5.10.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 258/9
35.
Notes the fact that there is no system in place to ensure that Members, who are temporarily absent for a justified reason such as maternity and paternity leave, can continue to carry out their core duties; deems this problematic as it can negatively impact citizens’ representation in Parliament; underlines that there is a risk of discrimination against Members and their voters when such arrangements are not provided for; emphasises that a vote for a female member of Parliament should not lead to a lack of representation, which is of concern given that younger, particularly female Members and their voters are disproportionally affected by the lack of maternity and parental leave arrangements in Parliament; recalls that the situation for national members of parliament in these same situations differs between Member States; calls on Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs to provide for feasible, temporarily limited solutions for Members who are absent for justified reasons to speak in debates and vote or be temporarily substituted by revising Parliament’s Rules of Procedure and the European Electoral Law; recalls that daily allowances remain linked to physical presence at Parliament’s places of work;
36.
Welcomes Parliament’s efforts, and particularly the personal engagement of former President Sassoli in this issue, to provide daily solidarity meals and shelters for vulnerable women in the three places of work, as decided by the Bureau; further welcomes the fact that around 65 drivers volunteered to drive doctors, nurses and other medical staff to their night shifts in hospital in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic;
37.
Welcomes the fact that Parliament distributed reusable facial fabric masks to members of staff at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; notes that medical face masks EN14683 or FFP2 respiratory protective devices have been required to be worn while in Parliament’s buildings in order to reinforce the protection of Members and staff as well as to further reduce the release of infectious respiratory particles;
38.
Commends Parliament’s services on their decision to continue facilitating hybrid press conferences after the pandemic since this can facilitate the reporting on European affairs for journalists who are not present in Strasbourg or Brussels; recommends that audio-visual and other facilities in Brussels, Strasbourg and the European Parliament liaison offices be developed further, including by increasing VoxBox capacity and modernising the press conference rooms in Strasbourg and Brussels to make them more suitable for hybrid press conferences;
Environmental footprint of Parliament’s operations
39.
Stresses that Parliament needs to be at the forefront of adopting more digital, flexible and energy-efficient working methods and meeting practices, learning from the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and capitalising on the investments in technology already implemented; notes that on the initiative of former President Sassoli, focus groups on ‘Rethinking Parliamentary Democracy - A stronger European Parliament after Covid-19’ discussed the future of work within Parliament between April and July 2021 pertaining to each of their fields of action: plenary, parliamentary prerogatives, communication, external diplomacy and internal organisation; notes that the focus groups delivered a final report including recommendations, the implementation of which will be discussed by the Bureau;
40.
Calls on Parliament to re-evaluate its Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) targets for 2023 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; reiterates its call to amend its current CO2 reduction plan for reaching carbon neutrality using an internationally recognised method when it has been validated as, for example, an internal carbon pricing (ICP) mechanism by which companies voluntarily price their carbon footprint and thereby put a value on their greenhouse gas emissions;
41.
Notes that three of Parliament’s buildings in Brussels (Martens, Campoamor and Wayenberg nursery) have recently been awarded an internationally recognised environmental certification on sustainability, a BREEAM Excellence, confirming the long-standing policy and actions by Parliament to gradually transform its buildings portfolio into an environmentally exemplary one; notes that presently, on Parliament’s Brussels site, four buildings (a quarter of the total number of buildings - Spinelli, Campoamor, Arendt, Montoyer-Science) are equipped with photovoltaic panels, and that these installations represent a cumulative surface area of less than 2 % of the total roof surface of Parliament’s buildings in Brussels; notes that three new photovoltaic installations (100 m2 on the Montoyer 70 building, 200 m2 on the Spinelli building and 52 m2 of replacement of the current solar panels by photovoltaic ones on the Brandt building) will be completed by the end of 2022 (and this represents an increase of 64 %, in 2022, of the total surface equipped with photovoltaic panels);