ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
ANNEX

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund following an application from Greece — EGF/2018/003 EL/Attica publishing

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision (EU) 2019/275.)
4.

Welcomes the continued work on the standardised procedures for EGF applications and management using the functionalities of the electronic data exchange system (SFC 2014), which allows for the simplification and faster processing of applications, and better reporting; calls for better exchange of information about the processes among the Commission and Member States and Member States themselves; notes that the Commission has facilitated EGF financial operations by the creation of an interface between SFC and the accounting and financial information system ABAC; takes note that only further fine-tuning and adjustments to possible changes are needed, limiting de facto the EGF contribution to that type of expenditure;
2.

Emphasises that the Agency is partly self-financed and receives fees from companies requesting the registration of chemicals as required under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered; according to the Court's report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 30 % of the companies claimed to be micro companies or small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); notes with concern however that, thanks to the Agency's effective system of ex-post verifications, the Agency identified that some 55 % of the micro companies and SMEs had categorised their size incorrectly resulting in lower fees; endorses the measures taken by the Agency to have invoiced particularly high fee corrections amounting to EUR 16,4 million; furthermore, urges the national enforcement authorities to enhance the verification systems of the volumes declared by the companies, and to fully and effectively implement the Strategies and minimum criteria for enforcement of Chemical Regulations framework; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the achieved results, to reduce the considerable verification backlog and to implement the fee corrections;
10.

Considers that, while carrying out its work and in particular when drafting implementing measures, the Authority needs to regularly and comprehensively inform the European Parliament and Council about its activities; stresses that it is essential for the Authority, in view of the nature of its assignments, to exhibit transparency not only to the European Parliament and the Council, but to the Union citizens as well;
ANNEX

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Greece

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision (EU) 2020/28.)
4.

Endorses the agreement reached in the conciliation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets on 19 March 2019 to set the increase over the budget 2019 at 2,68 %, corresponding to the overall level of its estimates for 2020 to EUR 2 050 430 000, to decrease the level of expenditure of the preliminary draft estimates approved by the Bureau on 11 March 2019 by EUR 18,1 million and to reduce accordingly the appropriations proposed on the following budget lines: 1004 — Ordinary travel expenses; 1200 — Remuneration and allowances; 1402 Other staff — Drivers in the Secretariat; 2007 — Construction of buildings and fitting-out of premises; 2022 — Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning; 2024 — Energy consumption; 2101 — Computing and telecommunications — business-as-usual operations — infrastructure; 212 — Furniture; 214 — Technical equipment and installations; 300 — Expenses for staff missions and duty travel between the three places of work; 302 — Reception and representation expenses; 3040 — Miscellaneous expenditure on internal meetings; 3042 — Meetings, congresses, conferences and delegations; 422 — Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance; decides to provide Item 1650 — Medical service with EUR 140 000, Item 320 — Acquisition of expertise with EUR 160 000 and Item 3211 — Science media hub with appropriations amounting to EUR 400 000; welcomes that those changes have been adopted by the Bureau on 25 March 2019;
23.

Notes with satisfaction that in November 2018 the Agency finalised the implementation of the new rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest for members of the management board and of the advisory groups, which encompass annual submission of their declarations of interest and assessment of the declarations made by the chairpersons of the management board and the respective advisory groups (as applicable) with the support of the Agency; welcomes the adoption of a new model of declarations of interest, followed by their publication on the Agency’s website; notes that the Agency has in place rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest for members of staff; notes that in 2018, all members of staff submitted declarations of interest, of which 31 declared an interest (corresponding to 20 % of the staff) which were assessed by the line managers, and that for three members of staff (corresponding to 2 % of the staff) actions were taken to mitigate the risk of potential conflict of interest; regrets, however, that the new model of declaration of interest has not been applied also to the executive leadership; notes with regret that only a declaration of absence of conflict of interest is available for the executive director; notes that in June 2018, the management board adopted the Agency’s decision on guidelines on whistleblowing; notes that according to the Agency’s reply there is no legal obligation to publish the CVs of the members of its management board; highlights in that respect that the Union agencies should set a model in terms of transparency and calls on the members of the management board to publish their CVs on the Agency’s website;
8.

Notes that in December 2016, the SESAR 1 was formally closed and the last final grant payment was made in December 2017, and unused payment appropriations of EUR 40 000 000 from previous years were carried over to 2018 for the reimbursement of cash contributions received in excess from the SESAR 1 industry members and for the payment of delayed but still justified cost claims for the Seventh Framework Programme and the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects; notes with concern that at the end of 2018, only EUR 1 800 000 (5 %) of these appropriations could be used for the corrective payments, EUR 20 000 000 (50 %) had to be cancelled, and EUR 18 200 000 (45 %) were carried over to 2019; regrets at the end of 2018 in the closing phase of the SESAR 1, the Joint Undertaking still showed a large amount of open commitments of EUR 61 400 000, and these resources allocated to the Joint Undertaking will not be fully used;
17.

