# C_2019390EN.01021501.xml

| 18.11.2019 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 390/215 |
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18.11.2019

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 390/215

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P8_TA(2018)0182

Estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2019 – Section I – European Parliament

European Parliament resolution of 19 April 2018 on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2019 (2018/2001(BUD))

(2019/C 390/46)

The European Parliament,

| — | having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, |
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having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

| — | having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (1), and in particular Article 36 thereof, |
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having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (1), and in particular Article 36 thereof,

| — | having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (2), |
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having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (2),

| — | having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (3) (IIA of 2 December 2013), |
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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (3) (IIA of 2 December 2013),

| — | having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (4), |
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—

having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (4),

| — | having regard to its resolution of 5 April 2017 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2018 (5); |
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having regard to its resolution of 5 April 2017 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2018 (5);

| — | having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2017 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018 (6), |
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having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2017 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018 (6),

| — | having regard to its resolution of 30 November 2017 on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure (7), |
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having regard to its resolution of 30 November 2017 on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure (7),

| — | having regard to the Secretary-General's report to the Bureau on drawing up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for the financial year 2019, |
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having regard to the Secretary-General's report to the Bureau on drawing up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for the financial year 2019,

| — | having regard to the preliminary draft estimates drawn up by the Bureau on 16 April 2018 pursuant to Rules 25(7) and 96(1) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, |
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having regard to the preliminary draft estimates drawn up by the Bureau on 16 April 2018 pursuant to Rules 25(7) and 96(1) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure,

| — | having regard to the draft estimates drawn up by the Committee on Budgets pursuant to Rule 96(2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, |
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having regard to the draft estimates drawn up by the Committee on Budgets pursuant to Rule 96(2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure,

| — | having regard to Rule 96 of its Rules of Procedure, |
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having regard to Rule 96 of its Rules of Procedure,

| — | having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0146/2018), |
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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0146/2018),

| A. | whereas this procedure is the fourth full budgetary procedure conducted in the new legislature and the sixth one during the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework; |
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A.

whereas this procedure is the fourth full budgetary procedure conducted in the new legislature and the sixth one during the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework;

| B. | whereas the 2019 budget, as proposed in the Secretary-General’s report, is being prepared against the backdrop of a yearly increase, both in terms of inflation and real increase, in the ceiling for heading V, allowing more room for growth and investment as well as continuing to implement the policies of achieving savings, seeking to improve efficiency and oriented towards a performance-based budget; |
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B.

whereas the 2019 budget, as proposed in the Secretary-General’s report, is being prepared against the backdrop of a yearly increase, both in terms of inflation and real increase, in the ceiling for heading V, allowing more room for growth and investment as well as continuing to implement the policies of achieving savings, seeking to improve efficiency and oriented towards a performance-based budget;

| C. | whereas among the priority objectives that have been proposed by the Secretary-General for the 2019 budget are the following: the 2019 European Parliament election campaign, security projects, multiannual building projects, IT development, improving services for Members and encouraging a green approach to transport; |
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C.

whereas among the priority objectives that have been proposed by the Secretary-General for the 2019 budget are the following: the 2019 European Parliament election campaign, security projects, multiannual building projects, IT development, improving services for Members and encouraging a green approach to transport;

| D. | whereas a budget of EUR 2 016 644 000 has been proposed by the Secretary-General for Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for 2019, representing an overall increase of 3,38 % on the 2018 budget (including EUR 37,3 million for the change of parliamentary term and EUR 34,3 million for other extraordinary expenditure) and a share of 18,79 % of heading V of the 2014-2020 MFF; |
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D.

whereas a budget of EUR 2 016 644 000 has been proposed by the Secretary-General for Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for 2019, representing an overall increase of 3,38 % on the 2018 budget (including EUR 37,3 million for the change of parliamentary term and EUR 34,3 million for other extraordinary expenditure) and a share of 18,79 % of heading V of the 2014-2020 MFF;

| E. | whereas almost two thirds of the budget is index-bound expenditure which relates mainly to remunerations, pensions, medical expenses and allowances for serving and retired Members (23 %) and staff (34 %), as well as to buildings (13 %), which is adjusted according to the Staff Regulations and Statute for Members, to sector-specific indexation, or to the inflation rate; |
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E.

