REPORT ON BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

SECTION I: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

FINANCIAL YEAR 2017

(2018/C 411/01)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

I. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: GENERAL REMARKS 4

A. Initial budget and amending budgets 6

B. Commitments and payments 6

C. Carryovers from 2017 to 2018 6

D. Use of carryovers from 2016 to 2017 6

E. Revenue 7

F. Appropriations from assigned revenue 8

G. Cancellations of appropriations for the year 9

H. Transfers 9

II. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT BY CHAPTER 10

A. Chapter 1 0 ‘Members of the institution’ 13

B. Chapter 1 2 ‘Officials and temporary staff’ 14

C. Chapter 1 4 ‘Other staff and outside services’ 16

D. Chapter 1 6 ‘Other expenditure relating to persons working with the Institution’ 17

E. Chapter 2 0 ‘Buildings and associated costs’ 18

F. Chapter 2 1 ‘Data processing, equipment and movable property’ 19

G. Chapter 2 3 ‘Current administrative expenditure’ 21

H. Chapter 3 0 ‘Meetings and conferences’ 21

I. Chapter 3 2 ‘Expertise and information: acquisition, archiving, production and dissemination’ 22

J. Chapter 4 0 ‘Expenditure relating to certain institutions and bodies’ 24

K. Chapter 4 2 ‘Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance’ 25

L. Chapter 4 4 ‘Meetings and other activities of current and former Members’ 25

M. Title 10 ‘Other expenditure’ 25

III. 2017 OBJECTIVES AND RESULTS 26

A. Enhancing the security and cybersecurity of Parliament 26

A.1. Cooperation with national authorities and the other institutions 26

A.2. iPACS project 27

A.3. Measures to make Parliament’s buildings more secure 27

A.4. Internalisation of drivers 27

A.5. ICT Security 27

B. Impact of the Brexit 27

C. Enhancing the work of Parliament — empowering Members in their mandate 28

C.1. Searching for and managing knowledge 28

C.2. Supporting political priorities 28

C.3. Internal policies 29

C.4. External policies 29

C.5. Members’ Portal and e-Portal 30

D. Phasing out the derogation for Irish 30

E. Communication/making Parliament attractive to the public and visitors 31

E.1. Media and Stakeholder dialogue 31

E.2. EP Ambassador School programme 31

E.3. Visitors projects 31

E.4. Events and exhibitions 32

E.5. Lux Prize, Sakharov Prize and European Citizen’s Prize 32

E.6. AskEP 32

E.7. Other activities 32

F. Continuing to implement the multiannual programmes to rationalise and modernise key parts of Parliament’s Administration 33

F.1. Buildings policy 33

F.2. Environmental policy 35

F.3. Catering policy 36

F.4. Modernisation of information technologies 36

F.5. Human resources management 37

IV. LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 40

ANNEXES

Annex I — Overview of C transfers during the financial year 2017 42

Annex II — Overview of P transfers during the financial year 2017 45

Annex III — Implementation of appropriations during 2017 49

Annex IV — Implementation of appropriations carried over automatically from the previous year 57

Annex V — Implementation of appropriations from internal assigned revenue 62

Annex VI — Revenue in 2017 67

INTRODUCTION

1. This report analyses the European Parliament’s budgetary and financial management during the financial year 2017. It outlines the use made of financial resources and the events which had a significant influence on activities during the year (Parts I and II) and gives an overview of the results achieved as against the objectives set for 2017 (Part III).

2. The report has been drawn up in accordance with Article 142 of 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 ) , hereinafter referred to as ‘the Financial Regulation’, and with Article 227 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union ( 2 ) . The analysis is based on the provisional accounts established by the Accounting Officer.

I. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: GENERAL REMARKS

3. Parliament’s final appropriations for 2017 totalled EUR 1 909 590 000, or 19,25 % of heading V of the Multiannual Financial Framework ( 3 ) . Table 1 below provides an overview of the implementation of Parliament’s budget in the financial year 2017. Table 1 Use of appropriations (4) Appropriation type 2017 appropriations 2016 appropriations Change (EUR or %) (EUR or %) 2017/2016 Appropriations Initial appropriations 1 909 590 000 1 838 388 600 3,9 % Final appropriations 1 909 590 000 1 838 613 983 3,9 % Implementation for the year Commitments 1 889 574 057 1 823 844 172 3,6 % As a % of final appropriations 99,0 99,20 — Payments 1 599 788 767 1 538 531 527 4,0 % As a % of commitments 84,7 84,40 — Carryovers to following year Automatic carryovers to following year (5) 289 785 291 285 312 645 1,6 % As a % of final appropriations 15,2 15,50 — As a % of commitments 15,3 15,60 — Non-automatic carryovers (uncommitted appropriations carried over to following year) (6) 2 564 000 0 — As a % of final appropriations 0,1 0,00 Cancellations Appropriations cancelled 17 451 943 14 769 811 18,2 % As a % of final appropriations 0,9 0,80 — Carryovers from previous year Automatic carryovers from previous year 285 312 645 289 323 907 -1,4 % Payments against those carryovers 262 940 988 267 999 422 -1,9 % As a % of carryovers 92,2 92,60 — Amount cancelled 22 371 657 21 324 484 4,9 % Appropriations from assigned revenue for the year Appropriations from assigned revenue for the year 50 052 674 30 589 787 63,6 % Commitments 13 981 327 12 032 487 16,2 % As a % of appropriations from assigned revenue 27,9 39,30 — Payments 10 966 895 7 602 676 44,3 % As a % of commitments against assigned revenue 78,4 63,20 — Carryover of appropriations available to the following year 36 071 348 18 557 300 94,4 % Carryover of commitments from assigned revenue carried over to the following year 3 014 431 4 429 811 -32,0 % Appropriations from internal assigned revenue (7) carried over from the previous year Appropriations from assigned revenue carried over from the previous year 13 692 260 10 340 256 32,4 % Commitments 13 650 445 10 262 584 33,0 % As a % of appropriations from assigned revenue carried over 99,7 99,20 — Payments 10 376 606 8 103 899 28,0 % As a % of commitments 76,0 79,00 — Cancellations 41 815 77 672 -46,2 % Carryover of commitments from assigned revenue carried over to the following year 3 273 839 2 158 685 51,7 % Appropriations from external assigned revenue (8) and internal assigned revenue from lettings (9) carried over from the previous year Appropriations from assigned revenue carried over from the previous year 19 224 188 89 092 723 -78,4 % Commitments 14 665 847 86 379 995 -83,0 % As a % of appropriations from assigned revenue carried over 76,3 97,00 — Payments 14 213 829 74 715 743 -81,0 % As a % of commitments 96,9 86,50 — Carryover of appropriations available to the following year 4 558 341 2 712 728 68,0 % Carryover of commitments from assigned revenue carried over to the following year 452 019 11 664 253 -96,1 % Commitments from assigned revenue carried over from the previous year Commitments from assigned revenue carried over from the previous year 6 678 842 3 622 290 84,4 % Payments 5 766 455 3 245 897 77,7 % As a % of commitments 86,3 89,60 — Carryover of commitments from assigned revenue carried over to the following year (revenue from lettings) 72 514 73 673 -1,6 % Cancellation of commitments 839 874 302 720 177,4 %

A. Initial budget and amending budgets

4. The initial appropriations in Parliament’s budget for 2017 amounted to EUR 1 909 590 000. This represented a 3,9 % increase over the 2016 final budget (EUR 1 838 613 983).

B. Commitments and payments

5. Commitments totalled EUR 1 889 574 057, accounting for 99 % of final appropriations (2016: 99,2 %). Payments totalled EUR 1 599 788 767, or 84,7 % of commitments entered into (2016: 84,4 %).

C. Carryovers from 2017 to 2018

6. Automatic carryovers to financial year 2018 totalled EUR 289 785 291, accounting for 15,3 % of the total appropriations committed (2016: 15,6 %). Non-automatic carryovers to the financial year 2018, pursuant to Article 13 of the Financial Regulation, totalled EUR 2 564 000. There were no non-automatic carryovers from 2016 to 2017.

D. Use of carryovers from 2016 to 2017

7. Automatic carryovers to 2017 totalled EUR 285 312 645 (2016: EUR 289 323 907). Payments against those carryovers stood at EUR 262 940 988, or 92,2 % (2016: 92,6 %). Appropriations cancelled thus totalled EUR 22 371 657, 4,9 % increase compared to 2016 (EUR 21 324 484). Still in a net decrease compared to carryovers from 2015 cancelled in 2016 (EUR 25 315 611, or -15,8 %). The bulk of the cancellations was made against: Article 2 0 0 ‘Buildings’, Article 4 0 2 ‘Funding of European political parties’ and Article 4 0 3 ‘Funding of European political foundations’ Article 2 0 2 ‘Expenditure on buildings’, Article 3 2 4 ‘Production and dissemination’ and Article 1 0 0 ‘Salaries and allowances’. Cancellations against those six articles accounted for 80 % of the total amount cancelled.

8. The amounts cancelled and the main reasons for cancellations are set out in Table 2. Table 2 Main reasons for cancellations of automatic carryovers from 2016 to 2017 (EUR) Article Cancellation Main reasons for cancellations Article 2 0 0 ‘Buildings’ 6 700 811 Item 2 0 0 5 ‘Construction of buildings’: EUR 1,06 million were cancelled mainly because of delays in the works in different buildings and lower than expected invoicing. Item 2 0 0 7 ‘Fitting-out of premises’: EUR 5,52 million was cancelled because of savings achieved by optimisation of works, lower or later than expected final invoices, non-finished works and works not carried out. Article 4 0 2 ‘Funding of European political parties’ and Article 4 0 3 ‘Funding of European political foundations’ 4 161 195 Final grants to European political parties and foundations are decided by the Bureau after the end of the financial year on the basis of the parties’ final reports. The cancellations of EUR 2 929 799 on Article 4 0 2 and EUR 1 231 396 on Article 4 0 3 were due to the fact that several parties/foundations indicated that they had spent less than the maximum permitted by way of eligible expenditure. Article 2 0 2 ‘Expenditure on buildings’ 2 641 640 Item 2 0 2 2 ‘Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning’: cancellation of EUR 1,77 million. Cancellations stems mainly from savings as a result of optimisation, lower than forecast volumes of work and services, and application of penalties. Item 2 0 2 4 ‘Energy consumption’: cancellation of EUR 0,87 million. Article 3 2 4 ‘Production and dissemination’ 2 577 123 Items concerned: 3 2 4 2 ‘Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events’, 3 2 4 4 ‘Organisation and reception of groups of visitors, Euroscola programme and invitations to opinion multipliers for third countries’ and 3 2 4 7 ‘House of European History’ due to delays in the implementation of projects or works. Article 1 0 0 ‘Salaries and allowances’ 1 708 456 Items concerned: 1 0 0 4 ‘Ordinary travel expenses’ for an amount of EUR 961 052 and 1 0 0 5 ‘Other travel expenses’ for EUR 747 404 . In general, a large proportion of applications for reimbursement is submitted by Members during the financial year following that in which journeys were actually made, since MEPs may submit applications until 31 October of the following financial year. Each year, appropriations are carried over so as to cover that expenditure on the basis of statistical estimates. Actual expenditure was ultimately less than had been estimated.

