Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 9

Changed8.12. NotesUnderlines that Parliament's cybersecurity is a key priority; notes that the overall IT budget represents 7,487,40 % of the total budget in the 2026 estimates; stresses the importance of a sound cybersecurity infrastructure in geopolitically turbulent times;times recallsand welcomes the increase in the appropriations dedicated to cybersecurity; supports the planned gradual increase of the cybersecurity financial appropriations to 10 % of Parliament’s ICT budget by 2027;

Change 10

Changed10.14. Welcomes investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) amounting to EUR 1 million; calls for the use of AI to be increased in order to gain efficiencies, while keeping in mind the related risks, including ethics and data protection; highlights the potential of AI to streamline administrative processes; stresses that AI deployment must balance innovation with necessary safeguards; notes that the development of AI will be closely monitored in line with the principles established by the Bureau, which include among others a thorough risk assessment with the use of new technologies; calls the Secretariat to provide solutions, such as applications and tools, to be made available to Members and staff as soon as possible;

Change 11

Changed11.15. TakesWelcomes Parliament's environmental management system (EMAS) targets for 2025-2029; recalls that energy efficiency investments are a good method of achieving value for money; takes note of the budget of EUR 8,45 million for investments on energy efficiency and environment in the 2026 estimates to further improve the environmental performance of its buildings; notes that this corresponds to an increase of 74 % compared to 2025 budget; acknowledges however, that these environmental actions are part of the 2007 ‘Construction of building and fitting out of premises’ budget line whose grand total has decreased by EUR 3,7 million in 2026 vs 2025;

Change 12

Removed12. Notes that the budget for buying carbon credits has almost doubled compared to 2025, estimated at EUR 900 000 for 2026; calls the administration to take all possible measures to decrease the Parliament’s emissions over buying carbon credits; welcomes the introduction of an enhanced train offer for missions to Strasbourg as of July 2025, as a positive step towards reducing CO2 emissions;

Added16. Recalls that nearly two-thirds of Parliament's carbon footprint originate from the transportation of people; calls for a reasonable decrease of travel for meetings that can be effectively conducted remotely or in hybrid mode and to promote a shift to low carbon alternatives for all remaining travel, in so far as this does not affect the quality of legislative and political work;

RemovedMultilingualism

Added17. Takes note of the projected increase in carbon credits prices, that with the current emissions levels would need an estimated EUR 900 000 for 2026; calls the administration to continue decreasing, in line with sound financial management, Parliament’s emissions over buying carbon credits; welcomes the introduction of an enhanced train offer for missions to Strasbourg as of July 2025, as a positive step towards reducing CO2 emissions;

Removed13. Highlights that multilingualism is a key principle on which the Parliament’s works is based; takes note of the revision of the Code of Conduct on Multilingualism planned for spring 2025; asks the Secretary-General to timely inform the Committee on Budgets on any budgetary impacts following this revision;

Added18. Notes that Parliament has installed and is continuing to install photovoltaic solar panels to further increase the share of renewable energy produced on-site to reach the target of 25 %; takes note of the answers provided by the Secretary-General to Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2024 pointing out that a study on the use of photovoltaic panels for Strasbourg buildings was carried out in 2022 and was completed in 2023 and that further studies were to be conducted in 2024 for viable solutions, in particular for the WEISS building;

Change 13

Changed14.26. WelcomesAcknowledges the new approach related to buildings, wherewhere, after a period of acquisition theacquisition, Parliament has entered an era of consolidation,consolidation of buildings, taking into account sustainability, accessibility and mobility of Members and staff;

Change 14

Changed15.27. Takes note that EUR 4 million are included in the 2026 estimates for studies and the contractor's preparatory works related to the SPAAK building renovation while the overall costs are estimated at EUR 36 million; notes therefore that EUR 32 million of costs related to the SPAAK building renovation are not included in the 2026 estimates; notes that the Secretary-General intends to cover these costs by a mopping-up transfer or the use of a loan; requests the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with detailed information on a possible loan to cover these costs, in accordance with Article 272 (6) of the Financial Regulation, as soon as possible;possible as well as the full planning of the works including the planning of the costs; insists that costs not directly linked to the renovation works should also be clearly listed and budgeted; notes that as of December 2024, the direct costs of the SPAAK project amount to EUR 14,12 million;

Change 15

Removed16. Notes that EUR 15,95 million are planned to be invested in Europa Experiences in 2026; takes note of the decision to revise the concept of Europa Experience by the Bureau in November 2024 and expects the revised concept to be more cost-efficient and more attractive to visitors; notes that there are still no Europa Experiences in Bucharest, Riga, Madrid, Lisbon, Nicosia, Valletta and Vilnius; recalls that Europa Experiences should allow all citizens to have a better understanding of the functioning of Union institutions;

Added28. Welcomes the pilot project of DG INLO aimed at removing legionella from the pipeline sanitary system of the Parliament and highlights that the only effective way to fight the further spreading of legionella is to bring the water temperature inside the pipelines to 55 degrees Celsius for a limited time;

