2021/2144(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Underlines the important role of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation ('Europol')('the Agency') in supporting Member States' criminal investigations, as well as in the prevention and combating of terrorism, cybercrime and other serious and organised forms of crime across the Union;

Amendment 10 #

Malin BJÖRK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Notes that the current proportion of women on the Europol Management Board is 11 out of 54 members (20.3%); underlines that Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794 (enter footnote) requires that the principle of a balanced gender representation on the Management Board shall also be taken into account; asks the Agency to take measures ensuring better gender balance within its senior management; footnote: Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and replacing and repealing Council Decisions 2009/371/JHA, 2009/934/JHA, 2009/935/JHA, 2009/936/JHA and 2009/968/JHA (OJ L 135, 24.5.2016, p. 53)

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Welcomes the fact that the Agency correctly implemented the Court's recommendations regarding the minimum threshold for the technical award criterion most relevant to quality, and the checks of the accuracy of underlying prices and of the calculation of discounts applied for the non-standard items;

Amendment 12 #

Malin BJÖRK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Notes that on 30 April 2019, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) decided to open an own initiative inquiry on the use of Big Data Analytics by the Agency for purposes of strategic and operational analysis (case 2019- 0370); further notes that in line with Regulation (EU)2016/794, the EDPS has the task of supervising the lawfulness of personal data processing by the Agency as of 1 May 2017; notes that in the context of its inquiry, the EDPS admonished the Agency in September 2020 for the continued storage of large volumes of data with no Data Subject Categorisation, where no link to criminal activity can be established, thereby posing a risk to individuals’ fundamental rights; reminds that while some measures have been put in place by the Agency since then, the Agency has not complied with the EDPS requests to define an appropriate data retention period to filter and to extract the personal data permitted for analysis under Regulation (EU) 2016/794; highlights that this means that the Agency was keeping this data for longer than necessary, contrary to the principles of data minimisation and storage limitation, enshrined in Regulation (EU) 2016/794; further notes that on 21 December 2021, the EDPS decided to order the Agency, in accordance with Article 43(3)(e) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794, to delete data concerning individuals with no established link to a criminal activity within six months, concluding the inquiry launched in 2019;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Welcomes the measures implemented by the Agency to maintain efficiency in managing procurement procedures and related activities, including placing urgent orders to cover exceptional needs required by the pandemic and amending various contracts in order to adjust the risks linked to the pandemic;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes the creation of the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre to support activities of national authorities by providing operational and strategic assistance and the creation of the Europol Innovation Lab;deleted

Amendment 15 #

Charlie WEIMERS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. ~~Welcomes~~Takes note of the creation of the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre intended to support activities of national authorities by providing operational and strategic assistance ~~and the creation of the Europol Innovation Lab~~;

Amendment 16 #

Sophia IN 'T VELD, Michal ŠIMEČKA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Calls on the Agency 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 the Agency and third parties is required to ensure enhanced transparency; strongly regrets that the Agency would carry on meetings and invite firms currently under judicial prosecution and whose activities are deemed illegal by national data protection authorities to its events and conferences;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Takes note of the admonishment to the Agency by the EDPS in September 2020 for the processing of large datasets about people who have not been linked to a crime, which did not comply with Regulation (EU) 2016/794; takes note of the Action Plan sent by the Agency, outlining the measures intended to strengthen the Agency’s data review activities, scrutinised and commented by the EDPS; highlights that the Agency must fully comply with its fundamental rights obligations under Union law while maintaining its operational capabilities;

Amendment 18 #

Charlie WEIMERS

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes and congratulates the French Gendarmerie as well as French and Dutch judicial authorities on their work to enable the takedown of multiple criminal operations in Member States by providing access to the encrypted phone service EncroChat; takes note of the Agency's JIT and the operational task force consisting of 13 countries which contributed to multiple successful law enforcement operations;