E. Revenue

9. Total revenue entered in the accounts as at 31 December 2017 was EUR 206 991 865 (2016: EUR 183 381 513), including EUR 50 052 674 in assigned revenue (2016: 30 589 787).

10. Table 3 provides a breakdown, by chapter, of movement in revenue between 2016 and 2017. Table 3 Movement in revenue between 2016 and 2017 (EUR) Chapter Heading 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 4 0 Miscellaneous taxes and revenue 85 083 544 82 251 089 2 832 455 3 % 4 1 Contributions to the pension scheme 70 212 953 68 455 454 1 757 499 3 % Title 4 — Miscellaneous taxes and revenue 155 296 497 150 706 543 4 589 954 3 % 5 0 Proceeds from the sale of movable property (supply of goods) and immovable property 162 (10) 189 447 - 189 285 - 100 % 5 1 Proceeds from letting 3 069 621 (10) 2 989 324 80 297 3 % 5 2 Revenue from investments or loans granted, bank and other interest 2 077 23 473 -21 396 - 91 % 5 5 Revenue from the proceeds of services supplied and work carried out 6 301 830 (10) 5 542 356 759 474 14 % 5 7 Other contributions and refunds in connection with the administrative operation of the institution 7 789 413 (10) 7 173 581 615 832 9 % 5 8 Miscellaneous payments 20 162 097 (11) 217 498 19 944 599 9 170 % Title 5 — Revenue accruing from the administrative operation of the institution 37 325 199 16 135 679 21 189 520 131 % Title 6 — Contributions and refunds in connection with Union agreements and programmes 12 731 797 (10) 14 477 581 -1 745 784 - 12 % Title 9 — Miscellaneous revenue 1 638 371 2 061 711 - 423 340 - 21 % Total 206 991 865 183 381 513 23 610 352 13 %

F. Appropriations from assigned revenue

11. Assigned revenue made available in 2017 totalled EUR 50 052 674 (2016: EUR 30 589 787). Commitments totalled EUR 13 981 327, i.e. 27,9 % commitment rate (2016: 39,3 %). Payments totalled EUR 10 966 895, accounting for 78,4 % of the commitments entered into (2016: 63,2 %).

12. In 2010, the Belgian Government had made a payment of EUR 85 897 000, by way of defrayal of the cost of the land forming the site for the D4 and D5 buildings and of the development costs for the roof over Brussels-Luxembourg Station. That payment constituted external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2) of the Financial Regulation. The appropriations from this assigned revenue were used for the purchase and fitting out of the Martens Building. Concerning this building project, payments totalling EUR 74 250 579 were carried out in 2016 and EUR 11 646 421 in 2017.

G. Cancellations of appropriations for the year

13. The sum of EUR 17 451 943 (2016: EUR 14 769 811), representing 0,9 % of final appropriations (2016: 0,8 %), was cancelled. The main reasons for the cancellations are set out in the table below: Table 4 Main reasons for cancellations in 2017 of appropriations for the year Article Heading Amount cancelled (EUR) As % of total cancelled % cancellation/ heading Main reason for cancellation 2 0 2 Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning 2 171 979 12,45 2,41 Cancellation mainly due to optimizations and realised expenditures lower than forecasted in the three sites (a certain margin has been kept until the end of the year in order to face potential late request for maintenance and upkeep). 2 0 0 Buildings 2 036 302 11,67 1,11 Cancellation due to a lower than originally expected consumption and realised quantities 2 1 4 Technical equipment and installations 1 606 409 9,20 4,73 Surplus steaming from a call for tender finalised in November for a lower cost than forecasted 1 2 0 Remuneration and other entitlements 1 545 044 8,85 0,24 This is a technical cancellation against the two items 1 2 0 0 and 1 2 0 2 as it represents a very small part (0,2 %) of the total appropriations. 2 1 2 Furniture: purchases and replacement of furniture 1 330 890 7,63 22,27 The appropriations were used partly to furnish the Martens building, but were not consumed in their entirety.

H. Transfers

Table 5

Transfers by legal basis

Number of transfers Amount transferred (EUR) As a % of final appropriations C transfers (Articles 27 and 46 of the Fin. Reg.) 7 C transfers 57 402 860 3,01 including ‘mopping-up’ transfer 40 850 000 2,14 P transfers (Article 25(1) of the Fin. Reg.) 10 P transfers of appropriations for the year 19 834 220 1,04 17 C + P transfers of appropriations for the year 77 237 080 4,04

14. During the financial year, seven C transfers (including what is termed the ‘mopping-up’ transfer) were approved in accordance with Articles 27 and 46 of the Financial Regulation. They totalled EUR 57 402 860, which is 3,01 % of final appropriations (in 2016: seven C transfers accounting for 3,6 % of final appropriations). The mopping up exercise totalled to EUR 40 850 000, 23,6 % less than in 2016 (EUR 53 500 000). The President authorised 10 P transfers of appropriations for the year under Article 25(1) of the Financial Regulation ( 12 ) , covering a total of EUR 19 834 220, or 1,04 % of final appropriations (in 2016: 16 P transfers accounting for 1,0 % of final appropriations). Table 6 Analysis of C transfers by expenditure category and purpose Expenditure category receiving transfer Purpose Transfer Amount transferred (EUR) As a % of amounts transferred Buildings policy KAD building project C7 40 850 000 71,16 Buildings policy — Total 40 850 000 71,16 Other expenditure ICT related areas/projects C4 6 262 000 10,91 Technical equipment and installations (Strasbourg meeting rooms) C6 4 745 000 8,27 Expenditure on missions C1 2 200 000 3,83 External translation C2, C5 2 000 000 3,48 External interpretation C3 1 345 860 2,34 Other expenditure — Total 16 552 860 28,84 Total 57 402 860 100,00

II. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT BY CHAPTER

15. This section looks at the use of appropriations by budget chapter, their share of the overall budget and changes in the use of appropriations over the previous financial year. Four chapters accounted for 69,5 % of total commitments. Those chapters were Chapter 1 0 ‘Members of the institution’, Chapter 1 2 ‘Officials and temporary staff’, Chapter 2 0 ‘Buildings and associated costs’ and Chapter 4 2 ‘Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance’.

16. Table 7 provides a breakdown by chapter of the appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016. Figures 1 and 2 depict, respectively, the relative shares and the changes between 2016 and 2017. Table 7 Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016 (1) (EUR) Chapter Heading 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 1 0 Members of the institution 203 969 300 203 367 219 602 081 0 % 1 2 Officials and temporary staff 641 373 448 625 820 200 15 553 248 2 % 1 4 Other staff and external services 138 007 588 125 551 151 12 456 437 10 % 1 6 Other expenditure relating to persons working with the Institution 14 743 257 14 441 490 301 768 2 % Title 1 — Persons working with the Institution 998 093 592 969 180 059 28 913 533 3 % 2 0 Buildings and associated costs 267 588 704 251 599 697 15 989 008 6 % 2 1 Data processing, equipment and movable property 174 379 445 152 828 726 21 550 720 14 % 2 3 Current administrative expenditure 4 681 409 4 430 838 250 571 6 % Title 2 — Buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure 446 649 558 408 859 260 37 790 298 9 % 3 0 Meetings and conferences 32 136 133 33 038 898 - 902 764 - 3 % 3 2 Expertise and information: acquisition, archiving, production and dissemination 101 488 708 107 988 646 -6 499 938 - 6 % Title 3 — Expenditure resulting from general functions carried out by the institution 133 624 841 141 027 543 -7 402 702 - 5 % 4 0 Expenditure relating to certain institutions and bodies 109 814 922 109 952 171 - 137 249 0 % 4 2 Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance 200 971 143 194 405 139 6 566 005 3 % 4 4 Meetings and other activities of current and former members 420 000 420 000 0 0 % Title 4 — Expenditure resulting from special functions carried out by the institution 311 206 065 304 777 310 6 428 756 2 % Title 5 — Authority for European political parties and European political foundations and the Committee of independent eminent persons p.m. p.m. Title 10 — Other expenditure 0 0 0 Total 1 889 574 057 1 823 844 172 65 729 885 4 % Figure 1 Breakdown of 2017 commitments by chapter Figure 2 Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016, by chapter

A. Chapter 1 0 ‘Members of the institution’

Table 8

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 1 0

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 1 0 0 0 Salaries 37 % 75 582 239 73 871 419 1 710 820 2 % 1 0 0 4 Ordinary travel expenses 33 % 66 850 000 66 290 000 560 000 1 % 1 0 0 5 Other travel expenses 3 % 5 700 000 6 150 000 - 450 000 - 7 % 1 0 0 6 General expenditure allowance 19 % 38 910 938 38 937 488 -26 550 0 % 1 0 2 0 Transitional allowances 0 % 645 728 1 725 886 -1 080 159 - 63 % 1 0 3 0 Retirement pensions (PEAM) 5 % 10 450 954 10 521 344 -70 390 - 1 % Other Other 3 % 5 829 441 5 871 082 -41 641 - 1 % Chapter 1 0 — Members of the institution 100 % 203 969 300 203 367 219 602 081 0 %

17. A Member’s gross salary is 38,5 % of the basic salary of a judge at the European Court of Justice ( 13 ) . The main reason for the increase in commitments against Item 1 0 0 0 between 2016 and 2017 is the pay adjustment of 3,3 %, backdated to 1 July 2016. Members’ gross monthly salary rose to EUR 8 484 between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017. A total of EUR 562 154 was paid retroactively for the period from July to December 2017.