whereas almost two thirds of the budget is index-bound expenditure which relates mainly to remunerations, pensions, medical expenses and allowances for serving and retired Members (23 %) and staff (34 %), as well as to buildings (13 %), which is adjusted according to the Staff Regulations and Statute for Members, to sector-specific indexation, or to the inflation rate;

| F. | whereas Parliament already stressed in its resolution of 29 April 2015 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2016 (8) that the 2016 budget should be set on a realistic basis and should be in line with the principles of budgetary discipline and sound financial management; |
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F.

whereas Parliament already stressed in its resolution of 29 April 2015 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2016 (8) that the 2016 budget should be set on a realistic basis and should be in line with the principles of budgetary discipline and sound financial management;

| G. | whereas the credibility of Parliament as one arm of the budgetary authority depends to an extent on its ability to manage its own spending and on its ability to develop democracy at Union level; |
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G.

whereas the credibility of Parliament as one arm of the budgetary authority depends to an extent on its ability to manage its own spending and on its ability to develop democracy at Union level;

| H. | whereas the voluntary pension fund was established in 1990 by the Bureau's Rules governing the additional (voluntary) pension scheme (9); |
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H.

whereas the voluntary pension fund was established in 1990 by the Bureau's Rules governing the additional (voluntary) pension scheme (9);

General framework

| 1. | Stresses that the share of Parliament’s budget in 2019 should be maintained under 20 % of heading V; notes that the level of estimates for 2019 corresponds to 18,53 %, which is lower than that achieved in 2018 (18,85 %) and the lowest part of heading V in more than 15 years; |
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1.

| 2. | Emphasises that the largest part of Parliament's budget is fixed by statutory or contractual obligations and is subject to annual indexation; |
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2.

| 3. | Notes that, due to the 2019 European Parliament election, expenditure will be substantially higher in some areas, in particular in respect of Members who are not re-elected and their assistants, whilst savings, albeit of a lesser magnitude, will be generated in other areas as a result of the reduction in the volume of parliamentary business in an election year; |
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3.

| 4. | Endorses the agreement reached in the conciliation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets on 26 March 2018 and on 10 April 2018 to set the increase in the 2018 budget at 2,48 %, corresponding to the overall level of its estimates for 2019 to EUR 1 999 144 000, to decrease the level of expenditure of the preliminary draft estimates endorsed by the Bureau on 12 March 2018 by EUR 17,5 million and to reduce accordingly the appropriations proposed on the following budget lines: 1004 -ordinary travel expenses; 105 – language and computer courses for Members; 1404 – graduate traineeships, grants and exchanges of officials; 1612 - further training; 1631 - mobility; 2000 - rent; 2007 - construction of buildings and fitting-out of premises; 2022 - building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning; 2024 – energy consumption; 2100 - computing and telecommunications; 2101 - computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — infrastructure; 2105 – computing and telecoms – investment in projects; 212 - furniture; 214 - technical equipment and installations; 230 - stationery, office supplies and miscellaneous consumables; 238 - other administrative expenditure; 300 - expenses for staff missions and duty travel between the three places of work; 302 - reception and representation expenses; 3040 - miscellaneous expenditure on internal meetings; 3042 - meetings, congresses, conferences and delegations; 3049 - expenditure on travel agency services; 3243 - European Parliament visitor centres; 3248 - expenditure on audio-visual information; 325 - expenditure related to the information offices; 101 - contingency reserve; provides item 1400 - other staff-secretariat and political groups with EUR 50 000, item 320 - acquisition of expertise with EUR 50 000, and item 3211 – science media hub with EUR 800 000 of appropriations; welcomes that those changes have been adopted by the Bureau on 16 April 2018; |
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4.

| 5. | Underlines that the Parliament’s key functions are to co-legislate with Council and to decide on the Union budget, represent citizens and scrutinise the work of other institutions; |
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5.

| 6. | Highlights Parliament's role in building European political awareness and promoting Union values; |
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6.

| 7. | Notes the late receipt of the preliminary draft estimates and accompanying documents only after their endorsement by the Bureau on 12 March 2018; asks to receive in future years the report of the Secretary-General to the Bureau on the preliminary draft estimates, including annexes thereto, on time; |
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7.

