2021/2143(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes that the Court of Auditors (the 'Court') has declared the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) for the financial year 2020 to be legal and regular in all material respects and that its financial position at 31 December 2020 is fairly presented;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes the close cooperation with Union and international partners, including the Commission ~~and OLAF~~, OLAF and other Justice and Home Affairs agencies; highlights the progress in the collaboration between Eurojust and the EPPO and welcomes the negotiation of the working agreement to govern their future relations; welcomes the participation of Eurojust in the EU Victims’ Rights Platform;

Amendment 11 #

Charlie WEIMERS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes the close cooperation with Union and international partners, including the Commission and OLAF; highlights th~~e progress in the~~at collaboration between Eurojust and the EPPO ~~and welcomes the negotiation of the working agreement to govern their future relations~~must fully respect Member States who chose to not join the EPPO; welcomes the participation of Eurojust in the EU Victims’ Rights Platform;

Amendment 12 #

Charlie WEIMERS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes the Danish Contribution of EUR 851 499 to Eurojust's 2020 budget in accordance with the Agreement on Criminal Justice Cooperation between Eurojust and the Kingdom of Denmark signed in 2019; welcomes that Denmark, which is not a Member of Eurojust, under the agreement may second a representative to Eurojust to coordinate its criminal investigations and prosecutions with other Member States as well as third countries that have a cooperation agreement with Eurojust;

Amendment 13 #

Saskia BRICMONT

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Calls on Eurojust to take measures to ensure full compliance with Union transparency rules as well as with fundamental rights and data protection standards; considers that the disclosure of meetings and interactions between Eurojust and third parties is required to ensure enhanced transparency;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes that Eurojust launched a Focus Group of Prosecutors and Investigative Judges Fighting Migrant Smuggling, bringing together practitioners specialised in the field and all actors in the security and criminal justice chain to further strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Appreciates Eurojust’s participation in the digital criminal justice programme and seeking a leading role in the programme for the digitalisation and judicial operational cooperation across the Union institutions, bodies, officies and agencies and Member States;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Notes with satisfaction assessment of the internal control system made by Eurojust which concluded that all principles are implemented effectively; recommends Eurojust to address the Court’s finding, especially regarding the absence of ex-ante check on agreed prices in contracts and the invoiced rates that potentially concerns a systemic issue;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Expresses its satisfaction that Eurojust has completed the one outstanding recommendation of the Court, namely using a negotiated procurement procedure identified as not justified;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Notes the gender distribution reported for 2020 in senior and middle management is five women (50%) and five men (50%); notes that gender distribution in management board members, is nine women (34,6%) and 17 men (65,4%); notes that the staff overall is composed of 152 women (68%) and 71 men (32%); reminds the Member States to consider gender balance when nominating members to management board;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Welcomes the further operational cooperation with Frontex; expresses its satisfaction over the negotiation of a working agreement governing the future relation between Frontex and Eurojust;

Amendment 2 #

Malin BJÖRK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Notes that a number of weaknesses in Eurojust’s audited public procurement procedures have been detected; calls upon Eurojust to remedy them in accordance with Court's observations;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Welcomes the cooperation between Eurojust and eu-LISA in the context of the draft Regulation on the ECRIS-TCN;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4 e. Appreciates the efforts of Eurojust in the area of the digitalisation of criminal and judicial cooperation; notes with satisfaction the enhanced cooperation with DG JUST on Digital Criminal Justice;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)

4 f. Notes with appreciation that Eurojust strengthened its external communication capabilities by launching a new website, establishing its presence on social media video platforms and organising a virtual open day event;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)

4 g. Welcomes the role played by Eurojust in enhancing the cooperation between the Union and its Southern partner countries, by becoming the host of the new phase of the EuroMed Justice Programme;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses the essential role that Eurojust plays in supporting and coordinating the work of national judicial authorities in investigating and prosecuting ~~transnational~~cross-border and organised crime; expresses its satisfaction that Eurojust maintained full operational continuity during the COVID- 19 crisis; highlights the coordinating role that Eurojust has played in compiling and disseminating information on the main practical and legal issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as well as providing information about the impact of national measures taken in this context;

Amendment 4 #

Charlie WEIMERS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the increase in its budget in 2020 from EUR 44 million to EUR 51 million (+15.9%) and its staff from 239 to 242 (+1.3%) while noting the 13% increase of Eurojust’s casework; in 2020, 8 799 cross-border criminal investigations were handled, 4 200 of them were newly opened; welcomes that Eurojust provided legal, financial and/or operational support to 268 joint investigation teams in 2020 and facilitated the execution of 1284 European Arrest Warrants; notes that JIT expenditure amounts to less than three percent of Eurojust's budget;