18. The increase of commitments against Item 1 0 0 4 ‘Ordinary travel expenses’ over 2016 is mainly linked to the inflation and to the revision of MEPs’ allowances. The decrease of commitments against Item 1 0 0 5 ‘Other travel expenses’ can be explained by the actual execution rate.

19. Item 1 0 0 6 is intended to cover the expenses resulting from the parliamentary activities of Members. This allowance amounted to EUR 4 342 a month for each Member in 2017 (+0,5 % increase compared to 2016) and was paid monthly at Members’ request.

20. The reduction against Item 1 0 2 0 ‘Transitional allowances’ between 2016 and 2017 reflects the phasing-out effect of Members who left office after the elections in 2014 and applied for a transitional allowance ( 14 )

21. Item 1 0 3 0 ‘Retirement pensions (PEAM)’ is intended to cover the payment of an old-age pension after cessation of the term of office of Members qualifying under the old rules superseded by the Statute for Member of the European Parliament, which came into force in 2009 ( 15 ) . Old-age pension rights acquired prior to the date of entry into force of the Statute are maintained. The pension provisions currently apply only to Members elected in France and Italy, all other Members being entitled to join pension schemes organised by national authorities. Members of the European Parliament elected in Italy who did not come under a national pension scheme and Members of the European Parliament elected in France who were members of a pension scheme different from that for Members of the National Assembly had the option of paying contributions into Parliament’s budget that were calculated on the same basis as those for national-parliament members in Italy and France in order to acquire the same pension rights as national-parliament members. At year-end 2017, there were 396 beneficiaries, which compares to 390 at year-end 2016.

B. Chapter 1 2 ‘Officials and temporary staff’

Table 9

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 1 2

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 1 2 0 0 Remuneration and allowances 99 % 637 428 656 621 577 767 15 850 889 3 % 1 2 0 4 Entitlements in connection with entering the service, transfer and leaving the service 0,5 % 2 950 000 3 425 000 - 475 000 - 14 % Other Other 0,2 % 994 792 817 433 177 359 22 % Chapter 1 2 — Officials and temporary staff 100 % 641 373 448 625 820 200 15 553 248 2 %

22. Expenditure on officials and temporary staff amounted to EUR 641 373 448 in 2017, making it the largest spending category (accounting for 34 % of total commitments for 2017). The growth against the chapter stems largely from the increase against Item 1 2 0 0 ‘Remuneration and allowances’, which accounts for 99 % of the appropriations under Chapter 1 2.

23. Commitments against Item 1 2 0 0 ‘Remuneration and allowances’ totalled EUR 637 428 656; they were 3 % up on 2016. That movement reflects career progression as well as index-linking of pay. Indeed, in December 2017, pay for officials and other staff of the European Union was increased by 1,5 %, backdated to 1 July 2017.

24. Commitments against Item 1 2 0 4 ‘Entitlements in connection with entering the service, transfer and leaving the service’ amounted to EUR 2 950 000; on account of a lower level of officials and other servants entering and leaving the service, the commitments decreased by 14 % on 2016.

25. In 2017, a total of 6 100 officials and temporary staff were employed within Parliament as at 31 December 2017, thereof 5 269 in the Secretariat and 831 in the political groups.

26. As regards the gender breakdown, women accounted for 59 % of Parliament’s total staff, 36 % of heads of unit, 30 % of directors and 15 % of directors-general as at 31 December 2017. The figure below gives a gender breakdown of staff by function group. Figure 3 Parliament staff by gender Source: DG Personnel

C. Chapter 1 4 ‘Other staff and outside services’

Table 10

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 1 4

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 1 4 0 0 Other staff — Parliament’s Secretariat and political groups 32 % 43 861 463 63 001 439 -19 139 976 - 30 % 1 4 0 4 Graduate traineeships, grants and exchanges of officials 5 % 7 168 127 7 033 670 134 457 2 % 1 4 0 5 Expenditure on interpretation 34 % 47 589 860 48 598 750 -1 008 890 - 2 % 1 4 2 0 External translation services 7 % 9 237 086 6 917 292 2 319 794 34 % Other Other 22 % 30 151 052 0 — Chapter 1 4 — Other staff and outside services 100 % 138 007 588 125 551 151 12 456 437 10 %

27. The main reason for the increase in the committed appropriations within this chapter is the fact that commitments for other staff increased mostly owing to security staff and Members’ drivers service being brought in-house. Another important impact was the increased need for external translation in 2017 (EUR 2,3 m up over 2016). Commitments for external interpretation were lower by 2 %.

28. The decrease against Item 1 4 0 0 ‘Other staff’ is mainly due to a transfer of appropriations towards the two new items 1 4 0 1 and 1 4 0 2, created to take account of the internalisation of security services and the Members’ drives service. As at 31 December 2017, Parliament employed 1 719 contract staff (31 December 2016: 1 538, i.e. + 11 %). A breakdown of contract staff by function group ( 16 ) and gender is given in Figure 4. That item mainly covers the remuneration and allowances of other staff, chiefly contract staff, employer’s contributions to the various social security schemes and the impact of salary weightings applicable to the remuneration of these staff, as well as the employment of temporary agency staff. Figure 4 Contract staff by function group and gender in 2017 Source: DG Personnel

29. The change against Item 1 4 0 4 ‘Graduate traineeships, grants and exchanges of officials’ stemmed mainly from the extension of the scheme of paid graduate traineeships ‘Robert Schuman’. In the second semester, more than 360 trainees received a grant.

30. The evolution observed for Item 1 4 0 5 ‘Expenditure on interpretation’ stemmed mainly from changes in the characteristics of the Parliament’s activity requiring interpretation services and in the level of interpretation services provided to other institutions ( 17 ) in 2017. This led to a decrease in the number of days on which interpreting was provided by Conference Interpreting Agents. Commitments against the item covered the fees, social security contributions, travel expenses and subsistence allowances of Conference Interpreting Agents used by Parliament to service the meetings which it organised.

31. Conference interpreting Agents provided 50 531 days of interpreting in 2017 (2016: 52 121 days; - 5 %) for Parliament and other institutions (where Parliament was required to provide this service).

32. The change against Item 1 4 2 0 ‘External translation services’ is explained by the cyclical nature of the translation demand over the legislative cycle.

D. Chapter 1 6 ‘Other expenditure relating to persons working with the Institution’

Table 11

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 1 6

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 1 6 1 2 Further training 34 % 5 079 597 5 535 265 - 455 669 - 8 % 1 6 5 2 Current operating expenditure for restaurants and canteens 1 % 180 000 615 000 - 435 000 - 71 % 1 6 5 4 Childcare facilities 45 % 6 574 599 5 517 444 1 057 155 19 % Other Other 20 % 2 909 061 2 773 780 135 281 5 % Chapter 1 6 — Other expenditure relating to persons working with the institution 100 % 14 743 257 14 441 490 301 768 2 %

33. Commitments against Item 1 6 1 2 ‘Further training’ covered expenditure on training to improve staff skills and the performance and efficiency of the institution. In 2017 attendances at language courses totalled 5 315 (2016: 5 606), 1 966 at IT training courses (2016: 2 120), and 714 at financial training courses (2016: 874). Attendances at in-house general training courses totalled 14 279 (2016: 11 873), and 333 at outside courses (2016: 353) ( 18 )

34. The decrease of the commitments against Item 1 6 5 2 ‘Current operating expenditure for restaurants and canteens’ over 2017 can be explained by the use of assigned revenue (exceptional recovery of VAT from the French authorities).

35. Appropriations against Item 1 6 5 4 are intended to cover Parliament’s contribution to all the expenditure of the early childhood centre and outside crèches with which an agreement has been concluded ( 19 ) . The increase over 2016 was due to the increase in the number of private nursery places in Brussels, increase of the Parliament’s contribution to the OIB for after-school childcare places in Brussels; increase in the price for nursery places following the signing of the contract with the new manager of CPE V in Luxembourg.

E. Chapter 2 0 ‘Buildings and associated costs’

Table 12

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 2 0

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 2 0 0 1 Lease payments 15 % 40 850 000 53 500 000 -12 650 000 - 24 % 2 0 0 5 Construction of buildings 12 % 30 972 579 17 788 807 13 183 772 74 % 2 0 0 7 Fitting-out of premises 25 % 67 303 370 60 652 106 6 651 264 11 % 2 0 2 2 Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning 21 % 57 073 754 51 216 628 5 857 126 11 % 2 0 2 6 Security and surveillance of buildings 6 % 16 774 496 16 231 922 542 574 3 % Other Other 20 % 54 614 504 52 210 233 2 404 271 5 % Chapter 2 0 — Buildings and associated costs 100 % 267 588 704 251 599 697 15 989 008 6 %

36. There were no appropriations initially inscribed in the budget 2017 for Item 2 0 0 1 ‘Lease payments’: appropriations for this item were increased by EUR 40 850 000 by the end of the financial year, as a result of the mopping-up transfer. The full amount was committed for the project to extend the Adenauer Building in Luxembourg (KAD project).

37. The variation of the commitments of Item 2 0 0 5 ‘Construction of buildings’ is due to the construction works for the KAD building in Luxembourg (EUR 14 192 579) and to the fitting out of the Martens building in Brussels (EUR 16 780 000).

38. The increase of the commitments regarding the Item 2 0 0 7 ‘Fitting-out of premises’ is not linked to the normal recurrent works. As already in 2016, the increase in commitments is mainly due to exceptional investments in buildings for security.

39. Item 2 0 2 2 ‘Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning’ covers the upkeep of premises (e.g. cleaning and planted areas) and the maintenance of equipment and systems in buildings (structural and other maintenance, building service systems, lifts, etc.). The increase against the item over 2016 is mainly explained by a new contract for building maintenance in Luxembourg with more components as the old one and higher prices.