Removed17. Recognises the importance of visitors groups as an important tool to connect citizens with the work of Members; welcomes in that regard the increase of the ceilings and cost factors for the calculation of the financial contribution to sponsored visitors as from 1 January 2025, notes that about 15 % of the quota for visitors is historically not being used by Members; calls the Secretary-General to propose to the Bureau to make the unused quota available to interested Members; notes that the budget for visitors groups represents 22 % of the overall budget of the Directorate-General for Communication;

Added29. Notes that it is planned to invest EUR 11,45 million in Europa Experiences in 2026; takes note of the decision by the Bureau in November 2024 to revise the concept of Europa Experience and expects the revised concept to be more cost-efficient and more attractive to visitors; regrets that there are still no Europa Experiences in Bucharest, Riga, Madrid, Lisbon, Nicosia, Valletta or Vilnius; calls for the establishment of Europa Experiences in all Member States as soon as a revised concept has been established; recalls that Europa Experiences should allow citizens to have a better understanding of the functioning of the Union and learn about our shared values; reiterates therefore that Europa Experiences are an integral part of Parliament’s ongoing engagement with Union citizens;

Change 16

Changed18.30. Takes note that no additional financing is needed for the opening of Parliament offices in Moldova and the Western Balkans has not been budgeted in 2026,Balkans, as these would be set up within EEAS premises; stresses the importance of Parliament’s presence in these countries as a sign of European solidarity and a sign of commitment of theParliament’s Parliamentcommitment to the accession process;

Change 17

Changed19.31. Takes note of the early termination of the contract with the previous provider of the Crèche Wayenberg after a number of serious allegations against the contractor; welcomes the agreement with a new provider that foresees better working conditions of the nursery staff;staff acknowledgesand better quality of the service for the children; acknowledges, however, that this results in an increase of the budget necessary for this purpose, but emphasises that decent working conditions for external staff should, where relevant, be a priority consideration in public procurement of Parliament as a matter of principle;

Change 18

Added32. Reiterates the need for high quality nursing rooms in Parliament's premises and calls on the competent services to upgrade the current facilities in terms of equipment, space and accessibility in order to make them child-friendly; calls for an impact assessment on the need for a family room within the premises of the Brussels seat of the Parliament, for children of Members without permanent residence in Brussels, mirroring the arrangements in Strasbourg;

Change 19

Changed20.33. Reiterates its request, adopted at Plenary level at several occasions, tofor the Bureau torelevant startbodies theto workreflect on a technical solution enabling Members to exercise their right to vote remotely, during benefiting from maternity or paternity leave, during a long-term illness or in cases ofcertified forcelong-term majeure,illness, taking advantage of the lessons learnt during the pandemic on the technical aspects of this voting method;

Change 20

Added34. Reaffirms its call for the Secretary-General to emphasise the fundamental principle that all recruitment should be based on competency while also ensuring geographical balance among all Member States at every staff level; calls on Parliament to build its own outreach capacity, with the goal of attracting to competitions quality candidates that Parliament needs, in terms of profile, age, gender and nationality and especially from under-represented countries; underscores that achieving fair geographical representation is essential to fostering a genuinely European public service; notes that Parliament has consistently taken measures to support this objective, including the organisation of nationality-specific competitions while maintaining a strict merit-based selection approach;

Change 21

Removed22. Notes that mission expenses of Members and staff amount to EUR 116 million in Parliament’s budget; calls for a reflection of Parliament’s bodies on mission practices and a revision of mission rules and practices with the overall aim to reduce the number of missions, and the associated financial and environmental costs; in this context, calls for limiting the use of Business class flights for Members and staff as well as the use of flights where train travel is feasible;

Added36. Stresses the fact that Parliament having a single seat could reduce the financial and environmental costs; recalls that, according to the Treaty on European Union, Parliament is to have its seat in Strasbourg; notes that permanent changes would require a Treaty change for which unanimity is needed;

Removed23. Recalls that during the conciliation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets on the Preliminary Draft Estimates of the European Parliament for 2025 last April, the Secretary-General committed to initiating discussions with the responsible governing bodies before the end of 2024 on the possibility of allowing APAs, under certain conditions, to accompany Members of the European Parliament on official delegations and missions; regrets that no progress has been achieved so far; calls on the Secretary-General to continue his efforts and work towards a solution to be submitted to the responsible bodies without any further delay;

Added37. Notes that mission expenses of Members and staff amount to EUR 116 million in Parliament’s budget; calls for Parliament’s bodies to reflect on mission practices and a revision of mission rules and practices with the overall aim of continuing to improve the nature of missions and further diminishing the associated financial and environmental costs; encourages Members to use low-carbon transport alternatives and advocates for responsible and measured use of best-value flights options, and the preference for train travel where it is a viable option;

Added38. Takes note that Article 46(2) of the Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament provides for the possibility to finance extra costs linked to the parliamentary assistance budgets with appropriations from their General Expenditure Allowance (GEA); calls on Parliament's administration to take the necessary measures to enable Members who wish to do so to use their GEA to cover the cost of APA missions; highlights that such a measure would address increasing costs in Members' offices while being budgetary neutral;

Added39. Calls on the Bureau not to index the GEA and not to grant GEA to former Members, thus allowing for significant savings in the statutory costs;

Change 22

Added43. Expects that requests voted by the Plenary should be treated by the responsible bodies as a matter of high priority;