Amendment 19 #

4 a. Notes with satisfaction the Agency’s cooperation with other agencies, especially European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, European Anti-Fraud Office, European Agency for Law Enforcement Training, and International Atomic Energy Agency; calls on the Agency to continue further in exploring possibilities for cooperation with other agencies;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors ('the Court') has declared the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the ~~European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) ('the Agency')~~Agency for the financial year 2020 to be legal and regular in all material aspects and that its financial position on 31 December 2020 is fairly presented; highlights the fact that the Agency’s budget increased from EUR 169 million to EUR 183 million (+8.3%) and that its staff increased from 837 to 884 members of staff (+5.6%) compared to 2019;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes the working arrangement on cooperative relations between the European Anti-Fraud Office and the Agency signed in 2020, as well as the working arrangement establishing cooperative relations between the European Prosecutor's Office and the Agency approved in 2020;

Amendment 21 #

Malin BJÖRK

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Requests the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to postpone its decision on granting the discharge until the Agency has complied with the order of the EDPS in cases 2019-0370 & 2021-0699;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes the enhanced cooperation between the Agency and the European Anti-Fraud Office and the signature of a working arrangement with the Office on 8 October 2020;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Deeply regrets that the Agency was not able to remedy with its Action plan to the requests made by the EDPS in its inquiry which started in April 2019 and covered 2020; calls on the Agency to remedy to all of these issues as soon as possible and within the strict time limit proposed by the EDPS; recalls it is not the first time that the Agency is facing major issues related to data protection;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Welcomes the fact that the Agency correctly implemented the Court's recommendations regarding the minimum threshold for technical award criterion most relevant to quality and the check of the accuracy of underlying prices and calculation of discounts applied to non- standard items;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Recognizes the Agency´s contribution to prevent, respond and combat organized crime, to prosecute crimes against the financial interest of the Union, and to support Member states in their investigations and prosecutions;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Calls on the Agency to ensure gender balance and diversity on the Management board and amongst the staff of the Agency;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Expresses deep concern about the EDPS admonishment of September 2020 on the Agency's “bigdata challenge”, according to which, there was a “high likelihood that Europol continually processes personal data on individuals for whom it is not allowed to do so”, and that this is in breach of the Agency’s regulation; recalls that, according to the order issued by the EDPS as a follow-up action and given the unsatisfactory answer by the Agency, the Agency must delete personal data that cannot be linked to a criminal investigation; recognises the important role of the EDPS in monitoring and ensuring compliance with data protection rules by Union institutions, bodies and agencies such the Agency; regrets that the answer by the Agency to the EDPS admonishment was unsatisfactory and recalls the importance of complying with applicable legislation; notes with concern the allegations that the Agency keeps at least 4 petabytes of personal data, which is equivalent to 3m CD-Roms or a fifth of the entire contents of the US Library of Congress; underlines the concerns raised by data protection advocates regarding the volume of information held on the Agency’s systems, which according to them, amounts to mass surveillance and, therefore, similar practices compared to the US National Security Agency (NSA); urges the Agency to ensure compliance with the EDPS’ order and recommendations;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Notes that the current proportion of women on the Agency's Management Board is still 12 out of 53 members (22.6%); recalls that pursuant to Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794 the principle of a balanced gender representation on the Management Board shall be taken into account; takes note that members of the management board are subject to nomination and appointment by Member States authorities; calls on the relevant national authorities to take into consideration improving the gender balance when appointing management board members; welcomes the Agency's commitment to increasing the gender balance of its staff, especially in managerial positions; notes the 5% increase in 2020 of the percentage of female staff members in Head of Unit and equivalent or higher positions, bringing the total percentage to 21%; encourages the Agency to continue on this positive trend and further improve the gender balance in these posts;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Notes the gender balance reported for 2020 for senior and middle management being 149 men (82,78%) and 31 women (17,22%), the management board with 42 men (79,25%) and 11 women (20,75%) and staff with 413 men (71,83%) and 162 women (28,17%); reminds the Member States to consider gender balance when nominating members to the management board;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Highlights that the number of operations grew from 1 921 in 2019 to 2 315 in 2020 (+24 %) and that operational meetings funded by the Agency decreased from over 500 in 2019 to 280 in 2020 (- 44%), which underline the impact of COVID-19 on its work;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Recommends the Committee on Budgetary Control to postpone granting the discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2020, until the Agency provides a satisfactory answer to the EDPS regarding the big data challenge and presents the European Parliament with a clear explanation about the facts as well as an action plan to address those concerns;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Acknowledges the Agency's immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of decisive measures to prevent further spread and ensure the safety of its staff;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4 e. Acknowledges the importance of the Agency’s role in the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the Union and underlines its commitment to follow up on future security cooperation;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)