40. Commitments against Item 2 0 2 6 ‘Security and surveillance of buildings’ essentially cover caretaking and surveillance costs in respect of buildings occupied by Parliament at its three places of work and the information offices. The increase of commitments in 2017 results from three main elements: the extension of the perimeter in Strasbourg, following the opening of a new building and the Mini-Parliamentarium, price increase of the contracts and the maintaining of the yellow alert.

F. Chapter 2 1 ‘Data processing, equipment and movable property’

Table 13

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 2 1

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 2 1 0 0 Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — operations 16 % 27 914 346 25 283 870 2 630 476 10 % 2 1 0 1 Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — infrastructure 10 % 17 883 248 17 647 113 236 135 1 % 2 1 0 2 Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — general support for users 7 % 12 330 194 12 148 515 181 679 1 % 2 1 0 3 Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — management of ICT applications 13 % 23 411 798 18 162 835 5 248 963 29 % 2 1 0 4 Computing and telecommunications — investment in infrastructure 15 % 26 396 936 20 450 328 5 946 608 29 % 2 1 0 5 Computing and telecommunications — investment in projects 15 % 26 212 628 23 410 581 2 802 047 12 % Other Other 23 % 40 230 297 35 725 484 4 504 813 13 % Chapter 2 1 — Data processing, equipment and movable property 100 % 174 379 445 152 828 726 21 550 720 14 %

41. Expenditure against Item 2 1 0 0 ‘Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — operations’ relates to the smooth running of Parliament’s computer and telecommunications systems, in particular the computer and telecommunications centre systems, departmental computing, and network management. The 10 % increase of commitments against the item between 2016 and 2017 relates to increasing capacities of the Data Centre year-on-year, resulting from the growth in the number of hosted applications. Additionally, a framework contracts for maintenance resulted in further substantial increases in expenditure during 2017.

42. Expenditure against Item 2 1 0 1 ‘Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — infrastructure’ concerns the recurrent activities of management and maintenance of infrastructure, relating to the European Parliament’s computer and telecommunications systems. In particular, to infrastructure relating to networks, wiring, telecommunications, and individual equipment and voting systems. Commitments against this item remained stable between 2016 and 2017.

43. Expenditure against Item 2 1 0 2 ‘Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — general support for users’ relates to routine assistance and general support to users in relation to the Parliament’s computer and telecommunications systems. In particular, the support services for Members of the European Parliament, as well as for administrative and legislative applications. Commitments against this item remained stable between 2016 and 2017.

44. Commitments against Item 2 1 0 3 ‘Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — Management of ICT applications’ relate to the recurrent activities of managing the European Parliament’s ICT applications. In particular, applications relating to Members, communications, as well as administrative and legislative applications. The 29 % increase of commitments against the item between 2016 and 2017 is notably explained by the transfer of decentralised IT-expenditure for communication actions from budget items 2 1 4 0 and 3 2 4 2 to the budget items 2 1 0 3 and 2 1 0 5. This concerns all expenditures for the Europarl website (EUR 4,7 million), the expenditure for the hosting of the Europarl TV (EUR 0,5 million) and expenditure for hosting and maintenance of audiovisual applications (EUR 0,6 million).

45. Commitments against Item 2 1 0 4 ‘Computing and telecommunications — investment in infrastructure’ relate to investment in Parliament’s computer and telecommunications infrastructure and notably in the computer and telecommunications centre systems, networks, cabling and videoconferencing systems. A 29 % increase against this item resulted from a number of unforeseen events during 2017: replacement of the damaged equipment and restoration of the Data Centre to working order required after a major incident that took place in the Data Centre in Huizingen, Belgium, in October 2017 (+EUR 2 636 800); replacement of obsolete equipment for Network Attached Storage (NAS), which provides a robust disk storage infrastructure, used to store documents for MEPs and EP users (+EUR 1 797 000); and reinforcement of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) infrastructure for MEPs, in order to double the number of users, in the context of mobility for MEPs and their assistants in their constituency offices (+EUR 1 020 000).

46. Commitments against Item 2 1 0 5 ‘Computing and telecommunications — investment in projects’ concern investment in existing or new ICT projects. Investments include applications for Members, legislative, administrative and financial applications and ICT governance. The 12 % increase in expenditure against this Item from 2016 to 2017 steams mainly from the IT implementation strategy, where evaluative maintenance of more than 30 days had to be considered as an investment (EUR 2 000 000), the transfer of the management of the FMS project from DG ITEC to DG FINS, accompanied by a proportional increase in appropriations, as well as the by the transfer of decentralised IT-expenditure for communication actions from budget items 2 1 4 0 and 3 2 4 2 (as explained for Item 2 1 0 3).

G. Chapter 2 3 ‘Current administrative expenditure’

Table 14

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 2 3

(EUR) Article Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 2 3 0 Stationery, office supplies and miscellaneous consumables 28 % 1 299 847 1 379 855 -80 008 - 6 % 2 3 7 Removals 28 % 1 324 850 1 167 644 157 206 13 % 2 3 8 Other administrative expenditure 24 % 1 128 228 1 039 959 88 269 8 % Other Other (Articles 2 3 1, 2 3 2, 2 3 6, 2 3 9) 20 % 928 484 843 380 85 104 10 % Chapter 2 3 — Current administrative expenditure 100 % 4 681 409 4 430 838 250 571 6 %

47. Continuous efforts were made to control current administrative expenditure. The change against Article 2 3 7 ‘Removals’ can be explained notably by the implementation of the project relating to the fitting-out the Martens building in Brussels of a total capacity of 950 working places. For the Article 2 3 8 ‘Other administrative expenditure’ there were no specific expenses in 2017. The expenses were linked to recurrent activities.

H. Chapter 3 0 ‘Meetings and conferences’

Table 15

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 3 0

(EUR) Article Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 3 0 0 Expenses for staff missions and duty travel between the three places of work 82 % 26 450 000 26 050 083 399 916 2 % 3 0 4 Miscellaneous expenditure on meetings 16 % 4 987 469 6 080 262 -1 092 793 - 18 % 3 0 2 Reception and representation expenses 2 % 698 664 908 552 - 209 888 - 23 % Chapter 3 0 — Meetings and conferences 100 % 32 136 133 33 038 898 - 902 764 - 3 %

48. In 2017, there were 33 638 missions ( 20 ) (2016: 34 457), representing a total of 97 003 mission days (2016: 99 660). Most of the missions involved travel between Parliament’s three places of work (Brussels — 4 526 missions; Strasbourg — 21 035; and Luxembourg — 2 102). The increase against Article 3 0 0 ‘Expenses for staff missions and duty travel between the three places of work’ can be explained by the first full year application of the increased daily subsistence allowances and accommodation ceilings (applicable as from 10 September 2016).

49. The decrease against Article 3 0 4 ‘Miscellaneous expenditure on meetings’ is notably stemming from the reduction of the price for the mineral water served at official and administrative meetings, as well as of the number of bottles distributed during these meetings, allowing for a gradual reduction of the expenditure within this article.

I. Chapter 3 2 ‘Expertise and information: acquisition, archiving, production and dissemination’

Table 16

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 3 2

(EUR) Item Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 3 2 4 4 Organisation and reception of groups of visitors, Euroscola programme and invitations to opinion multipliers from third countries 32 % 32 311 596 29 494 023 2 817 573 10 % 3 2 4 2 Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events 10 % 10 305 617 16 286 377 -5 980 760 - 37 % 3 2 4 8 Expenditure on audiovisual information 14 % 14 468 976 15 019 157 - 550 181 - 4 % 3 2 1 0 Acquisition of expertise for the Parliamentary Research Services, the Library and the Archives 7 % 7 437 151 7 273 589 163 562 2 % 3 2 0 0 Acquisition of expertise 6 % 6 014 129 6 461 534 - 447 405 - 7 % Others Others 30 % 30 951 239 33 453 965 -2 502 726 - 7 % Chapter 3 2 — Expertise and information: acquisition, archiving, production and dissemination 100 % 101 488 708 107 988 646 -6 499 938 - 6 %

50. Item 3 2 4 4 covers the subsidies granted for group visits and associated supervision and infrastructure costs, the running costs of the Euroscola programme, and the financing of traineeships for opinion multipliers from third countries. The overall amount spent on visitors groups and individual visitors remained relatively stable despite the increase in the number of visitors, which, one year after the terrorist attacks, resumed back to normal levels. This is the result of the new rules governing the reception of visitors which allowed to make some economies. The increase in the commitments under this item increased compared to 2016 was due to (a) the renovation and promotion of the ‘other’ visitors facilities such as Station Europe (entry point to visit the EP), Esplanade Solidarność (hosting 34 events in 2017) and Atrium (welcome points for groups) which are on duty since the end of 2017; and (b) the budgetary commitments for the organisation of the European Youth Event in 2018 for which the contracts with implementing organisations are signed a year ahead of the event.

51. Item 3 2 4 2 ‘Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events’ covers, in particular, expenditure on information publications, information activities, public relations, participation in public events, trade fairs and exhibitions in the Member States and candidate countries, and updating of the Legislative Observatory (OEIL). The main reason for the substantial decrease in commitments under this budget item is that the all expenditures for the Europarl Website (EUR 4,7 million) and the expenditure for the hosting of the Europarl TV (EUR 0,5 million) have been moved to the budget item 2 1 0 3 IT management of applications. There was also a decrease in the amount spend by the EPLOs on the organisation of events.

52. Item 3 2 4 8 ‘Expenditure on audiovisual information’ covers expenditure for the operating budget of the audiovisual sector, live internet broadcasting of plenary sittings and parliamentary committee meetings, and the establishment of appropriate archives ensuring uninterrupted public access to the information concerned. The decrease against this Item from 2016 to 2017 was a result of the fact that in 2016 there were several unforeseen exceptional events which had to be covered.

53. In 2017, the production of audiovisual material generated 1 490 items on Europe by Satellite (e.g. plenary sittings, committee meetings and political events), the photo service covered 4 576 events (including 2 556 requests from Members), 1 750 radio, 4 064 Voxbox camera stand ups, 1 183 multimedia and 457 television items were produced. The Teletrax system (280 channels; 80 % of the European public) monitored 206 outlets that made use of Parliament-produced images. The images were used 76 378 times over a total duration of 594 hours.

