Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 9 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed7. Notes that in 2022 the Agency continued to successfully implement the four capacity building projects in third countries, directly contributing to strengthening the internal security of the Union, as well as training activities under the umbrella of the CEPOL Knowledge Centre on Counter-terrorism (CKC CT) and the CEPOL Knowledge Centre on Law Enforcement Cooperation, Information Exchange and Interoperability (CKC INT);Interoperability; welcomes the implementation with success of the CEPOL Research & Science Conference in cooperation with the Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania, strengthening the cooperation between law enforcement and research sectors, with close to 200 participants attending;

Change 10 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Removed8. Notes that the Agency successfully maintained its certification in accordance with ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, and made preparations to further expand the use of ISO 29993:2017 standard for learning services, which continues to demonstrate that the Agency ensures efficient operating of the quality system;

Added8. Recalls that the law enforcement training at Union level needs to reflect the Union priorities in line with Member States' training needs and to support Union’s response to serious and organised crime and other threats to internal security, as well as the protection of fundamental rights should be a central pillar in the Agency’s training activities; notes the training activities in the area of counter-terrorism, including on financing of terrorism, terrorism and firearms, foreign terrorist fighters and activities targeted against extremism and radicalisation; calls for more trainings on cybercrime, cyber forensics, artificial intelligence, data protection, fundamental rights and anti-racism at Union level; calls on the Agency to ensure, in all its activities, in particular its activities with third countries, full transparency and full respect with fundamental rights and international law;

Added9. Notes that the Agency successfully maintained its certification in accordance with ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, and made preparations to further expand the use of ISO 29993:2017 standard for learning services, which continues to demonstrate that the Agency ensures efficient operation of the quality system;

Change 11 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed9.10. Notes that the Agency continues to closely cooperate with the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) agencies’Agencies’ network,Network, and the agencies comprising it, including in particular EuropolEuropean Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, by sharing training activities and organising courses together; notes that, in this context, the Agency chaired the JHAJustice Agenciesand Home Affairs Agencies’ Network in 2022; notes further that the Agency has an agreement, in place since 2023, with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to provide a tenancy in the Agency's learning platform LEEd, thus providing EMCDDA, at no cost for it,EMCDDA with a modern learning platform for its community;community at no cost; calls on the Agency to continue its cooperation with other agencies so that all available resources can be used;

Change 12 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed10.11. Commends the Agency for achieving a relatively high level of digitalisation through many of its processes having been converted to paperless/electronic,paperless or electronic form, for example e-Procurement submission system for open procedures and e-Tendering, e-Recruitment, e-HR management (SYSPER), e-Invoicing, electronic travel booking, often in close cooperation with the Directorate-GeneralCommission’s Directorate General for Informatics;Digital Services;

Change 13 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed11.12. Notes that the Agency has internal rules in place thatpursuant to which, for short distances, staff (and participants in training activities) shouldare to use alternatives to flying, such as train or bus; notes with appreciation that since 2022 the Agency offers reimbursement for the costs of using public transport for its staff; notes further that many expert group meetings previously held onsite now take place online; regrets that the Agency does not have a system in place to monitor in objective and granular ways the evolution from one year to another of gains and savings and invites the Agency to set up such a system;

Change 14 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed13.14. Notes that, on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 79 % implemented, with 26 temporary agents appointed out of 33 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (the same number of authorised posts as in 2021); notes that, in addition, 59 contract agents (of which 20 were for regular activities and 39 for externally financed capacity building projects) and six seconded national experts (SNEs) worked for the Agency in 2022; notes moreover that, on 31 December 2022, 24 interim staff were employed with tasks related to core business such as e-learning, information and communication technology, legal and management support;

Change 15 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed14.15. Notes that the staff fluctuation continued to be relatively high in 2022 and had a significant impact on the Agency; notes in this context that in 2022 there were 4 resignations due to new job opportunities inside and outside the Agency, 3 departures due to retirement and on 31 December,December 2022, 4 staff members on unpaid leave;