Transparency and accessibility

| 8. | Welcomes the response to the request from the Committee on Budgets expressed in various budget resolutions on additional information on medium- and long-term planning, investments, statutory obligations, operational expenditure and a methodology on the basis of the current needs rather than of coefficients; notes that lump sums are a useful and recognised tool to add flexibility and transparency; |
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8.

| 9. | Notes that, as was the case for budgets for previous years, it is proposed to set aside an amount for ‘extraordinary’investment and expenditure, i.e. investment and expenditure that is unusual or atypical for Parliament and arises infrequently; notes that in 2019, those investments and expenditure amount to EUR 71,6 million, including EUR 37,3 million for the change of parliamentary term and EUR 34,3 million for other extraordinary expenditure; recalls that the distinction, made in the 2016 budget and included in the consecutive budgets, between ordinary and extraordinary expenditure was made solely in order to respond to the implementation of urgent measures concerning security buildings and cybersecurity following the terrorists attacks; considers that the excessive use of this distinction, i.e. the inclusion of other expenditure in extraordinary expenditure, gives an erroneous indication of the evolution of the budgetary margin and is therefore in contradiction with the principle of transparency of Parliament's expenditure; |
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9.

| 10. | Expects the Parliament’s 2019 budget to be realistic and accurate regarding the matching of the needs and their costs, to avoid as much as possible overbudgeting; |
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10.

Brexit

| 11. | Observes that on 8 December 2017, Union and UK negotiators reached an agreement in principle on the financial settlement relating to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, which includes a provision that the UK will participate in the Union’s annual budgets for 2019 and 2020 as though it was still a Member State of the Union and will contribute its share of the financing of the Union's liabilities incurred before 31 December 2020; notes that the voluntary pension scheme for Members is included as a liability on the EU balance sheet and a contribution to the outstanding liabilities needed to cover the pension liabilities incurred before but stretching beyond 2020 will be part of the negotiations; |
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11.

| 12. | Notes that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs confirmed with the vote in plenary in February 2018 an own-initiative report on Parliament’s composition, and notably the reduction to 705 Members after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union; notes that following the informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government on 23 February 2018, President Tusk signalled a broad support for this proposal; notes that in the event that the United Kingdom is still a Member State at the beginning of the 2019-2024 parliamentary term, the number of Members shall be 751, until the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union becomes legally effective; points out, however, that the procedure requires a unanimous decision by the European Council after having obtained the consent of Parliament; underlines that Parliament’s estimates, for the moment, reflect a status-quo situation with a Parliament composed of 678 Members from 27 Member States between 30 March 2019 and the end of the 8th legislative period, and a Parliament composed of 705 Members from 27 Member States from the start of the 9th legislative period till the end of the 2019 financial year; takes note with satisfaction of the adjustments proposed by the Secretary-General which were adopted by the Bureau on 12 March 2018; |
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12.

2019 European Elections

| 13. | Welcomes the communication campaign as a helpful effort to explain the purpose of the Union and Parliament to the citizens; underlines that this campaign should aim, among other things, at explaining the role of the Union, the power of Parliament, its functions, such as the election of the President of the Commission, and its impact on the lives of citizens; |
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13.

| 14. | Recalls that, as approved in the 2018 budget procedure, the total budget of the campaign amounts to EUR 33,3 million for the two years, of which EUR 25 million for 2018 (due to the time needed to run procurement procedures and conclude the contracts) and EUR 8,33 million for 2019; notes that the strategy for the campaign based on an analysis of the lessons learnt at the last elections was approved at the Bureau in November 2017; |
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14.

| 15. | Underlines that the communication processes for the European elections are characterised by three tiers: the most visible tier is for national and European political parties and their candidates, the second tier is the leading candidate process (Spitzenkandidaten), introduced for the first time in 2014, and the third tier is the institutional campaign as in reminding what Parliament is, what it does, how it affects citizens’ lives and why engaging in the elections is important; |
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15.

| 16. | Highlights that Parliament alone lacks the resources necessary to reach out to 400 million eligible voters and must therefore make the best use of its own multiplier networks to do that; considers that communications via social media websites should play an important role as well; points out that at European level, a series of citizens and stakeholders conferences will be organised in 2018 and that at national level, the role of the Liaison Offices will be crucial; will continue to include the European Committee of the Regions and its local and regional representatives in the networking approach; considers that as in the final run-up to the elections, the European political parties and the national parties will play an essential role alongside, in particular in the framework of the “Spitzenkandidaten”process; proposes, therefore, to enable them to carry out this mission with funding specifically increased for 2019; |
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16.