54. The 2 % increase against Item 3 2 1 0 ‘Acquisition of expertise for the European Parliamentary Research Service, the Library and the Archives’ over 2016 can be explained by a standing increase in the demand (and complexity) for research products, including the editorial work. Additionally, the Historical Archives have concluded a new Framework Contract that has enabled for an increase in the volume of documentation treated. Finally, the costs of online sources of information are higher due to a general increase in the prices of the subscriptions, which are more oriented to a digital environment.

55. Concerning Item 3 2 0 0 ‘Acquisition of expertise’, the reduction from 2016 to 2017 mostly stems from delayed projects being put on hold.

J. Chapter 4 0 ‘Expenditure relating to certain institutions and bodies’

Table 17

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 4 0

(EUR) Article Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 4 0 0 Current administrative expenditure and expenditure relating to the political and information activities of the political groups and non-attached Members 55 % 60 046 300 61 000 000 - 953 700 - 2 % 4 0 2 Funding of European political parties 28 % 30 873 075 30 575 015 298 060 1 % 4 0 3 Funding of European political foundations 17 % 18 895 547 18 377 156 518 391 3 % Chapter 4 0 —‘Expenditure relating to certain institutions and bodies’ 100 % 109 814 922 109 952 171 - 137 249 0 %

56. Article 4 0 0 covers the secretarial, administrative and operational expenditure of the political groups and non-attached Members and expenditure on their political and information activities. The 2 % decrease of the commitments against this Article over 2016 is mainly due to an increased use of assigned revenues carried over to 2017 (EUR 1 953 663 in 2017 against EUR 134 500 in 2016).

57. ‘an entity or network of entities which (…) is affiliated with a political party at European level, and through its activities, within the aims and fundamental values pursued by the European Union, underpins and complements the objectives of the political party at European level’ ( 22 ). Articles 4 0 2 and 4 0 3 relate to grants awarded to support the annual work programme of political parties at European level or of political foundations at European level. Political parties at European level contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of citizens of the Union ( 21 ) . A political foundation at European level is

58. For European political parties and foundations, the maximum possible rate of Parliament co-financing is 85 % of the eligible expenditure ( 23 ) . The increase against both Articles from 2016 to 2017 results from Bureau decisions on the award of grants.

K. Chapter 4 2 ‘Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance’

Table 18

Appropriations committed in 2017 as against those committed in 2016: Chapter 4 2

(EUR) Article Heading Share in 2017 2017 2016 Difference Change 2017/2016 4 2 2 Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance 100 % 200 971 143 194 405 139 6 566 005 3 % Chapter 4 2 — Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance 100 % 200 971 143 194 405 139 6 566 005 3 %

59. Members may use their parliamentary assistance allowance to engage accredited parliamentary assistants (working in Brussels or Strasbourg under a specific statute) or local assistants ( 24 ) (working in their constituencies under contracts governed by national law). In respect of local assistants, the allowance covers invoices, salaries and travel expenses. In respect of accredited assistants, it covers salaries, allowances, mission expenses and the cost of outside training courses.

60. The increase in commitments from 2016 to 2017 reflects the index linking of pay (in December 2017, pay for officials and other staff of the European Union was increased by 1,5 %, backdated to 1 July 2017).

61. On 31 December 2017 there were 1 962 accredited parliamentary assistants working at Parliament. During 2017, 2 806 local assistants had an employment contract with a Member (including 73 employed by groupings of Members), 1 164 service providers (other than paying agents) and 508 paying agents (including 6 via groupings). Members have also recruited 155 people as trainees with main place of traineeship in their Member States of election and 1 953 with the main place of traineeship in one of the premises of the European Parliament.

62. On average, each Member employed 2,6 accredited assistants and 3,7 local assistants ( 25 ) . In 2017, the number of local assistants employed per Member varied between 0 and 35. Whereas 74 Members did not have any local assistants at all during 2017, there were 41 Members who recruited more than 10 employees in their Member State of election. During 2017, 340 Members had no contract with a service provider.

63. Parliamentary assistance payments in 2017 relating to local assistants living outside the euro zone were made on the basis of a rate of exchange between the euro and other currencies which was set for the entire year (December 2016 rate) in accordance with the rules in force.

L. Chapter 4 4 ‘Meetings and other activities of current and former Members’

64. This chapter accounted for 0,02 % of 2017 commitments, totalling EUR 420 000 (EUR 420 000 in 2016).

M. Title 10 ‘Other expenditure’

65. The chapters in this title contain only provisional appropriations, which may be committed only once they have been transferred to an operational line. Transfers of provisional appropriations are dealt with in section 1 of this report. Initial appropriations against this title stood at EUR 864 300 (2016: EUR 6 000 000) — equivalent to 0,4 % of the total budget for 2017.

III. 2017 OBJECTIVES AND RESULTS

66. The objectives pursued and outcomes achieved in 2017, which are set out below, stem mainly from the priorities set by Parliament’s competent bodies when preparing the 2017 budget ( 26 ) , the decisions adopted by the Bureau in 2017, and the goals and achievements of the Strategic Execution Framework ( 27 ) as well as developments during further preparation and implementation. The latter can be summarised as follows: — Enhancing security and cybersecurity. Defined as a priority area already in early 2016, the attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016 gave rise to enhanced measures whose implementation continued in 2017, notably in matters of physical and building security and internalisation of the drivers’ service. Also cybersecurity measures were put in place in response to cyber-attacks. — Preparing for the Brexit. The June 2016 referendum was followed by the United Kingdom formally invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union on 29 March 2017, which triggered the formal procedure and had a considerable impact on committee secretariats, research units and horizontal services of the political Directorates-General.

67. In an earlier stage, following political priorities were identified: — Empowering Members in their mandate. In 2017, legislative activity substantially increased as Parliament was in the mid of its 2014-2019 legislative term. For 2017, Parliament, the Council and the Commission had for the first time agreed on a Joint Declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities. The political Directorates-General for Parliamentary Research Service, Internal Policies and External Policies provided the Members of the European Parliament and parliamentary committees with assistance and knowledge in their parliamentary work. Also technical infrastructure was improved with the aim to provide additional flexibility and support to Members. — Communication policy — making Parliament attractive for the public and visitors. A major event in 2017 was the opening of the House of European History on 4 May 2017 by the President of the European Parliament. In addition, Parliament continued its strategy of installing the most successful elements of the Brussels Parlamentarium in the Information Offices with the opening of the Parlamentarium Simone Veil in Strasbourg and the decision on several other concrete projects to follow in due time. — Furthermore, a classical priority was the continuation of the rationalisation and modernisation of key areas of Parliament’s Administration (building policy, IT modernisation, environmental policy, staff policy).

A. Enhancing the security and cybersecurity of Parliament

A.1. Cooperation with national authorities and the other institutions

68. Enhanced security cooperation with the national authorities of host countries, and the Belgian authorities in particular, as well as with the other EU institutions, continued in 2017, and significant progress was made in a number of areas:

69. In 2015 the Belgian authorities embarked on a security study with a view to establishing an urban planning framework for security requirements in the European quarter. The needs and wishes of the institutions were fully incorporated into the specifications for that study. A monitoring committee, consisting of stakeholders from the competent Brussels authorities and representatives of the European institutions, was set up. Parliament’s administration attended several meetings in 2017, representing Parliament’s interests as regards the security of its vicinity. The final version of the report was published in December 2017. It will be up to the Brussels authorities, working in coordination with Parliament and the other institutions, to decide what measures to implement and how.

70. As regards the measures to strengthen the security and safety of Parliament’s main Strasbourg and Brussels buildings by setting up perimeters around them, the representations being made to the Belgian and French authorities in support of these projects have been continuing and have proved fruitful. In Brussels, the ‘pedestrianisation’ of rue Wiertz has been in force since 1 July 2017; in Strasbourg, work has begun on security perimeter fences around the Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga Buildings (Quai du Bassin de l’Ill) and at the foot of the embankment (Promenade Alcide de Gasperi) along the curved façade of the Louise Weiss Building.

71. Regarding the security vetting by the Belgian authorities of all employees of outside firms working at the EU institutions, the memorandum of understanding signed in October 2016 between the EU institutions and the government of the Kingdom of Belgium provides for all external service providers to be screened as a matter of course, and this entered into force in February 2017. Parliament’s administration endeavoured in 2017 to conclude similar agreements with the Luxembourg and French authorities.

72. As part of their efforts to step up security at Parliament’s premises, the administration of the Parliament sought to make the Brussels unloading bay more secure, bearing in mind that the risks could be greatly reduced if most of the deliveries were moved to an outside location. An interinstitutional project for a common warehouse was launched in 2017 together with the Council and the Commission.

A.2. iPACS project

73. The integrated Physical Access Control System (iPACS) project was adopted by the Bureau on 9 March 2015 with a view to acquiring new security techniques to step up security in Parliament by giving it modern, integrated, non-invasive technological tools capable of assimilating future technological developments.

74. In accordance with the Bureau decision, a schedule for the phasing in of the system at the three places of work over an estimated time span of five years was drawn up. The implementation continued in 2017.

A.3. Measures to make Parliament’s buildings more secure

75. Since 2014 the Bureau has taken a series of decisions to tailor security and protection arrangements at Parliament’s buildings, which were designed and acquired before terrorism became widespread, to the new types of risk now faced. In April 2016 the Bureau approved a general update on all the security work and investments previously approved for Brussels and Strasbourg and the scheduling thereof for 2016 and 2017.

76. In tandem with that, the Bureau also adopted a series of measures to step up security and the level of protection of Parliament’s central buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg against risks of intrusion or terrorist attack by creating an external perimeter around them.

77. Against this background, the Bureau had asked for the entrances to all Parliament buildings at the three places of work to be improved and reorganised on the basis of a new security concept able to guarantee a sound and safe working environment for parliamentary activities while retaining the openness to the public that is the hallmark of Parliament. These measures were continued in 2017.

A.4. Internalisation of drivers

78. In 2017, the internalisation of Members’ transport service, adopted by the Bureau at its meeting of 11 April 2016, was implemented. The main objective of the internalisation was the improvement of the security of Members as Parliament is able to conduct security screenings of drivers before employment and to provide continuous training and monitoring of its staff. The recruitment of 116 drivers and dispatchers was completed.