Welcomes the Agency’s continued efforts to prepare for its new tasks as defined by the Fourth Railway Package and to take up, in June 2019, its role as the EU authority responsible for issuing authorisations for placing railway vehicles on the market, single safety certificates for railway undertakings and ERTMS trackside approvals; welcomes in particular that all the legal texts and management board decisions were adopted on time and that the Agency published the Application guide for vehicle authorisation; welcomes the other steps taken by the Agency to prepare for its new tasks (active stakeholders interaction, learning cases and shadow running, pilot National Safety Authorities monitoring); welcomes the development of the One-Stop Shop; Welcomes the fact that the Agency has made a start on the task of harmonising the more than 14 000 national rules governing rail transport; (a) deplores the fact that, unlike in the aviation and road transport sectors, in the rail sector harmonisation is still a distant objective; (b) calls on the Agency significantly to step up its efforts to establish a single European rail area;
11.

Notes with concern that in 2017 the average employment period in the Agency was only 2,7 years which is reflected in a high staff turnover; understands that the Agency struggles to attract professionals, inter alia because of the low salary correction coefficient of the host country (74,9 %); stresses that the high staff turnover highlights possible problems with the Agency’s revolving door policy; calls on the Agency to re-evaluate its revolving policy; expresses its concern that the reduction of the posts authorised under the Union budget in recent years together with the additional tasks acquired have increased the workload of the Agency’s staff; points out that this situation may pose risks to the implementation of its work programmes; observes that the Agency works towards improving the employment conditions for its staff, and that in 2018 the Agency started the implementation of an action plan for social welfare; calls on the Agency to find further possibilities for improving the working and living conditions for the staff with the Latvian authorities aiming to conclude a new headquarters agreement;
P9_TA(2020)0237

Draft amending budget No 8: Increase of payment appropriations for the Emergency Support Instrument to finance the COVID-19 vaccines strategy and for the impact of the Corona Response Investment Initiative Plus

European Parliament resolution of 17 September 2020 on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 8/2020 of the European Union for the financial year 2020 — Increase of payment appropriations for the Emergency Support Instrument to finance the COVID-19 vaccines strategy and for the impact of the Corona Response Investment Initiative Plus (10696/2020 — C9-0290/2020 — 2020/1997(BUD))

(2021/C 385/35)

The European Parliament,

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

— having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

— having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (1), and in particular Article 44 thereof,

— having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as definitively adopted on 27 November 2019 (2),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (3),

— having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (4),

— having regard to Draft amending budget No 8/2020, which the Commission adopted on 28 August 2020 (COM(2020)0900),

— having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 8/2020 which the Council adopted on 11 September 2020 and forwarded to Parliament on the same day (10696/2020 — C9-0290/2020),

— having regard to Rules 94, 96 and 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

1. Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 8/2020;

2. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 6/2020 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union ;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(1) OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 57, 27.2.2020.

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

(4) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.
P9_TA(2020)0045

Draft amending budget No 1/2020: Assistance to Greece in response to increased migration pressure — Immediate measures in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak — Support to post-earthquake reconstruction in Albania — Other adjustments

European Parliament resolution of 17 April 2020 on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 1/2020 of the European Union for the financial year 2020 — Assistance to Greece in response to increased migration pressure — Immediate measures in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak — Support to post-earthquake reconstruction in Albania — Other adjustments (07250/2020 — C9-0101/2020 — 2020/2052(BUD))

(2021/C 316/07)

The European Parliament,

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

— having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

— having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (1), and in particular Article 44 thereof,

— having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as definitively adopted on 27 November 2019 (2),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (3),

— having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (4),

— having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union (5),

— having regard to Draft amending budget No 1/2020, which the Commission adopted on 27 March 2020 (COM(2020)0145),

— having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 1/2020 which the Council adopted on 14 April 2020 and forwarded to Parliament on the same day (07250/2020 — C9-0101/2020),

— having regard to Rules 94, 96 and 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

1. Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 1/2020;

2. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 1/2020 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union ;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the other institutions and bodies concerned and the national parliaments.

(1) OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 57, 27.2.2020.

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

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

(5) OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 105.
18.

Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency concluded three separate framework contracts ‘in cascade’ with three companies; notes from the Court’s observations that the Financial Regulation stipulates that it is possible for this to be done without reopening the tendering procedure provided that the framework contract precisely sets out all of the terms governing the provision of the works, supplies or services concerned; notes that the Court concluded that the framework contract is not sufficiently specific, further notes from the Court’s observations that the bidders' financial offers were based only on a daily rate for a day of work, without considering important elements such as worker profiles or the complexity of the work involved; notes from the Court’s conclusion that the use of this sort of framework contract was not appropriate, considering the level of detail available on the work to be performed and that the financial data was also insufficiently detailed to ensure that the work was performed as economically as possible; notes the Agency’s reply that the tender in question concerned assistance for the Agency’s new task and accordingly to the Agency, it would not be proportionate to organise a reopening of a competition (lasting at least 3 weeks) for technical assistance (lasting a maximum of 15 days) when the legal requirement to assess the completeness of an application file is one month; calls on the Agency to keep the discharge authority informed in respect of expenditure under these framework contracts;
2.