Amendment 5 #

Saskia BRICMONT

3 a. Notes the observations of the Court regarding the legality and regularity of transactions of Eurojust stressing some weaknesses in public procurement procedures; welcomes the reply by Eurojust that it will follow the Court’s recommendations; further welcomes that observations from previous years are completed;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Notes the weaknesses observed by the Court in Eurojust's audited public procurement procedures; acknowledges Eurojust's reply that it will follow the Court's guidance for future public procurement procedures, ensuring the preparation of a more robust ex-ante documentation;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Highlights the continuous increase in total number of cases supported by Eurojust in the past five years and stresses the recent trend of cases referred to Eurojust becoming more and more complex and requiring support over longer periods;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Notes the weaknesses observed by the Court in the Eurojust’s audited public procurement procedures and the weaknesses in internal control, which caused EUR 3 600 of irregular payment in 2020; notes the answer of Eurojust and calls on Eurojust to step up efforts to avoid such discrepancies in the future;

Amendment 9 #

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

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Welcomes the fact that Eurojust has completed the Court's observation from 2018 concerning the use of a negotiated procurement procedure deemed as not justified;

source: 704.534

2022/03/04 CONT 12 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1

1. Grants the Administrative Director of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2020 / Postpones its decision on granting the Administrative Director of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2020;

Amendment 10 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Regrets the fact that the CVs of senior management, external experts and in-house experts of the Agency are not published on its website; calls on the Agency to publish these CVs immediately; notes that the Agency has adopted an updated standard operating procedure on the management of conflicts of interest by Decision AD 2020- 44 of the administrative director and that no conflicts of interest were reported in 2020;

Amendment 11 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Notes that the Agency responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by activating its business continuity plan, that a business continuity team was formed, and that, based on the team’s recommendations, the administrative director adopted measures to counter the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Agency’s staff and operational processes; expresses its satisfaction that the Agency maintained full operational continuity during the COVID-19 crisis; highlights the coordinating role that Agency has played in compiling and disseminating information on the main practical and legal issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as well as providing information about the impact of national measures taken in this context; notes that the staff were expected to telework unless their job required physical presence in the Agency’s premises and that the Agency encouraged a flexible approach to the organisation of work, taking diverging staff needs into account; notes that data protection issues were considered in the assessment of IT tools and that software for secure teleworking and video- conferencing was introduced;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – subparagraph 1 (new)

Calls for buildings to be modernised in order to meet zero-emission standards, in particular by installing solar panels on all buildings belonging to the Agency;

Amendment 2 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1

1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) ~~for the financial year 2020 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust)~~ for the financial year 2020;

Amendment 3 #

Sabrina PIGNEDOLI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Notes that the Agency continued to strengthen operational cooperation and increase of referral of cases by the liaison prosecutors, resulting in 291 new cases in 2020 , representing a 17 % increase compared to 2019; ~~notes~~welcomes the fact that the Agency has reinforced the operational cooperation with its partners and third countries with the appointment of liaison prosecutors from Serbia, Georgia and Albania, and through a 4 % increase in the number of common cases; ~~further notes~~notes positively that the network of the Agency contact points increased to 55 countries with the participation of Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Kosovo; ~~notes~~is pleased that the Agency has stepped up its cooperation on criminal matters between the Union and its South partner countries by becoming the host of the new phase of the EuroMed Justice Programme;

Amendment 4 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Notes that in 2020 prosecutors from across the Union and beyond turned to the Agency for assistance in 8 799 cross- border criminal investigations, an increase of 13 % compared to 2019, and that 4 200 were new cases opened during 2020 and that 164 of these were related to the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes that the Agency provided legal, financial and operational support to 268 joint investigation teams in 2020 and facilitated the execution of 1 284 European Arrest Warrants;

Amendment 5 #

Sabrina PIGNEDOLI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Stresses the importance of the Agency having suitable human and economic resources at it disposal, not least in view of the increase in its activities;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. ~~Notes that the reported figures for~~Welcomes the achieved gender balance within the Agency for 2020 ~~are~~with 5 men and 5 women in senior and middle management, and notes with concern the uneven gender distribution with 17 men (65,4 %) and 9 women (34,6 %) in the Agency’s management board, and that the staff overall is composed of 71 men (32%) and 152 women (68%); asks the Agency to ensure gender balance at the staff level in the future; asks the Commission and the Member States to take into account the importance of ensuring gender balance when nominating their members to the Agency’s management board;

Amendment 7 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. ~~Takes note of~~Notes with appreciation the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to prevent harassment; welcomes that in 2020, the Agency offered refresher training on psychological and sexual harassment to all staff and additional training on conflict management and resolution was provided to the confidential counsellors and managers;

Amendment 8 #

Ramona STRUGARIU, Olivier CHASTEL, Gilles BOYER, Pierre KARLESKIND, Alin MITUȚA, Katalin CSEH

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, a number of weaknesses in the Agency’s audited public procurement procedures were detected; notes that in one case, where the Agency signed a framework contract with a single economic operator, the Court concluded that the use of this sort of framework contract was not appropriate for the nature of the services required (the leasing of vehicles), as the related market is subject to frequent fluctuations in price; acknowledges the Court’s observation that the Agency should have used a framework contract with a reopening of competition in order to ensure that the required services were acquired as economically as possible; notes the Agency’s reply to this observation and its commitment to prepare more robust ex- ante documentation aimed at clarifying why a certain procurement procedure has been followed; calls on the Agency to step up efforts to address such weaknesses in the future;

Amendment 9 #