Security and cybersecurity

| 17. | Notes that the 2019 budget will include further instalments of substantial investments started back in 2016 with a view to significantly improving Parliament's security; points out that those projects cover various domains, mainly relating to buildings i.e. the security upgrade of the entrance, equipment and staff, as the iPACS Project, but also improvements in the field of cyber-security and communication security; |
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17.

| 18. | Welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding which entered into force in 2017 between the Belgian Government and the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service, and other institutions based in Brussels, on security clearance checks verifications for all external contractors’ staff wishing to access the Union institutions; reminds its call, in Parliament’s 2018 estimates of revenue and expenditure, to the Secretary-General to consider the advisability of extending the application of this Memorandum of Understanding to officials, parliamentary assistants and trainees in order to allow the necessary security verifications before their recruitment; asks, therefore, the Secretary-General to inform the Committee on Budgets of the state of progress of this file; |
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18.

| 19. | Considers that IT tools are important instruments for Members and staff to carry out their work, but are nevertheless vulnerable to cyber-attacks; welcomes therefore to slightly increase the appropriations foreseen, allowing the institution to better protect its assets and information by continuing its Cyber-security Action Plan; |
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19.

Building policy

| 20. | Reiterates its call for a transparent decision-making process in the field of buildings policy based on early information, having due regard to Article 203 of the Financial Regulation; |
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20.

| 21. | Notes the process of improving Members’ and staff working environments as decided by the Bureau in December 2017, which will continue in 2019 in order to provide flexible workspaces for Members to satisfy needs arising from changing working patterns, providing them with three offices in Brussels and two in Strasbourg after the 2019 elections; stresses nevertheless that in Strasbourg it would be more useful to provide flexible spaces for meetings; notes that costs for maintenance of Parliament’s buildings in 2019, including security and environmental requirements; questions the very high costs of certain proposed developments, namely: the removal of the Library and related offices, the refurbishment of the Members' restaurant (ASP building) and the refurbishment of the restaurant in the Churchill building; calls on the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to those decisions before Parliament's reading of the budget in autumn 2018, considering that some projects will be postponed; |
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21.

| 22. | Questions the EUR 1,58 million planned for studies on the renovation of the Spaak building knowing that EUR 14 million have already been budgeted in the 2018 budget; calls on the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to this decision before Parliament's reading of the budget in autumn 2018; |
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22.

| 23. | Asks for further details on the condition of the furniture in the Brussels’ ASP building that justified its replacement, and on the procedure followed to choose the new furniture, notably on the ratio between its price and the need for replacement; |
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23.

| 24. | Takes note of the updated mission statement for the Information Offices, which are now to be known as “Liaison Offices”, in accordance with the Bureau Decision of November 2017; notes that the main function of the Liaison Offices is to inform and communicate locally on behalf of Parliament in a politically neutral manner, in order to provide information about the Union and its policies through the activities of external stakeholders on local, regional and national levels, including the members of the European Committee of the Regions; |
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24.

| 25. | Observes that the first parts of the East wing of the new KAD building will be handed over and occupied in late 2018 while the rest of the East wing offices and the conference rooms will be occupied progressively during 2019; notes that directly afterwards works will commence on the West wing; |
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25.

| 26. | Recalls the 2014 ECA analysis which estimated the costs of the geographic dispersion of Parliament to be EUR 114 million per year; furthermore, notes the finding from its resolution of 20 November 2013 on the location of the seats of the European Union's institutions (10) that 78 % of all missions by Parliament statutory staff arise as a direct result of Parliament's geographic dispersion; emphasises that the report also estimates the environmental impact of the geographic dispersion to be between 11 000 and 19 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions; emphasises the potential savings to the Parliament's budget of a single seat and therefore calls for a roadmap to a single seat; |
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26.

| 27. | Recalls Parliament's commitment to Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency (11) which stipulates that it will, "without prejudice to applicable budgetary and procurement rules, undertake to apply the same requirements to the buildings they own and occupy as those applicable to the buildings of Member States' central government under Articles 5 and 6"of that Directive, due to the high visibility of the buildings and the leading role it should play with regard to buildings' energy performance; underlines the urgency of compliance with this declaration, not at least for its own credibility in the currently ongoing revisions of the energy performance of buildings and the energy efficiency directives; |
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27.