A.5. ICT Security

79. From 1 January 2017, the administrative entity of the Chief ICT Security Officer (CISO) was established. It consists of the ICT Security Unit with two departments i.e. Security Management and Security Operations. With an increase in the number and complexity of cyber threats, IT security is a top priority for the European Parliament. The CISO entity is now the central contact point for all matters related to IT security in ICT systems. It delivers quick response to incidents and develops policies regarding information security, ensuring their correct implementation and application at a technical and operational level, whilst implementing security risk assessments and supporting the security development lifecycle for ICT projects.

B. Impact of the Brexit

80. On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and is thus due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.

81. The Brexit declaration had a considerable impact on committee secretariats, research units and horizontal services of the political Directorates-General, which were called upon to follow this process and to prepare analytical material based on fact-finding work to consider the impact of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal on the policy areas and legislation in their respective fields. Dozens of Brexit Impact Studies across a broad range of policy areas were made publicly available on the Internet site of the European Parliament.

C. Enhancing the work of Parliament — empowering Members in their mandate

C.1. Searching for and managing knowledge

82. In addition to answering numerous enquiries from Members or their offices, in 2017 the ‘Members’ Research Service’ (MRS) has also generated an increasing number of publications for Members and the institution as a whole, all designed to being clear, content-rich, accessible and easy to read.

83. There are several types of publications, which differ in length and detail. ‘At a glance notes’ provide a one-to-two page summary of a topic whereas ‘Briefings’ offer a more detailed overview of a policy, issue or piece of legislation and have a length of up to twelve pages. A much more comprehensive and detailed analysis of the same is provided by ‘In-depth Analyses and Studies’. Overall, in 2017 the MRS generated 677 print publications, out of which 259 were ‘At a glance notes’, 383 ‘Briefings’ and 35 ‘In-depth Analyses and Studies.’

84. In 2017, the MRS has also worked closely with the two EU advisory committees — the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — as foreseen in the cooperation agreements signed with them in 2014, and delivered services to those bodies by responding to specific requests for research and support in other forms.

85. Parliament’s Library, in addition to the classic library function, also provides digital and online access for Members and staff to a very wide range of knowledge sources, including many subscription-based journals, databases, and news and other information sources.

86. Furthermore, the unit dealing with comparative law hosted in 2017 its second Annual Forum on Comparative Law, with the active participation of supreme-court justices, dedicated to the subject of ‘judicial remedies for individuals before the highest jurisdictions.’ The unit organised several conferences jointly with external partners, such as ERA (Europäische Rechtsakademie) and ELI (European Law Institute).

C.2. Supporting political priorities

87. In 2017, legislative activity increased as Parliament was in the mid of its 2014-2019 legislative term. This led to a higher output in the areas of Impact Assessment and European Added Value compared to previous years.

88. Two ‘Cost of Non-Europe Reports ( 28 ) ’ were published in 2017 on the topics ‘The added value of international trade and impact of trade barriers’ and ‘Procedural rights and detention conditions’. In addition to that, the fourth edition of the ‘Mapping the Cost of Non-Europe 2014-2019’ was published. Two ‘European Added Value Assessments’ were completed in 2017 on cross-border restitution claims of looted works of arts and on a statute for social and solidarity-based enterprises.

89. With the Commission halfway through its mandate, 2017 saw a high legislative output and a significant number of legislative proposals submitted to Parliament and consequently in the number of Commission impact assessments requiring appraisal: 42 initial appraisals were produced by Parliament’s administration. Furthermore, 11 ‘European Implementation Assessments’, were produced.

90. A broad range of forward-looking studies, workshops and other activities, at the request of the ‘Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel’ of 25 Members of the European Parliament, nominated by nine parliamentary committees, were organised during the year. In 2017, 24 publications were produced in this field and published on the Parliament’s Website.

91. The Global Trends Unit continued to work on identifying, tracking and analysing medium- and long-term global trends in the international economic, social, political and geo-political environments, and their implications for the EU policy process. It focuses on strategic foresight and keeps Members informed about trends and their potential policy implications, by publishing briefings and organising seminars. During 2017, the unit published two editions of its new Global Trendometer . This publication draws attention to specific trends on a bi-annual basis. It also published a major strategic foresight study on ‘Global Trends to 2035 — Geo-politics and Power’.

C.3. Internal policies

92. Legislative work in the area of internal policies in 2017 was to a high degree shaped by the dossiers of the Joint Declaration. December 2016 saw, for the first time, the Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreeing on such a Joint Declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities for 2017. The administration worked hard to support committee Members on these proposals.

93. The new Joint Declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities for 2018-2019, signed in December 2017, combines unfinished files from the 2017 Joint Declaration and adds new ones: It will be of equally great importance in the area of internal policies up to the end of the legislative term.

94. In 2017, the number of legislative files was significantly higher compared to 2016, following a rather expected pattern. In fact, with the end of the legislative term now coming in sight, activity on legislative files picked up and for 2018 a further increase can be expected. In 2017, 392 parliamentary committee meetings and 251 trilogue meetings were organised.

95. Two temporary committees, EMIS (Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector) and PANA (Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion), successfully concluded their work during the year and a third one, TERR (Special Committee on Terrorism), was started. The rapid setting-up and staffing of this temporary committee was a considerable challenge due to the extra coordination efforts and work as regards staffing, offices and other organisational issues.

96. A very substantial share of expertise needed for the work of the committees is produced in-house and this share has been increasing in the past years. In 2017, some 479 (2016: 382 and 2015: 352) internal studies and briefing papers were produced (including about 100 updates of existing ones).

C.4. External policies

97. In 2017, the five committee and sub-committee in the field of external policies increased their close cooperation with external stakeholders, notably with third country Missions to the EU in Brussels as well as EU delegations in third countries.

98. The committee secretariats further encouraged interaction and synergies with national parliaments, particularly in the areas of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), through the preparation, execution and provision of strategic expertise and guidance to national Parliament secretariats in the context of the Inter Parliamentary Conferences organised in association with the rotating Presidencies.

99. The delegation secretariats continued consistently to apply the working methods and modalities (the so-called reporting sheets) relating to scrutiny introduced in 2015 and revised at the beginning of 2016 and 2017. The reporting sheets ensure the effective assessment and monitoring of international agreements, the level of implementation of EU financial instruments, the impact of programmes and projects financed by the EU, the follow-up given to recommendations issued by election observation missions, the human rights situation and the monitoring legislation in force or in the making. A total of 97 detailed mission reports mostly focussed on projects financed or co-financed by the EU budget as well as International agreements in force or under negotiation and on the human rights situation in third countries. The number of reporting sheets on the Impact of legislation in force or in the making was, in contrast, much more limited, although there is scope to develop this area further. For the 2017 exercise, a new reporting sheet (Immigration, Security and Terrorism including defence issues) was introduced while the reporting sheet on human rights was extended to include a sub-section on gender-related issues. The guidelines on the reporting sheets were also amended to reflect the modifications introduced in 2017.

100. The Policy Department implemented the results of the survey carried out in 2016 on the relevance and coverage of issues of interest to the delegations, further improving the quality of analysis, timely delivery and quality of policy options and recommendations. It organised a series of events (policy hubs, exchanges of views, a diplomacy forum and a roundtable) on various topical issues with the participation of representatives of relevant academic and think tank communities and international organisations. Two of the policy hubs focused on the impact of the future withdrawal of the UK from the EU on the Union’s external policies.

101. The Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach (CDSA) for Parliament’s Capacity building activities was further developed. The priority list was extended to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Tunisia, Morocco, Peru, Myanmar, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Pan African Parliament. Furthermore, with a view to improving synergies and cooperation within the Parliament and with external partners, and enhancing the visibility of capacity building activities, two main events were organised: Tunisia Week (replicating the successful model of the Ukraine Week in 2016) and a High Level Conference on the Legislative Cycle (to which members from all parliaments of priority countries participated). The International Democracy day took place for the third time in the EP premises.

102. In addition to 11 Election Observation Delegations, two seminars were organised with external partners, on the follow-up to recommendations and on the improvement of Parliamentarians’ accountability in election observation.

103. Activities for the Western Balkans and Turkish parliaments were implemented in close cooperation with the partner parliaments involved, allowing a focus on issues of specific interest for them (Trans-European Networks, violence against women or public procurement).

104. In addition, the first High-Level Round Table on the EU integration process of the Western Balkans was organised harnessing various Democracy support units and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, providing a new regional focus on the European Integration process.

C.5. Members’ Portal and e-Portal

105. As regards Members’ financial and social entitlements the goal of Parliament’s administration is to enhance client orientation and to reduce the administrative burden for Members. In this respect, two instruments play a major role: the Portal and the e-Portal.

106. The Portal is a single front desk integrating all services related to financial and social entitlement formalities and became fully operational in July 2016 whereas the electronic counterpart, the e-Portal, has been accessible since January 2015. A project running from 2017-2019 incorporates major improvements to the e-Portal, such as a new graphical user interface including a version for mobile devices allowing the application to be run from tablets and smartphones.

D. Phasing out the derogation for Irish

107. In the European Parliament, all official languages are equally important: all parliamentary documents are published in all the official languages of the European Union and all Members of the European Parliament have the right to speak in the official language of their choice. It also ensures everyone is able to follow and access the Parliament’s work.

108. Up to 31 December 2006, Irish was not included in the working languages of the EU institutions. Pursuant to an Agreement made in 1971 between Ireland and the Community, Irish was considered an official Community language, it being understood, however, that only primary legislation was drawn up in that language.

109. On 1 January 2007, Irish became a full EU official language, however with temporary derogations for renewable periods of five years. In its Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/2264 ( 29 ) , the Council decided to phase out the temporary derogation measures.

110. This phasing out foresees that the number of documents to be translated in Irish should increase gradually every year between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2021, final date for the end of the derogation.

111. An Irish Translation Unit was created in 2017 within the Directorate-General of Translation. By the end of 2017, the Unit counted 20 staff members.

E. Communication/making Parliament attractive to the public and visitors

E.1. Media and Stakeholder dialogue

112. In the field of media, numerous projects have been implemented. The Parliament’s web presence has been further consolidated with the implementation of a multiplatform approach and a new EP portal and news planet. Essential work has been done regarding increasing Parliament’s visibility on the internet when using search engines.

