relation to staff, buildings (including furniture and equipment) and miscellaneous running costs; reiterates its call, made in previous resolutions on the budget, for separate budgets for the European Council and the Council in order to improve transparency, accountability and expenditure efficiency for both institutions;

Amendment 40 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

45. Stresses the well-established and respected practice followed by Parliament over the course of almost twenty years of granting discharge to all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; recalls that the Commission has declared its inability to oversee the implementation of the budgets of the other institutions; stresses the reiterated view of the Commission that the practice of giving discharge to each institution for their administrative expenditure should continue to be pursued directly by Parliament;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

Amendment 42 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. Stresses that the current situation, where Parliament can only check the reports of the Court and of the European Ombudsman as well as the information on the Council’s website but does not receive written or oral answers from the Council during the annual discharge procedure, i.e., the Council refuses to collaborate with Parliament in the context of the annual ~~budgetary~~ discharge procedure, makes it impossible for Parliament to make an informed decision on granting discharge, and that this has a lasting negative effect on both institutions and discredits the management and democratic scrutiny of the Union budget; regrets the Council’s continuing refusal to engage in loyal cooperation in the framework of the discharge procedure that has lasted for more than a decade;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. ~~Stress~~Deplores that the ~~current situation, where the Council refuse~~Council for more than a decade has shown that it does not have any political willingness to collaborate with Parliament in the context of the annual budgetary discharge procedure, which makes it impossible for Parliament to make an informed decision on granting discharge~~, and~~; underlines that this attitude has had a lasting negative effect on both institutions and has discreditsed the management and democratic scrutiny of the Union budget; and on the trust of citizens in the Union as a transparent entity; deeply regrets the Council’s continuing refusal to engage in loyal cooperation in the framework of the discharge procedure that has lasted for more than a decade; refuses therefore, at this time, to grant discharge to the Council;

Amendment 44 #

Ryszard CZARNECKI, Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO, Elżbieta RAFALSKA, Joachim Stanisław BRUDZIŃSKI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48

48. Believes that a revision of the Treaties is necessary to streamline the discharge procedure, making it clearer and more transparent, especially by giving Parliament the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions, bodies, offices and agencies individually;deleted

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48

48. ~~Believes that a revision of the Treaties is necessary to streamline~~In respect of the Council's specific role as an institution giving recommendations on the discharge procedure, ~~making it clearer and more transparent, especially by giving Parliament the explicit competence to grant discharge to all institutions, bodies, offices and agencies individually~~reiterates its requests to the Council to give discharge recommendations with respect to the other Union institutions;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49

49. ~~Regrets~~Considers it unacceptable that the COVID-19 pandemic and the exceptional situation experienced have been used as an excuse for not resuming interinstitutional negotiations on the discharge procedure; remains nevertheless convinced that an agreement on this matter is possible ~~and, therefore, calls~~if the Council were to show any political willingness to collaborate; calls, therefore, on the Council to resume negotiations without undue delay in order to find a solution in the current framework of the discharge procedure ~~while securing the differentiation and respect of the respective roles of Parliament and the Council~~if it is interested in showing Union citizens that it takes proper budget control and transparency seriously;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Understands that the Council’s budget is mostly administrative with a large part of it being used for expenditure in relation to staff, buildings (including furniture and equipment) and miscellaneous running costs; reiterates its repeated calls for separate budgets for the European Council and the Council in order to improve transparency, accountability and expenditure efficiency for both institutions;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Notes an increase in the carry-over of appropriations from 2020 to 2021 (12,6 % in comparison to 9,8 %, from 2019 to 2020); reminds the Council that carry- overs are exceptions to the principle of annuality of the Union budget and could be an indicator of budget over-estimations and calls on the Council to step up its efforts to prevent budget overestimates;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Notes that in 2020 the Court examined, without remarks, the public procurement procedures organised by the Council and three other Union institutions to acquire personal protective equipment for its members of staff which included strict minimum requirements in the tender specification such as European reference quality standards; is aware that in four cases the successful bidder did not include full evidence that all minimum quality requirements were met at the time of contracting, leading the Council to organise laboratory tests that showed that the personal protective equipment was indeed compliant;

Amendment 8 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Ramona STRUGARIU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Welcomes the improvements in the GSC’s internal organisation, focusing in particular on dealing with the working limitations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic situation, such as an increase of the platforms and bandwidth for teleworking activities and the installation of appropriate videoconferencing equipment in small meeting rooms to facilitate hybrid meetings; regrets, however, that there are very few access codes provided to Member States representatives to join the Council meetings remotely, hindering the efficient work of some Member States representations to the Union;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Notes that the European Council faced less disruption of its usual (preparatory) tasks compared to Parliament and the Council, because the permanent representatives mostly remained in Brussels during the early phase of the pandemic; notes that the European Council therefore had relatively more leeway and strength to push for its interests compared to the other institutions;

source: 703.192

2022/09/07 CONT 8 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Alin MITUȚA, Michal WIEZIK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Deplores the fact that the Council is still refusing to cooperate with regard to the discharge procedure, forcing Parliament to refuse discharge;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Recalls and supports the Ombudsman recommendations on the transparency of the legislative process in the Council; regrets that the decision- making process in the Council is still far from fully transparent~~; ask~~, affecting the citizens' trust in the Union as a transparent entity and thereby jeopardising the reputation of the Union as a whole; urges the Council to take all the necessary measures to implement the Ombudsman recommendations and the relevant rulings of the Court of Justice without undue delay;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Expresses its concern about the increasing role of the European Council on the legislative files in spite of the fact that this institution has neither a legislative nor an executive function and is not being held accountable because it does not apply the same transparency standards as the Council; regrets the fact that the Transparency Register applies to the Member States’ Permanent Representatives only under voluntary schemes and insists that all Permanent Representations should take an active part in it during and after their Member State’s Council presidency; believes that the existing ethics rules on conflicts of interest, revolving doors and lobby transparency should be strengthened and harmonised; encourages the Council to join the Transparency Register scheme and calls on the Council to refuse to meet with unregistered lobbyists;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Regrets that the Code of conduct of the President of the European Council has not been brought in line with those of Parliament and the Commission, in particular in terms of activities to be approved after he or she leaves the post, and this despite several requests by Parliament;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Recalls that under Article 319 of the TFEU Parliament exercises its prerogatives in the discharge procedures and has the sole responsibility of granting discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the Union, and that the budget of the European Council and of the Council is a section of the Union budget;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Recalls that, as an institution giving recommendations on the discharge procedure, the Council should do so in a more timely manner and with respect for all the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Believes that the Council's failure to cooperate with the discharge authority breaches the principle of sincere cooperation among the institutions and sends a negative sign to the public, undermining their trust in the EU when it comes to transparency and democratic responsibility;

Amendment 8 #