MEP and APA related issues

| 28. | Welcomes the work of Parliament’s Secretariat, the secretariats of the political groups and the offices of Members aimed to empower Members in their mandates; encourages the continued development of those services which enhance Members’ ability to scrutinise the work of the Commission and Council and represent citizens; |
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28.

| 29. | Welcomes in particular the ever-increasing quality of advice and research provided to Members and committees through the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and the policy departments; takes note of the mid-term evaluation of the cooperation between those two services supplied by the Secretary-General in October 2017; requests the Secretary-General to provide further information on how the two services coordinate their work to avoid duplication and meet client needs; welcomes the new and existing specific projects in the IT application, which will be implemented in full or in part in 2019: e-Parliament project, the Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) project, the Open Digital Library Program, the new project on research and development on machine learning with translation memories and the conference and event participants’ registration tool; |
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29.

| 30. | Recalls the abovementioned resolutions of 5 April 2017 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2018 and of 25 October 2017 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018; reiterates the appeal for transparency regarding the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA) for Members; calls on Parliament's Bureau to work on better guidance regarding the accountability of the expenditure authorised under this allowance, without generating additional costs or administrative burden for Parliament's administration; notes that a comprehensive system of control of the Members’ parliamentary mandate allowance would necessitate 40 to 75 new administrative posts (12), which would go against the staff reduction scheme; |
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30.

| 31. | Recalls the principle of the independence of the mandate; underlines that it is the responsibility of elected Members to use the expenditure for parliamentary activities and that it is possible for Members who wish to do so to publish their spending record in relation to the GEA on their personal webpages; stresses the fact that the lump sum is widely used and recognised as a useful tool in Member States; stresses the fact that the current use of lump sums does not require additional staff or entail additional costs in the European Parliament's administration and avoids generating obligatory additional costs and administrative burden for Members and their offices; reiterates that improved efficiency and transparency of the GEA does not mean to infringe upon the privacy; |
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31.

| 32. | Urges the working group of the Bureau on the GEA to complete their work to enable recommendations based on the view of Parliament expressed in October 2017 to be considered prior to the election of the 9th Legislature; |
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32.

| 33. | Reiterates its call on the Bureau to ensure that the social and pension rights of Members and Accredited Parliamentary Assistants (APAs) are respected, and that adequate financial means are made available; in this regard, reiterates its call to find a workable solution for those APAs who, having worked for two parliamentary terms without interruption in the end of the current term, will not be entitled to access to the European pension rights scheme, when they will reach the pension age, since they will be lacking some time out of ten years' service needed as set out in the Staff Regulations, due to early elections in 2014 and the delays in the validation of the APAs new contracts because of heavy workload during the periods after the elections of 2009; recalls that Article 27(2) of the Statute for Members of the European Parliament provides that “[a]cquired rights and future entitlements shall be maintained in full”; notes, however, continuing problems with the voluntary pension scheme and asks the Bureau and the Secretary-General to explore all options in order to minimise the burden for the Parliament's budget; |
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33.

| 34. | Considers adequate the appropriations of the budget line 422 ‘Expenditure related to parliamentary assistance; |
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34.

| 35. | Notes the revision of allowance rates for APAs incurred in respect of their duty travel between Parliament’s three places of work; recalls its request to the Bureau to take actions for a full alignment between officials, other servants and APAs as from next legislative term; |
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35.

| 36. | With a view to next parliamentary term, calls again on the Conference of Presidents to revise the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations and missions outside the European Union; underlines that such a revision should consider the possibility for APAs, subject to certain conditions, to accompany Members on official Parliament Delegations and Missions; |
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36.

| 37. | Calls on the Bureau to amend the Bureau decision of the 19 April 2010 on rules concerning Member trainees to ensure the decent remuneration of trainees; stresses that the remuneration of trainees in the offices of Members or in political groups should, at least, cover living expenses in Brussels or in the city where the traineeships take place; |
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37.

| 38. | Believes that adequate funding should be made available for the implementation of the Roadmap for the adaptation of preventive and early support measures to deal with conflict and harassment between Members and APAs or other staff; |
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38.

Staff-related issues

| 39. | Reduces the establishment plan of its General Secretariat for 2019 by 59 posts (1 % staff reduction target), in accordance with the agreement of 14 November 2015 reached with the Council on the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, in which Parliament's annual staff reduction measures are set to continue until 2019; |
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39.

| 40. | Believes that, in a period in which the financial and personnel resources available to the Union institutions are likely to be increasingly constrained, it is important that the institutions themselves are able to recruit and retain the most able staff to meet the complex challenges ahead in a way consistent with the principles of performance-based budgeting; |
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40.

| 41. | Considers that until the election recess, Parliament will face a unique situation resulting from the coincidence of the usual end of legislature rush with the complex package of legislative MFF proposals, the Brexit and the growing number of trilogues; considers that to enable Parliament and its Committees to perform the core-business it is vital to continue to ensure an adequate level of logistical and human resources; |
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41.