4 f. Notes the decision of the EDPS to request the Agency to delete data concerning individuals with no established link to a criminal activity (Data Subject Categorisation); notes that the EDPS has been in a dialogue with the Agency about this matter and that the Agency has been given 12 months to comply with the order to proceed with DSC for all datasets existing on the day of the EDPS decision and six months from the date of reception of new datasets; notes the Agency's stated commitment to the highest standards of data protection, noting that Regulation (EU) 2016/794 does not contain an explicit provision regarding a maximum time period to determine the DSC and that the decision of the EDPS will impact the Agency's ability to analyse complex and large datasets at the request of the Union's law enforcement, since the Agency's work frequently entails a period longer than six months; calls on the Agency and the Legislator, where appropriate, to find ways to comply with and address the EDPS' concerns;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Deeply r~~Regrets that late payments were issued by the Agency in 33% of the cases in 2020 and that EUR 12 000 of interest was incurred as a consequence of those late payments; notes that in 2020 the value of invoices paid late represented 3% of all payments made in 2020 (4.6% in 2019); notes that the Agency has explained this issue in the context of continued understaffing, affecting infrastructure areas in particular, including financial administration, and that this situation has been worsened by the pandemic; welcomes the mitigation actions taken by the Agency to prioritise high-value payments; notes that the Agency is currently taking actions regarding this outstanding observation; calls on the Agency to increase its efforts in this area in order to avoid reputational risk;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Deeply regrets the observation by the Court that the Agency failed to make payments within prescribed terms as laid down in the Financial Regulation; notes with regret that late payments were issued by the Agency in 33% of the cases in 2020 and that EUR 12 000 of interest was incurred as a consequence of those late payments; expresses concern that, according to the Court, similar levels of delays were observed in 2019, 2018 and 2017; notes that the Agency has explained this issue in the context of continued understaffing, affecting infrastructure areas in particular; notes that the Agency is currently taking actions regarding this outstanding observation; calls on the Agency to increase its efforts in this area in order to avoid reputational risk;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Deeply regrets that late payments were issued by the Agency in 33% of the cases in 2020 and that EUR 12 000 of interest was incurred as a consequence of those late payments; notes that the Agency has explained this issue in the context of continued understaffing, affecting infrastructure areas in particular; notes that the Agency ~~is currently taking actions regarding this outstanding observation; calls on the Agency~~’s reply to the Court´s observations, however, does not address the structural character of late payments; calls on the Agency to identify origin of delays connected to these payments and to increase its efforts in this area in order to avoid financial and reputational risk;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Underlines that the continuous increase in workload and demand by the Member State authorities needs to be met by adequate levels of staff; notes that the Agency received an increase of its establishment plan by 14 temporary agent positions; calls on the Commission to engage into an active dialogue with the Agency in order to understand and meet the Agency’s long term needs in terms of human resources;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Note~~Regrets that the Agency ishas not yet address~~ing~~ed the 2019 Court’s finding relating to the weaknesses in contract management and ex ante controls linked to the fact that the Agency irregularly prolonged again the duration of a framework contract for the provision of business travel services by signing an amendment after the contract had expired; recalls that this was a further amendment signed to the same contract in 2018 and notes that although a new framework contract for business travel services entered in force in 2019, the Agency decided to extend the old contract; takes note of the Agency's commitment to have an internal audit on contract management in 2021 with a view to obtaining additional assurance on its contract management arrangements; calls on the Agency to ~~improv~~ensure the regularity of transactions;

Amendment 9 #