113. Adaptability of the Parliament’s communication to the needs of media and other target groups is reflected in the web-project ‘Multimedia Centre’ which is an all-in-one offer for audiovisual content (photo, video or audio).

114. Consolidating the relationship with media is also an important activity. Among others, the work done around and since the triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union by the United Kingdom and the media activities around the debate on the State of the European Union are to be mentioned. In 2017, 223 press seminars were organised in the Member States with more than 3 076 journalists. On top of that, 1 905 journalists were invited to take part in plenary sessions, centrally organised press seminars and High Level Conferences.

115. Regarding the communication strategy in Member States, the ‘Stakeholders Dialogue’ pilot project allowed 25 events to take place in 2017, involving 14 rapporteurs from 12 Member States. Another additional 34 events were organised by the Information Offices on legislative topics different from those within the scope of the Stakeholder Dialogue project. The Information Offices contributed to reinforcing support to rapporteurs’ legislative work by offering them the possibility to discuss with stakeholders in a number of Member States a specific interest or relevance regarding the selected legislative files.

E.2. EP Ambassador School programme

116. Another milestone was the innovative approach to reach out to schools across EU Member States by means of the Ambassador School Programme. The project aims to create a continuously increasing network of schools which would be engaging with the Parliament, its Members and Information Offices. Interested schools have to apply to become part of the network and then perform teaching activities that raise awareness on European parliamentary democracy and European citizenship values. After the successful completion of the pilot phase, 700 schools were certified as EP Ambassador Schools in 2017. More than 2 600 teachers were appointed senior ambassadors, and more than 9 100 students became part of the junior ambassadors’ network.

E.3. Visitors projects

117. The European Parliament has been striving to improve the experience of its visitors both on the EP premises in Brussels and Strasbourg as well as on the EP’s Information Offices in the Member States. Over the past years, the need arose to introduce effective, informative and coherent reception arrangements and other facilities to all visitors in its different poles of attraction. In 2017 the Parliament pursued to improved offers to visitors in Brussels, Strasbourg and in the Information Offices. As regards the visitors’ strategy validated by the Bureau in 2015, a new set of priority projects has been identified.

118. Implemented in 2017, the Visitors Strategy Coordination ensures the communication on and promotion of the global offer, as well as the entire marketing strategy for the visitor offer in Brussels and Strasbourg. It also manages partnerships with other EU institutions and local Belgian partners and authorities across a wide range of projects and common concerns. In 2017, this materialised in the implementation of a series of cross-communication activities.

119. The opening of the House of European History on 4 May 2017 by the President of the European Parliament, followed by the opening to the public two days later was of major interest. In the first seven months since its opening, the House of European History has welcomed almost 100 000 visitors for its permanent and temporary exhibitions.

120. Installing the most successful elements of the Brussels Parlamentarium in the Information Offices is also an important tool to improve the Parliament’s visibility. These new areas, called ‘Europa Experience’, were established in Berlin and Ljubljana in 2016 and counted 144 570 and 7 185 visitors in 2017. The Parlamentarium Simone Veil in Strasbourg was inaugurated in 2017. Preparation works have started in Copenhagen to open in 2018 and projects in Tallinn, Helsinki and Paris were approved at the end of 2017.

E.4. Events and exhibitions

121. The Parliament fosters interaction with citizens through recurrent and occasional events, in particular by celebrating the ‘Europe Day’ — the 9 May honours the Anniversary of the Declaration made by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950. As every year, in 2017 the European Parliament organised on this occasion Open Days in its places of work, as well as in the Member States. In Brussels, this event was organised in collaboration with the other Brussels-based EU institutions. The European-Youth-Event is a recurrent event to be organised every two years and will take place for the next time in 2018.

E.5. Lux Prize, Sakharov Prize and European Citizen’s Prize

122. The LUX Prize pursues two objectives: enhancing the circulation of European films across Europe and sparking Europe-wide debate and discussion on societal issues. To these ends, the LUX Film Prize promotes the distribution of its three contending films by subtitling each of them in the EU’s 24 official languages and by producing one digital cinema package per film for each country. The award of the prize took place during the plenary session in November 2017. Winner was the film Sámi Blood from Armanda Kernell.

123. The European Parliament supports human rights through the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, established in 1988. The prize is awarded to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights across the globe, drawing attention to human rights violations as well as supporting the laureates and their cause. The 2017 laureates were the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela.

124. Since 2008 the Parliament awards the European Citizen’s Prize every year to projects and initiatives that facilitate cross-border cooperation or promote mutual understanding within the EU. The prize, which has symbolic value, is also intended to acknowledge the work of those who through their day-to-day activities promote European values. In 2017, the European Parliament has honoured 49 people and organisations from 26 EU countries. National award ceremonies were followed by a central ceremony in October 2017 in Brussels.

E.6. AskEP

125. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) answers information requests from members of the general public on the Parliament and EU issues more widely. The 2014-2019 Parliament has witnessed a significant increase in the volume of requests, mainly as a result of seemingly coordinated ‘write-in’ campaigns on topical issues. As a matter of course, the unit replies to correspondence in the official language in which the citizen has sent their letter or email. In 2017, the unit treated over 9 200 individual enquiries and 42 900‘campaign’ enquiries. Central topics of the year were the situation in Catalonia, the ongoing Brexit negotiations with questions often linked to the rights of citizens and migration policy.

E.7. Other activities

126. In 2017, the multiannual work programme for grants in the area of communication continued, covering two areas — Media and Events — for the period 2016-2019. It consists of the co-financing of projects, selected through a call for proposals in accordance with the Financial Regulation, which are aimed at raising awareness on the role of the EP, its powers and political nature; disseminating information about the EP and its activities and increasing knowledge and understanding of the three pillars around which the EP operates, namely politics, policies, and values.

127. Grants in the area of Media (television, radio, on line) are implemented on the basis of multiannual partnership agreements with a limited number of media in the Member States having a minimal reach capacity, whereas grants in the area of Events are awarded directly to eligible organisations based in the Member States.

F. Continuing to implement the multiannual programmes to rationalise and modernise key parts of Parliament’s Administration

F.1. Buildings policy

128. Buildings policy is a long-term policy that does not follow the annual rhythm of the EU budget. For the best possible results in the long term, it is necessary to plan five to 10 years ahead while bearing in mind prospective needs emerging over 20 to 25 years. Building projects often require financing over several years; proper planning is therefore fundamental for sound financial management.

129. Building acquisition has been Parliament’s main policy related to infrastructure investment since the 1992 Edinburgh European Council decision establishing the seats of the EU institutions. Building renovation on the other hand is a relatively new activity that due to the aging building stock will grow in importance. In the coming years, major renovations of big buildings, such as the Paul-Henri Spaak Building, are expected to take place.

130. A decision on the renovation of the Paul-Henri Spaak Building and the related measures will need to be taken by the Bureau.

131. In 2017, building projects at the three main working places and the information offices continued as set out below:

Brussels

132. The first phase of construction of the Martens Building was finalised in 2016 and the handover from the promoter to the Parliament took place at the end of June 2016. The second phase of the project, in which the Parliament was in charge of the fit out and the adaptation works, was finalised in December 2017. The following third phase will entail the installation of furniture and equipment. The completion of these activities and the delivery of the building is foreseen for the first semester 2018.

133. A 21-year usufruct contract was signed at the beginning of 2016 for the new Professional Training Centre. For this purpose, the existing technically outdated building Montoyer 63 was demolished in 2017 and the building works for the training centre started at the same site. For the 24 months it will take to build the training centre, the building Belmont Court is temporarily leased from the same provider.

134. Studies concerning the Wayenberg crèche extension (project approved by the Bureau in November 2016) have been completed. A tender procedure was organised in 2017. Works are planned to start around March 2018. Their duration is expected to be 22 months. Provisional acceptance is expected at the end of 2019 for an opening at the beginning of 2020. The crèche was initially opened in 2005 and the site is owned by Parliament.

135. The House of European History, hosted in the Eastman building, opened in May 2017. Architecturally, the project has taken an existing building, not designed as a museum, and transformed it into an example of cutting edge contemporary architecture and design offering a suitable environment for a major new museum.

136. At its meeting of 12 June 2017, the Bureau decided to exercise the contractual option to purchase the Trèves I Building for the price of EUR 1 000.

137. As requested by the Bureau, a concept for the possible future use of the House of the artist Wiertz and its garden was elaborated in 2017. However, the finalisation of a public-public partnership is still ongoing.

Luxembourg

138. The KAD (Konrad Adenauer) project constitutes the main axis of Parliament’s property policy in Luxembourg. The new KAD building will consolidate activities in Luxembourg in one building complex with a view to rationalising costs. The project comprises two phases: the construction on the ‘East site’ and the construction on the ‘West site’. Completion of the east site works is foreseen in three steps. In October 2018 reception of the Tower and the zone ‘PQRS’, in April 2019 reception of the remaining building except the conference centre and in July 2019 reception of the conference centre. Completion of the west site works is scheduled for January 2022. Following the Bureau decision of 6 July 2015, the decision on the future of the old KAD building is left for the beginning of the next term. As in previous years, the Committee on Budgets authorised in 2017 a year-end transfer for the pre-financing of the project. This transfer amounted to EUR 40,85 Mio (see section I. H. on transfers).

Strasbourg

139. The Havel Building, originally constructed in 1955, used to be owned by the Council of Europe. It was bought by Parliament in 2012 and has been completely renovated and upgraded in a two-part project: refurbishment of the building proper and construction of a footbridge to link it to the Pierre Pflimlin Building and landscaping of the surrounding area. The building was brought into use in April 2017.

140. In the framework of the modernisation of the welcome areas, the Parlamentarium Simone Veil opened in July 2017.

Information Offices

141. In Ljubljana, the specific fitting-out work in the new Europe House was completed in 2016. The opportunity was taken to install interactive ‘Europa Experience’ features in the public area in order to make it more attractive. The inauguration took place on 3 March 2017.

142. In accordance with the Bureau decision of 12 December 2016, Parliament — acting as lead institution — launched a property market search jointly with the Commission with the aim of finding a building for the new Europe House in Rome. In the course of the survey, an assessment has been made of close to 40 buildings offered by six estate agencies. A visit by the political authorities in spring 2018 is envisaged.

