2022/2102(DEC) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 c (new)

10 c. Welcomes the progress made in monitoring, reporting and providing regular indicators on EU biodiversity, marine and freshwater policy, highlighting in this context, inter alia, the publication of a report on the environmental impact of European maritime transport, produced by the EEA in cooperation with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA);

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 d (new)

10 d. Welcomes the publication of briefings and reports by the EEA addressing water scarcity, drought and water management issues in the context of advancing climate change;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 e (new)

10 e. Welcomes the support provided by the EEA in the implementation of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), including the publication of a report on the safe and sustainable by design principle;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 f (new)

10 f. Recalls the importance of the rigorous implementation of circular economy principles as one of the milestones on the road to achieving the goal of climate neutrality and gradually ending the EU's dependence on resource use for economic growth, and welcomes the EEA's activities in this area;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 g (new)

10 g. Recalls the importance of sufficiently informing the public about the risks of inaction as regards combating and adapting to climate change, welcomes the EEA's communication activities in this context, be it audiovisual content, online debates, the annual photo competition or local communication activities, and calls on the EEA to develop and, if possible, step up its activities in the upcoming period.

Amendment 2 #

Alexandr VONDRA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes ~~with satisfaction~~that thate EEA achieved excellent budget implementation in 2021, with cancelled appropriations well below the 3% threshold and that a positive budgetary outturn of EUR 171,623 is to be reimbursed to the Commission.

Amendment 3 #

Monika BEŇOVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that the EEA has 236 posts, out of which 85% are dedicated to operational activities and 15% to support; considers that, in order to properly perform the tasks on the Union’s path to climate neutrality, this number should grow in the years to come; reminds that the policy makers rely on the expertise and support of the EEA in implementing the reforms required to achieve a climate neutral future; stresses that inadequate resources for the EEA may undermine the ability of the institutions to deliver on commitments in relation to the European Green Deal;

Amendment 4 #

Michèle RIVASI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that the EEA has 236 posts, out of which 85% are dedicated to operational activities and 15% to support; considers that~~, in order to properly perform the tasks on the Union’s path to climate neutrality, this number should grow in the years to come~~ taking into account the substantial increase of workload related to the monitoring the Union’s goals for, inter alia, climate neutrality, circular economy and nature restoration, this number should grow in the years to come; recalls that according to the proposal of the Commission, for monitoring the goals of the Nature Restoration Law alone, 12 additional posts will be needed;

Amendment 5 #

Alexandr VONDRA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Notes that the EEA has 236 posts, out of which 85% are dedicated to operational activities and 15% to support; ~~considers that, in order to properly perform the tasks on the Union’s path to climate neutrality, this number should grow in the years to come;~~

Amendment 6 #

Michèle RIVASI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Notes with concern that despite the multi-year nature of EEA’s tasks, an imbalance exists concerning the numbers of permanent versus contractual posts as well as operational staff versus support staff, leading to a constant need for reskilling as well an overload of administrative work for scientists; calls on the EEA to rethink its staffing policy;

Amendment 7 #

Alexandr VONDRA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Regrets that the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’), in its annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2021, identified some minor failures on the regularity of transactions and on the sound management of contracts, notably by failing to file timely exception notes when extending framework contracts ; notes that the EEA recognises these failures and will reinforce its controls and procedures while ensuring exception notes are filed where involuntary breaches of the Finance Regulation occur;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Welcomes the fact that, despite the continuing difficult conditions associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need to carry out part of its work tasks remotely, the work of the EEA continued to be efficient, flexible and without unnecessary delays in 2021;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10 b. Highlights the fact that the EEA's key performance indicators for 2021 had a high implementation rate, with a budget implementation rate of 95.2% of the annual budget and a key reports and evaluations implementation rate of 89%;

source: 740.670

2023/02/21 CONT 9 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. StPresupposes that the European Environment Agency (EEA) provides sound, independent information on the environment; ~~commends~~notes with interest the quality of its outputs released in 2021, such as the launch of the MapMyTree tool, under the 3 billion trees commitment of the EU biodiversity strategy; the support to the negotiations on the European Climate Law and the establishment of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change; and the launch of a new web portal to support noise reporting;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Notes that the Agency uses key performance indicators aimed to monitor quantitatively the Agency's performance in relation to its operational work planning, delivery of the annual work programme and financial and human resource management, among others; notes, in particular, the 2021delivery rate of key reports and assessments of 89% achieved; appreciates the KPIs fulfilled and the fact that the Agency has drawn attention to measures that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency’s work; however points out to the Agency to take note on the indicators that are not achieved or lagging behind; recalls that according to agency’s annual report the delivery of key reports and assessments was slightly below target a total of 61 publications were planned, of which 49 were published and six carried over to 2022;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Recalls the importance to develop a long term HR policy on work-life balance, lifelong guidance and ~~career development, gender balance, teleworking, geographical balance and recruitment and integration of people with disabil~~the offer of specific training possibilities for career development, gender balance at all staff levels, teleworking, right to disconnect, the enhancement of a geographical balance to have an appropriate representation from all Member States, and the recruitment and integration of people with disabilities as well as the promotion of their equal treatment and their opportunities;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes from the Court’s report that the Agency amended a framework service contract for the provision of repair and maintenance services by doubling the initial maximum budget from €500 000 to €1 000 000, and that the justification used was the derogation applicable to negotiated procedures without prior publication, for which the conditions were not met, and that, moreover, conditions of the Financial Regulation that allow contracts to be modified without a new procurement procedure were not met; notes with concern that the Court finds that the amendment was irregular; notes, moreover, that in 2021 there were no related payments;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes with appreciation that the Agency has adopted the EEA-Eionet digitalisation framework in April 2021, undertaking a number of key activities such as the modernisation of the Agency data infrastructure and the start of projects exploring the use of artificial intelligence; welcomes that the EEA launched several new digital and knowledge products in 2021, including the European Climate and Health Observatory and the European Climate Data Explorer within the Climate-ADAPT platform and interactive web reports on air quality and climate hazards;

Amendment 6 #

28. Recalls the importance to increase the digitalisation of the agency in terms of internal operation and management but also in order to speed up the digitalisation of procedures; stresses the need for the agency to continue to be proactive in this regard in order to avoid a digital gap between the agencies ~~at all costs~~; draws attention, however, to the need to take all the necessary security measures to avoid any risk to the online security of the information processed;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Encourages the Agency to work in closely cooperation with ENISA (European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) and CERT-EU (Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU Institutions, bodies and agencies) and to carry out regular risk assessments of its IT infrastructure and to ensure regular audits and tests of its cyber defences; suggests to offer regularly updated cybersecurity- related training programmes ~~for~~to all staff members, including management, within the Agency~~. C~~; calls on the Agency to develop its cybersecurity policy swifter, delivered it before the 31st of December 2023 and report back to the discharge authority;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)

30 a. Encourages the Agency to make use of the lessons learned regarding remote and hybrid working methods, in order to better recognize meetings and tasks that are more efficient to be held and performed remotely than in-person in the future;

Amendment 9 #