EN Official Journal of the European Union L 246/148

RESOLUTION (EU) 2016/1477 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 28 April 2016

with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section VI — European Economic and Social Committee

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

— having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section VI — European Economic and Social Committee,

— having regard to the decision of the European Ombudsman of 18 November 2015 closing the inquiry into complaint 1770/2013/JF against the European Economic and Social Committee,

— having regard to Rule 94 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A8-0111/2016),

1. Welcomes the fact that on the basis of its audit work, the Court of Auditors concluded that the payments as a whole for the year ending 31 December 2014 for administrative and other expenditure of the institutions and bodies were free from material error;

2. Notes with concern that in its 2014 annual report, the Court of Auditors observed weaknesses at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in four cases out of the 15 procurement procedures it examined;

3. Welcomes the fact that, in response to the observations made by the Court of Auditors, the EESC has set up a specific support service for public procurement to assist directorates other than the logistics directorate, which already has such a service; expects it to be fully operational in the second half of 2016;

4. Takes note that in 2014 the EESC budget amounted to EUR 128 559 380 (EUR 130 104 400 in 2013), corresponding to a decrease of 1,19 % in comparison to the 2013 annual budget, with a utilisation rate of 95,6 %; notes the increase in the utilisation rate in 2014 but regrets that it still has not reached the 96,8 % of 2012;

5. Stresses that the EESC budget is purely administrative, with a large amount being used on expenditure on persons working within the institution and the remaining amount on buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous running costs;

6. Takes note of the follow-up observations attached to the EESC annual activity report (AAR) in Parliament's discharge resolution of 29 April 2015 for the financial year 2013 (1);

7. Notes that the EESC produced fewer reports and opinions in 2014 and held fewer legislative work meetings; is however surprised at the increased number of legal opinions issued by the legal unit in that period; asks to be informed of reasons behind this expansion;

8. Notes that a cooperation agreement between the EESC and Parliament, with two annexes on administrative cooperation and budgetary impact in common with a parallel agreement between Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, was signed on 5 February 2014 with the objective of developing political and administrative cooperation;

9. Welcomes the EESC response to Parliament's request in its abovementioned discharge resolution for the financial year 2013 to make an individual assessment of the impact that the cooperation agreement is having in terms both of human resources and of expenditure, synergies, added value, and substantive quality;

10. Finds that there is still room for improvement within the cooperation agreement, particularly in the political sphere; believes that Parliament, the EESC and the Committee of the Regions are capable of developing further synergies that will enhance productivity at all levels in areas of cooperation and calls for specific detailed provisions to be laid down concerning the functioning of the services shared by the three institutions; asks for EESC members to be polled on their satisfaction with the services provided to them by the European Parliamentary Research Service; asks to be kept informed of the cooperation agreement follow-up;

11. Asks for the mid-term review of the cooperation agreement to include a detailed breakdown per institution of the savings and increased budgetary costs resulting from it;

12. Takes note that the EESC has implemented the new reimbursement rules for members' travel expenses based on real costs, following Parliament’s specific requests in the 2013 discharge resolution last year; welcomes the fact that the system has become fully operational with the beginning of the current new EESC term starting in autumn of 2015;

13. Notes with concern that total reimbursement of travelling expenses and allowances paid to the EESC beneficiaries amounted to EUR 17 375 864; urges the institution to develop a systematic strategy to reduce those expenses and allowances substantially;

14. Takes note that in 2014 the EESC had a positive balance of EUR 1 560 000 under the cooperation agreement; notes with concern that 36 officials from the EESC and 24 from the Committee of the Regions, all from the translation services and for the most part very near to retirement age, were transferred under the cooperation agreement, with the result that both institutions will make significant savings in staff chapters (salaries and pensions) while Parliament’s costs will increase considerably both in the short term (salaries) and in the long term (pensions);

15. Regrets the increase of staff mission costs from EUR 338 366 in 2013 to EUR 387 481 in 2014 (14,5 %);

16. Urges the inclusion of an overview of staff holding management positions sorted by nationality, gender and position in the AAR;