143. At its meeting of 13 November 2017, the Bureau approved the signature of a lease for the 51, Blvd Haussmann building in Paris for the usage as House of Europe together with the European Commission.

144. The lease on the Europe House in Stockholm will expire on 31 March 2018. The premises have been occupied by Parliament’s Information Office and the Commission Representation since 2008. An offer by the owner of the building was received in 2017, proposing a three-year extension of the lease. Following a comparative study of prices on the local market which confirmed that the proposed rent increase was in line with market prices, the Administration was authorised by the Working Party on Buildings, Transport and a Green Parliament to conclude a supplementary agreement extending the current lease by three years.

145. The contract regarding the fitting-out of two floors of the building housing the Europe House in Sofia was signed in December 2017. The works will be carried out in 2018.

146. At its meeting of 13 December 2017, the Bureau endorsed the proposal to establish a joint European Parliament and European Commission Information Point at the new Central Library of Helsinki. The proposed lease will run for 10 years and can be renewed.

147. At its meeting of 13 December 2017, the Bureau endorsed the proposal to rent additional space on the ground floor of the Europe House in Tallinn with a view to transforming the public area into a genuine Europa Experience installation. An addendum to the current lease will be signed.

148. The Europe House in Dublin is jointly used with the Commission Representation (lead institution). On 12 June 2017, the Bureau approved an amendment to the Administrative Arrangement with the Commission to extend the current subtenancy until 15 September 2019.

149. The Bureau, at its meeting of 13 November 2017, approved the proposals to modernise the facilities at the Jean Monnet House in Bazoches in order to upgrade the visitor experience and to purchase a plot of land adjacent to the Jean Monnet site.

Maintenance policy

150. A multiannual maintenance and upkeep programme has been introduced. There were a number of key developments in 2017.

151. As regards Brussels, cases in point are the completion of two terraces on parts of the roofs of the Spinelli Building, the renovation of the paintings and technical installations of the Sports Centre, fitting-out of the Members’ Portal and supply of hybrid cars. The zone ‘Sanitary Facilities’ was put in service in the Brandt Building. The second installation phase of water fountains connected to the water network was completed. The recovery of two power supplies from the distribution network to the high voltage cabins in the Spaak and Spinelli buildings cables allows to ensure a redundancy in case of problems with the active source.

152. In Strasbourg, action taken in 2017 chiefly involved the beginning of regular maintenance works in the Havel Building after the building had been brought into use, the setting up of a connection system for auxiliary cooling units, the continuation of maintenance refurbishment work in the tower of the Weiss Building and the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles.

153. Following the collapse of the Strasbourg Chamber ceiling and its immediate rebuilding in 2008, as a precautionary measure Parliament had the ceilings of the main rooms and circulation areas in the Louise Weiss Building inspected. As a result, a number of defects and instances of non-compliance with building regulations and industry standards were established. Parliament brought legal proceedings against an insurance company. In view of the highly technical nature of this issue, the court appointed a panel of three experts to determine the causes of the problems and put a figure on the damage caused to Parliament. That panel also addressed a further problem that had been detected: the poor state of repair of the flocking on the structural steelwork supporting the roof of the building. After the technical aspects had been wound up, the main works proceeded in 2016 and were completed in 2017. As far as the claims are concerned, Parliament accepted a compensation of EUR 20 Mio proposed by the insurance company, with a view to bringing an end to the legal disputes.

154. With regard to maintenance work in Luxembourg, the cold generation was modified with a view to realising savings in energy. Other maintenance work included the reinforcement of physical security in the Schuman and Senningerberg buildings by the replacement of the key systems, the maintenance of carpets in the corridors of the Adenauer Building and painting remakes in Tower B.

F.2. Environmental policy

155. The European Parliament recognises that it has a duty to make a positive contribution to sustainable development as a long-term goal, not only through its political role and its role in legislative procedures, but also in the context of how it operates and the decisions that it makes on a day-to-day basis.

156. Due to this environmental commitment, the European Parliament uses the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is a management instrument of the European Union for private and public organisations to evaluate and improve their environmental performance in accordance with the EMAS Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 ( 2 ) . The European Parliament is EMAS-registered at all three places of work since December 2007. Following the last re-certification audit, the registration was successfully extended until December 2019.

157. In accordance with Parliament’s Environmental Manual, the Environmental Policy had been established by the Bureau and signed by the President and the Secretary-General on behalf of the Institution, first in 2007 and in a revised form in 2010. As the Environmental Policy should be renewed during each legislative term, a revised document was approved by the Bureau and signed by the President and the Secretary-General in 2016. In 2017, the EMAS Action Plan of the year was successfully implemented.

158. Overall, the Eco-Management System at the European Parliament is successful. All the 2016 mid-term KPI targets were achieved by 2016, and for many indicators the actual performance significantly exceeded the target level. New ambitious KPI targets were adopted by the Steering Committee for Environmental Management on 26 September 2017 in the areas gas, oil and district heating consumption, renewable energy percentage (new), electricity, paper and water consumption, waste recycling, reduction of non-recycled waste, reduction of food waste (new) and green public procurement (new).

159. One of the main objectives of Parliament is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 % by 2020. By 2016, Parliament had already achieved a considerable reduction of 27,2 % compared to 2006. At its meeting of 23 October 2017, the Bureau approved the new reduction target of its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 40 % in 2030 compared to 2006. The new target for the period beyond 2020 is based on a comprehensive approach, building on the experience acquired by working on reaching the current target and applying Parliament’s environmental management system in general. It takes into account the evolution of this performance indicator during the last years, best practice models as well as proportionality, feasibility and new developments in the European Parliament itself. Defining a new long-term CO 2 emissions target allows for medium and long-term planning and sends a strong signal of practical commitment to the broader emission reduction targets at EU level, affirming the willingness on the part of the European Parliament to lead by example in this effort.

160. Whereas Parliament’s environmental policy is based on preventing or limiting emissions first, carbon offsetting is a useful and compensatory measure to combat climate change. Since 2016, the European Parliament is the first EU institution to become carbon neutral, because after making all possible efforts to reduce its CO 2 emissions it offsets 100 % of its irreducible emissions.

161. One element of Parliament’s Environmental Policy is the commitment to ‘Green Public Procurement’ (GPP), which is defined in the European Commission’s Communication on Public Procurement for a better environment as: ‘a process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured’ ( 3 )

F.3. Catering policy

162. Efforts continued in 2017 to modernise catering within Parliament until 2019 as laid down in the Bureau decision of 10 June 2013 on ‘Parliament’s future catering policy 2014-2019 — Guidelines for modernisation’.

163. A major element of the catering policy are unsubsidised ‘fixed price’ contracts. In Brussels and Strasbourg, new contracts unsubsidised by Parliament had already entered into force in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The food offer was gradually diversified and new canteens and restaurants were opened. In Luxembourg, the timing of contractual changes will be aligned with the conclusion of the construction of the new Adenauer building.

164. In order to improve health and well-being at the workplace, it was decided to favour food options considered healthy and to support more sustainable food choices at Parliament’s catering facilities. The latest restaurant/catering and vending service contracts have included requirements on fair trade aspects, transition to better diets, healthier lifestyles and combatting food waste. The tenders have also integrated criteria like seasonal products, animal welfare and a vegetarian offer.

165. Giving away unsold food to charity is also making its way as a good practice in Parliament’s canteens and sale points. Another element of the catering policy is the further reduction of the use of bottled mineral water in meetings and the installation of water fountains in passageway areas.

F.4. Modernisation of information technologies

166. The renewed Bureau’s Working Group con ICT Innovation Strategy met three times in 2017, providing a renewed impetus on implementing the 2014-2019 Strategic Orientations and consolidating shared vision for digital transformation in the EP.

167. In the framework of the strategic objectives 2016-2019, substantial progress has been made on enriching the spectrum of services provided to the users, in particular through strategic projects such as eParliament, ICT4MEP, the deployment of the new EP Intranet, and the Application’s Strategy framework. New projects that have started in 2017, such as ‘From Tablet to Hybrid’ and ‘Mainstreaming Innovation’ contribute to this approach and will reinforce the Innovative and digital working environment of the Parliament. The state of play on the IT Plan 2017 showed that by the end of 2017, of the 293 projects planned, 74 % were completed or ongoing.

168. The ‘From Tablet to Hybrid’ project aims at a phased large deployment of hybrid portables to replace desktops in order to support the mobility strategy. The pilot phase is ongoing and positive and encouraging results have been received. The devices will offer additional features and integrated communication tools, opening up for important opportunities in mobility policies, teleworking and working space management.

169. On 18 October 2017, the Publishing Service Desk (PSD) opened its doors. Designed to support MEPs, political groups, committees and DGs, the PSD supports any publishing need for communication activities within the Parliament and offers help with graphic design, printing, multimedia, and web projects.

170. In 2017, the Parliament’s administration prepared for the migration of the European Parliament’s IT systems from Windows 7 with Office 2013, to Windows 10 with Office 2016. The pilot phase is now completed and some 200 users have been migrated to the new platform. An upgrade of over 19 121 workstations and more than 400 EP IT aplications is required, with several teams working in parallel to deliver a smooth migration. The deployment phase is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2018. This new platform will bring a more modern and collaborative IT environment to the Parliament.

171. In 2017, the Financial Management System (FMS) project on the introduction of SAP continued. The aim is to improve the visibility and availability of decision-critical information on available resources (human, IT and financial) and their use, achieve efficiencies by standardising and automating key central financial processes, and provide a solution to the approaching technical obsolescence of existing IT applications, in particular the general and budgetary accounting systems and the payments system.

172. The evolving scenario of cooperation in the framework of the CII (Interinstitutional Committee on Informatics) required a stronger involvement in joint projects teams from the onset on challenging topics such as mobility and the digital workplace.

173. Two important international cooperation projects have taken form during 2017, one with the United Nation’s High-Level Committee on Management Secretariat on the digitalisation of the Assembly decision-making processes and one with the Interparliamentary Union on the establishment of a Global Centre on Innovation in Parliaments. Both projects should be operational in the first part of 2018 but they already represent an important investment of in the light of the strategic objective to support technological innovation in favour of strenghtening democracy.

F.5. Human resources management

174. In 2017, the update of the internal rules on human resources management continued and improvements in several processes were implemente