| 42. | Mandates the Secretary-General to build on the existing cooperation agreements between the Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee; for which the EPRS is a very positive example; requests to identify areas including but not limited to IT services and security, in which synergies between the back office functions could be increased using the experience of the Parliament and the two bodies and taking fully into account the governance difficulties and the differences in terms of scale to build up fair cooperation agreements; in addition, asks the Secretary-General to undertake a study on possible synergies - in back office functions and services - that could be generated with other institutions; |
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42.

| 43. | Asks for an assessment of the savings and the benefits for each party reached due to the Inter-Institutional Administrative cooperation agreement between Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee both in the areas submitted to Joint Services and in the areas submitted to cooperation and the potential savings and benefits of possible future agreements with other institutions and agencies; |
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43.

| 44. | Welcomes Parliament's resolution on combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU (13); is of the opinion that the resolution is an important step to more effectively combat sexual harassment and any kind of inappropriate behaviour in the Union and its institutions, including Parliament; demands that adequate resources are allocated to implement the demands of the resolution; |
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44.

Other issues

| 45. | Notes the ongoing practice of using the year-end ‘mopping up transfer’(ramassage) to contribute to current building projects; highlights, on the basis of the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 figures, that this year-end ‘mopping up transfer’takes place systematically on the same chapters and title and, with a few exceptions, exactly on the same lines; wonders, therefore, whether there is a programmed overvaluation of those chapters and lines in order to generate funds for the financing of budgetary policy; |
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45.

| 46. | Questions the necessity of having headsets and webcams installed in the offices in Brussels and Strasbourg for all parliamentary assistants, even though most of them have not even requested it; questions, therefore, the cost of such a decision and the reasons for taking it; calls on the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with any information relating to that decision; |
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46.

| 47. | Notes that the restrictions on access to Parliament's catering areas were lifted on 1 January 2017; accepts the practice that anyone working in Parliament's buildings or accessing its premises for an interinstitutional meeting may have lunch in the canteens and restaurants of Parliament; notes, however, that access to the ASP self-service in Brussels and LOW self-service in Strasbourg has become very complicated due to the daily presence of groups of visitors; calls, therefore, for controls to be re-established rapidly at the entrance of those two self-services, not for Members and staff of other institutions, but in order to systematically reorient groups of visitors towards the restaurant areas reserved for them; |
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47.

| 48. | Notes the ongoing dialogue between Parliament and national parliaments; stresses the need to go beyond the existing European Parliamentary Week framework in order to allow for permanent synergies when it comes to relations between Parliament and the national parliaments; calls on this dialogue to be strengthened in order to develop a better understanding of the contribution of Parliament and the Union in Member States; |
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48.

| 49. | Calls for the upgrade of the European Science Media Hub, adopted in the 2018 budget, and for cooperation with television stations, social media and further partners in order to establish training purposes for young journalists, especially in relation to new scientific and technological developments and to fact-based, peer-reviewed news; |
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49.

| 50. | Welcomes Parliament’s efforts aimed at encouraging sustainable mobility; |
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50.

| 51. | Invites Parliament to adopt an eco-sustainable approach and to make the majority of any activity carried out within Parliament environmentally friendly; |
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51.

| 52. | Notes the creation of a mobility working group which should work inclusively and be clearly mandated; underlines that Parliament has to conform with all regional applicable laws at the places of work, including in the area of mobility; advocates the promotion of use of the established direct train connection between the Brussels Parliament site and the airport; invites the responsible services to re-evaluate the composition and size of its own vehicle fleet against this background; calls on the Bureau to establish without delay an incentive scheme for promoting the use of bicycles for home-work commuting; notes that such a scheme is already established in other institutions, notably the European Economic and Social Committee; |
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52.

| 53. | Calls upon the Secretary-General and the Bureau to instil a culture of performance-based budgeting across Parliament's administration, and a lean management approach in order to enhance efficiency, reduce paperwork and diminish bureaucracy in the institution's internal work; stresses that the experience of lean management is the continuous improvement of the work procedure thank to the simplification and experience of the administrative staff; |
| --- | --- |

53.

o

o o

| 54. | Adopts the estimates for the financial year 2019; |
| --- | --- |

54.

| 55. | Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the estimates to the Council and the Commission. |
| --- | --- |

55.

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(1)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884.

(3)  OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.

(4)  OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 15

(5)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0114.

(6)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0408.

(7)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0458.

(8)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0172.

(9)  Texts adopted by the Bureau, PE 113.116/BUR./rev. XXVI/01-04-2009.

(10)  Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0498.

(11)  Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p. 1).

(12)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0150

(13)  Text adopted: P8_TA(2017)0417.

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