Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 9 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed11.12. Notes that 2022 was the second year of the implementation of the Court’s 2021-2025 strategy and that, at the end of 2022, out of 29 strategic measures 18 had been fully implementedimplemented, or the framework for the measure had been established and further actions were ongoing, while 11 measures were ongoing or recurrent;

Change 10 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed14.15. Appreciates that, as requested by Parliament, the Court has focused its audit work on current European challenges, exemplified by the very quick production of Opinion 3/2023 on the Ukraine Facility and the attention given to monitoring its implementation; is concerned that, for the audit work concerning the Recovery and Resilience Facility,Facility (RRF), the Court still does not have full access to FENIXthe new reporting tool on RRF, FENIX, and that the information in thisthat ITnew tool is not updated in a timely manner: supports the Court’s view that Article 257 of the Financial Regulation provides for full and immediate access rights for the Court; further calls on the Commission to grant access to the Court to other types of relevant information in order to fulfil its role;

Change 11 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Added16. Appreciates the timely and relevant special reports on the implementation of the RRF which allow the discharge authority to exercise its prerogatives and address recommendations to the Commission on improvements on the functioning of that instrument;

Change 12 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed19.21. Notes that the Court, at the end of 2022, had 921 members of staff, slightly up from 917 at the end of 2021 and 910 at the end of 2020; notes that the overall gender distribution at the end of 2022 was 434 men, equivalent to 47,1 % and 487 women, equivalent to 52,9 %; calls on the Court to continue its efforts to promote gender balance for the middle and senior management; notes, furthermore, that the overall distribution among categories of staff was 830 officials (90 %), consisting of 620 administrators (ADs) and 210 assistants and secretaries (AST/SCs), and 91 contract agents (10 %);

Change 13 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Removed21. Welcomes that all Union nationalities are represented by among the members of staff at the Court, both in the AD category and in the AST/SC category; notes, however, that some nationalities are underrepresented and in that regard welcomes that the Court has tried to advertise directly in some Member States (Denmark, Estonia and Latvia);

Added23. Deeply regrets the lack of gender balance within the Court’s college: only 10 out of 25 members are women in its current composition, taking into account that Members from Portugal and Bulgaria are not appointed yet; understands that the nomination procedure of its members is challenging for achieving gender balance because national nomination is the sole responsibility of Member States; calls, however, on the Court to analyse its overall composition in order to inform the Council and the Member States involved so that gender balance is taken into consideration in the nomination decision;

Removed22. Notes that the court has a teleworking scheme providing the possibility of working from home up to 10 days per month and up to 10 days consecutively; notes, furthermore, that the scheme allows staff to work up to 5 days per month and 30 working days per year outside their main place of residence; notes, finally, that a survey among the members of staff showed that 95 % were in support of the teleworking arrangements and that 88 % felt that it had a positive impact on their work-life balance;

Added24. Regrets that over the years the Council repeatedly proceeds to nominate members of the Court despite those nominees being rejected by Parliament; underlines that Parliament should have a binding role in assessing the suitability of candidates for the Court;

Added25. Welcomes that all Union nationalities are represented among the members of staff at the Court, both in the AD category and in the AST/SC category; notes with regret, however, that some nationalities are underrepresented and welcomes that the Court has taken the step to advertise directly in some Member States (Denmark, Estonia and Latvia); welcomes the effective use of new ways of publication for selection procedures in order to attract diverse audiences from different Member States;

Added26. Notes that the Court adopted a decision on hybrid working which came into force on 1 January 2022; notes that the court has a teleworking scheme providing the possibility of working from home up to 10 days per month and up to 10 days consecutively; notes, furthermore, that the scheme allows staff to work up to 5 days per month and 30 working days per year outside their main place of residence; notes, finally, that a survey conducted in October 2022 among the members of staff showed that 95 % were in support of the teleworking arrangements and that 88 % felt that it had a positive impact on their work-life balance;

Change 14 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed25.30. Notes with concern that, in 2022, the Court reported seven cases of burnout; notes further that all seven members of staff were reintegrated, returning gradually under a procedure of reinstatement on a medically-approved part-time basis; appreciates, in this regard, that in 2022 the Court started preparing guidelines for returning to work after long-term sick leave; notes that the Court states that the availability of resources is being taken into account when the annual work programme is being established and that directors and the management team at directorate level are assessing the workload in order to ensure that work is distributed evenly; encourages the Court, nevertheless, to keep focus on that problem and to take all the necessary measures to ensure the wellbeing of the staff in order to decrease the number of cases associated with burnout;

Change 15 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed26.31. Welcomes thatthat, following an extensive collaborative approach, a decision and policy on ensuring a respectful and harassment-free workplace was adopted in December 2022, with a clear focus on prevention, awareness raising and early detection, while setting out a range of measures to be used (confidential counselling, mediation and formal complaints) in case a perception of harassment arises;

Change 16 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed27.32. Welcomes the Court’s Diversitydiversity and Inclusioninclusion Actionaction Planplan for 2021-2025’ and welcomes the steps taken during 2022 to raise awareness about the plan and the results achieved during 2022 in terms of the 10 priorities set out therein; notes that only one person with a declared disability was employed by the Court in 2022 and on a temporary contract;

Change 17 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed30.35. Welcomes the revised code of conduct from May 2022 for the Court’s members and former members, following Parliament’s recommendation, establishing inter alia the obligation for members to reside where the Court is located, limiting the possibilities for members to be involved in politics, regulating the contractual relations between members and staff and setting down an obligation for the members to submit an annual declaration of interests; recalls that the members of the Court should always apply the highest ethical principles and values in order to demonstrate their full integrity, independence, objectivity, professional behaviour, dignity, commitment and loyalty;