Emphasises that the Agency is partly financed from the fees it receives from companies that request the registration of chemicals as required under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006; notes that the applicable fees depend on the size of the companies and the volume of chemicals registered (different thresholds); notes that, according to the Court’s report, since the first registrations in 2009, some 26 % of the companies claimed to be micro, small or medium-sized; notes with concern, however, that thanks to the Agency’s effective system of ex-post verifications, the Agency has identified that some 50 % of the companies had incorrectly declared their size, resulting in lower fees; stresses that this finding demonstrates the limitations of a system that relies excessively on self-declarations made by applicants; notes that, in order to mitigate this situation, the Agency has, over the years, invoiced and cashed fee corrections and administrative charges amounting to EUR 32,2 million, and that the Agency has made considerable progress in recovering undue fee reductions and collecting overdue administrative charges; notes, however, that there is still a considerable verification workload ahead and that the remaining amount of necessary fee corrections was unknown at the end of 2019; calls on the Agency to report to the discharge authority on its efforts, and on the results achieved, to continue to reduce the considerable verification workload and to implement the fee corrections; asks the Commission to propose measures to solve this situation, thereby avoiding fraud in declaring the size of the applicants and granting more stable budget planning for the Agency;
5.

Recalls that, according to the reports of the Court for the financial years 2016 and 2017, the Office’s procurement procedures for interim workers in Greece and for the Office’s rented premises in Lesbos were irregular; recalls that, according to the report of the Court for the financial year 2018, the Court concluded that the Office’s procurement procedures for interim workers in Italy were irregular, though no payments were made on those contracts yet; notes with concern that, according to the report of the Court for the financial year 2019, the Office’s procedures for selecting and contracting external experts systematically lacked a solid audit trail, which in turn resulted in a lack of evidence that the Office had treated experts equally in its selection procedures; notes that, according to the Court’s opinion, with the exception of the effects of the qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments for the financial years 2016, 2017 and 2018, amounting to EUR 13 868 576, and the error found in 2019, amounting to EUR 111 304, payments underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2019 are legal and regular in all material aspects; deplores the fact that, as concluded by the Court, the Office’s payments to interim workers in Italy and Greece were irregular; welcomes the fact that corrective actions were implemented by the Office in 2019 to address those irregularities;
5.

Notes that an external evaluation for the period 2013-2017 was concluded in 2018-2019 and the recommendations from the evaluation were adopted in 2020; welcomes the fact that the evaluation concluded that the Centre successfully provided support in the Union and national policy priority areas and demonstrated the capacity to successfully adapt to policy developments; notes with satisfaction that the Centre was positively evaluated regarding the coherence of its actions and coordination with other relevant bodies; calls on the Centre to report to the discharge authority on the status of the development of an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations stemming from the evaluation; is, however, of the opinion that the evaluation of the Centre’s work should be done by the Commission instead of by the Centre’s management board;
2.

Reiterates its position that all available means and unused money in the Union budget, including the surplus, should be used to swiftly deploy financial assistance to those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; calls, in this context, on Member States to devote the expected reductions in their GNI-based contributions stemming from the 2020 surplus entirely to the budgeting of actions related to tackling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to the recovery and resilience of the Union, to ensure an optimal allocation of the funds;
7.

Notes that following the closure of SESAR 1, the Joint Undertaking determined an excess of financial contributions received from its Members amounting to EUR 30 959 396; notes further that, according to Article 13 of the constituent act, the Joint Undertaking’s members can only expect the reimbursement of their respective excess contributions at the dissolution of the Joint Undertaking by 31 December 2024; notes that, following the recommendation of the Commission and the Court and positive opinion of the Commission to the proposed decision, the Joint Undertaking adopted the decision to anticipate reimbursements on the 8 October 2020; notes in particular that Joint Undertaking reimbursed the Union on 4 December 2020 through two separated payment orders, one for the share corresponding to the TEN-T programme and one for the share corresponding to the Seventh Framework Programme; notes that, for Members other than the Union (except AIRBUS and DFS), the bilateral agreements approved by the Administrative Board were sent to the Members on 23 November 2020, with payments starting upon their signatures, and that Eurocontrol was paid on 9 December 2020: notes moreover that, at the end of 2020, all but three payments had been effected, amounting to EUR 30 474 586 (out of EUR 30 767 098, i.e. 99 %); notes from the follow up report that as of 10 February 2021, all excess cash contributions for the SESAR 1 programme were reimbursed to the respective SESAR 1 Joint Undertaking Members;
16.

Welcomes the report on the functioning of the General Court required by Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/2422 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1); acknowledges the fact that it had to be drafted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic which hindered consultation and coordination with a large number of contributors; stresses that, according to that report, the reform of the Union’s judicial architecture was necessary to reduce both the volume of pending cases and the excessive length of proceedings; notes that the incorporation of new judges and their members of staff required some structural, organisational and procedural changes; notes that the analysis contained in the report highlighted certain positive trends, such as (i) a significant reduction in the length of proceedings; (ii) a more intensified investigation of cases; and (iii) more frequent referrals of cases to extended chamber formations; is aware that no definitive conclusions can be drawn as of yet with regard to the reform of the General Court, given that so little time has passed since its last phase and that 2020 cannot be regarded as a representative year;