17. Welcomes the close collaboration of the EESC and the Committee of the Regions in drawing up the internal whistleblowing rules since they have some services and staff in common; considers however that the EESC has taken too much time to approve those rules; welcomes nevertheless the fact that the rules are being enforced retroactively;

18. Notes the slight improvement in 2014 in the number of one of the genders holding management posts (40 %; 39 % in 2013); regrets however the persistent gap, which has no correspondence in the other categories; stresses the importance of establishing medium-term goals by which the necessary balance may be attained, and urges the continuance of active work towards this goal;

19. Welcomes the launch by the EESC of a specific course on ‘Ethics and Integrity’ to improve knowledge and awareness of staff members’ rights and obligations; considers, however, that this course should not be mandatory just for new staff members but for all staff;

20. Regrets that the EESC has not yet implemented all the measures requested by Parliament in paragraph 24 of its abovementioned discharge resolution for 2013; considers that in not forwarding information on two court rulings against the EESC to Parliament’s Bureau and its own members and staff, and by choosing instead to include that information in other publications of a general nature, the EESC did not act as it should have; hopes that omissions of this kind will be resolved through development of the new rules on whistleblowers and consequently may in this specific case be rectified retroactively;

21. Hopes that with the enforcement of the new rules on whistleblowers, the EESC will immediately and efficiently take the measures necessary to ensure recognition, respect and consideration of whistleblowers in cases acknowledged as such by the General Court prior to the adoption of those rules; calls for the necessary measures to be taken to end once and for all the attacks being made against those whistleblowers through various EESC publications;

22. Deplores the fact that in the aforementioned decision closing inquiry 1770/2013/JF against the EESC, the Ombudsman states that the EESC only accepted part of the proposal made to remedy maladministration; deplores the fact that the EESC has not acknowledged maladministration nor any error in its decision to reassign the complainant; deplores the fact that the EESC has not agreed to acknowledge those errors in principle although in practice it has accepted some of the Ombudsman’s recommendations to grant the complainant compensation for injustices done;

23. Takes note of the information provided by the EESC in the follow-up to the abovementioned discharge resolution for 2013 on the use of videoconferencing tools; requests that it be kept informed of the progress achieved on this matter; believes that the use of videoconferencing and similar technologies will allow the EESC to cut travel and meeting costs significantly;

24. Notes that the number of meetings using videoconferencing tools has doubled in comparison to 2013; notes that the videoconferencing tool has been used in meetings where no interpretation is needed; encourages the EESC to use the language training effectively in order to ensure that less interpretation is needed and thus its work is more effective and efficient;

25. Encourages the EESC to strengthen its information and communication policy as well as its presence in the social media;

26. Notes the EESC’s effort to raise its profile through an effective information and communication policy; agrees with it focusing on boosting inter-institutional cooperation in order to improve communication and visibility as well as on enhancing the presence of members of institutions at national level, and encourages the EESC to continue working along these lines; welcomes, in that connection, any further efforts to improve the flow of information and, hence, transparency;

27. Notes with satisfaction the downward trend in the rate of requested but unused interpretation services from 5,1 % in 2013 to 4,3 % in 2014; expects that the terms negotiated under the cooperation agreement will ensure further reductions in interpretation costs;

28. Finds the 1 % reduction in outsourced translation compared with 2013 surprising; expects this trend to change after the implementation of the cooperation agreement, which foresees more outsourcing of translation after the transfer of translation staff to Parliament;

29. Acknowledges the results reached by the inter-institutional committee for translation and interpretation settling a harmonised methodology which enables direct comparisons of the translation costs of all institutions; welcomes the fact that the EESC is providing data according to this methodology;

30. Regrets that one major event had to be postponed in 2014; reiterates its calls on the EESC to plan the organisation of in-house events better;

31. Welcomes the inclusion of the results and consequences of closed European Anti-Fraud Office cases in 2014 in the AAR;

32. Welcomes the EESC’s decision to attach its building policy to the AAR;

33. Takes note of the cooperation between the EESC and Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, in particular in relation to the discharge exercise.

(1) Resolution of the European Parliament, of 29 April 2015, with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013, Section VI — European Economic and Social Committee (OJ L 255, 30.9.2015, p. 128).