Change 18 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed31.36. Stresses that Parliament continues to be of the opinion that information about missions of the members of the Court should be published for the entire period that a member holds office and that members should have no formalised political links, including honorary functions in political parties or organisations; furthermore, requests once again requests the Court to change its rules concerning its internal ethics committee in order for it no longer to be an exclusive prerogative of the President of the Court to propose eligible candidates; also reiterates its request to be informed by the Court’s ethics committee on the main findings of the internal audit report on ethics which internal audit has been ongoing since 2020 already;

Change 19 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed33.38. Notes the decision from 2022 concerning members’ travel, missions and use of drivers and cars which implies that members will have to cover all the running costs, including car rental costs, associated with the use of a car for travelling more than 10 000 km and not covered by a mission order; is, however, of the opinion that 10 000 km is too high and reiterates the concerns expressed in previous discharge resolutions that the system introduced is confusing and that allconfusing; runningreiterates costs,its includingopinion carexpressed rentalin costs,previous shoulddischarge beresolutions coveredthat bythe membersuse whenof athe car is used for private purposes; notesfleet thatoutside aof similarthe systemstrict appliesperformance toof the useduties of the car fleetmembers inof the Court ofshould Justicenot oftake theplace Europeanunder Union;any circumstance; invites all Union institutions to agree on a single system to be applied horizontally which would reduce confusion and increase transparency and efficiency in the use of public money;

Change 20 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed38.43. Notes that the European Ombudsman conducted one inquiry following a complaint in 2022,2022 which was closed after the Court replied to the complainant;

Change 21 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed39.44. Reiterates its satisfaction that, in 2022, the Court established a register for the attendance of members of the Court at meetings;meetings, following reiterated requests by Parliament in that respect; welcomes that, on request, the register has been made available to the Parliament rapporteur for the discharge procedure as part of the discharge procedure; invites the Court to further pursue practices that enhance transparency and accountability, such as a public calendar of meetings;

Change 22 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed40.45. Welcomes that no conflicts of interest were detected in 2022; notes furthermore that no members of staff leaving the Court because their contract came to an end or for any other reason informed the Court that they wanted to join a private company or notified the Court about taking up activities related to work outside of the Court during the last three years of their service; notesnotes, finallyfinally, that no former Member of Parliament, Commissioners or high-level officials received remuneration from the Court;

Change 23 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Added47. Regrets that an annual list of contracts, including those worth between EUR 15 000 and EUR 60 000 that were concluded in 2022 following a negotiated procedure, is not available on the website of the Court as mentioned in the report of the authorising officer by delegation; calls on the Court to publish that list into a separate document and ensure user-friendly access to it;

Change 24 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed42.48. Welcomes that the Court has a wide-ranging cyber security plan for 2022-2024 and planned to reassess its cybersecurity framework towards the end of 2023 to ensure full compliance with the upcoming regulation laying down measures for a high common level of cybersecurity of the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; further appreciates that the Court discontinued a contract with a supplier which was bought by a company from the United States of America as the takeover would result in changes to how personal data would be processed;

Change 25 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed45.51. Welcomes all efforts to improve the digitalisation of the audit work, thus improving the efficiency and accuracy of such work; in particular, welcomes the launch of the ‘data warehouse as a service’ model in October 2022, allowing users to process and analyse structured data with different degrees of autonomy; notes that the digitalisation of audit work depends not only on the Court itself, but also to a large extent on the data that auditees provide, and that limitations still exist in the format of the data and the variety of systems used; appreciates, furthermore, that the number of days of audit fieldwork was 2 984 in 2022, significantly up from both 2021 and 2020 which years were hugely impacted by limitations imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the added value and efficiency of on-the-spot visits has been enhanced by combining them with work done remotely;

Change 26 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed46.52. AppreciatesNotes that the Court has implemented several elements of open source software as part of their systems, including Linux, Belenios and Nagios; encourages the Court to continue to use open-source software when possible;

Change 27 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed47.53. Notes that the Court carried out significant renovation works on the K2-buildingK2 building during 2022 which was completed in early 2023 and entailed the renovation of four floors in order to provide a modern workplace that is appreciated by members of staff and is more environmentally friendly;

Change 28 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed52.58. Notes that the Court will analyse how to integrate environmental aspects of missions in an updated mission guide; notes furthermore that a reduction of business travel per Fullfull Timetime Equivalentequivalent by 5 % for the period 2023-2025 has been proposed; calls on the Court to try to implement that target while at the same time ensuring that necessary audit missions are done;

Change 29 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed53.59. Notes that several service level agreements and other interinstitutional cooperation agreements were updated during 2022, including agreements with the Commission's Investigationinvestigation and Disciplinarydisciplinary Officeoffice and with the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union;

Change 30 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed56.62. Welcomes that the Court cooperates closely with both OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), including through organising workshops, awareness raising events and exchange of knowledge and experience; furthermore notes with appreciation that the Court, in 2022, forwarded 14 cases of suspected fraud to OLAF and 6 cases to the EPPO; underlines its opinion that suspicions of fraud should always be thoroughlytransmitted investigated;to OLAF and EPPO for a thorough investigation;

Change 31 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed57.63. Notes that the Court cooperates with the EDPS via its data protection officer (DPO) and consults the EDPS concerning issues related to data protection, and that a case concerning a personal data breach was closed in 2022 with a few recommendations; welcomes that the Court’s DPO participates in a network of DPOs,DPO, which works on recurrent issues, shares examples of best practises and helps organise the bi-annual meeting of DPOs;

Change 32 under “2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Removed59. Regrets that the Court has not yet engaged in any open-source social media platforms and continues to encourage the Court to engage with the EDPS with a view to utilising the two open-source social media platforms EU Voice and EU Video;