Change 16 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed15.16. Reiterates its support for the increase in the Agency’s staff numbers commensurate with the tasks and ambitions set by the Agency’s current mandate; notes with satisfaction from the Agency's follow-up report titledentitled “CEPOL Action Plan in response to the EP discharge decision for financial year 2021” (hereinafter the 'Agency’s follow-up report') that, in order to substantiate future request for resources, the Executiveexecutive Directordirector of the Agency has set up a task Forceforce to systematically document and justify the needs for additional budgetary and human resources, in the context of the new strategy for 2023-2027;

Change 17 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed16.17. Notes that the staff turnover rate remained high in 2022, at 11,8 %, with a significant impact on the organisation; notes from the Agency’s follow-up report that the turnover rate is beyond the Agency’s control because the main trigger is the low country correction coefficient and the relatively low graded positions for key support functions in the Agency; notes that in 2022 the Agency continued to implement staff retention and business continuity measures, using a number of interim staff and SNEsseconded national experts to fill in for staff absence, until recruitment of statutory staff was completed and continuing reclassification of staff and functions, maintaining the social arrangement (e.g. schooling for staff’schildren children),of staff), teleworking and flexitime arrangements; reiterates its call on the Commission to revise the correction coefficient in order to better reflect the economic realities of relocating to and living in the Agency host city;

Change 18 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed17.18. Notes with appreciation, regarding the SYSPER tool, that the Agency has oboardedonboarded modules such as REPORTING, ETHICS and STAGE and is working on onboarding other Sysper modules (e.g. EVAL/PROMO);

Change 19 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Removed19. Welcomes that in 2022 the Agency adopted a new decision founded on the principles of objectives-based and results orietende management and a culture of trust; notes that that decision introduced more flexibility for staff, both in terms of working time and teleworking, by granting the right to disconnect and clearly indicating a disconnection period that should contribute to a better work-life balance and protect staff against digital work-overload;

Added20. Notes from the Agency’s consolidated annual activity report for 2022 that 17 Member States were represented among the Agency’s staff in 2022; notes that 39 % of its staff are nationals of the Member State where the Agency is located; recalls the importance of geographical balance and calls on the Agency to take the necessary measures to have a balanced and fair geographical representation;

Removed20. Welcomes from the Agency's follow-up report, with regard to the observation on staff working on procurement related procedures, that the establishment plan for 2023 foresees the transformation of the relevant AST-5 post (recruitment grade AST-3) to a AD-5 post;

Added21. Welcomes that in 2022 the Agency adopted a new decision founded on the principles of objectives-based and results oriented management and a culture of trust; notes that that decision introduced more flexibility for staff, both in terms of working time and teleworking, by granting the right to disconnect and clearly indicating a disconnection period that should contribute to a better work-life balance and protect staff against digital work-overload;

Added22. Welcomes from the Agency's follow-up report, with regard to the observation on staff working on procurement related procedures, that the establishment plan for 2023 foresees the transformation of the relevant AST-5 post (recruitment grade AST-3) to an AD-5 post;

Change 20 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed21.23. Notes with concern from the Court’s report that, since the 2020 financial year, the Court has raisedmade fornew theobservations Agencyevery newyear procurement-relatedrelating observationsto everythe year;Agency’s procurements; highlights from the Court’s report the observation representing the basis for the Court’s qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of 359 payments of a total value of EUR 4,1 million made in 2022 under two framework contracts implemented directly through order forms (service requests) that were sent by Agency’s staff members who did not have the delegated authority to enter into legal commitments on behalf of the Agency, or by interim employees who could not legally have such delegated authority because of their interim status; takes note of the Agency's reply to the Court’s observation that, even if there was a weakness in the formalisation of the legal commitment, the services were ordered in line with the Agency’s needs and controls were applied in full to ensure that the funds were used for the intended purpose and no actual loss was incurred; notes from the Agency’s replies to Parliament’s written questions that those contracts were not affected by other irregularities and the Agency has taken measures to address the Court’s observation by amending the Agency’s internal procedures to ensure that orders will only be communicated to the travel agent only by statutory staff, who have been delegated by an authorising officer to engage in a legal commitment; notes the Agency’s reply whereby the Agency has immediately introduced corrective measures, even before the end of the audit process; calls on the Agency to fully address those observations and improve its procurement procedures in order to avoid similar situations in the future;

Change 21 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed22.24. Highlights further from the Court’s report the qualified opinion according to which all the amounts paid in 2022 (EUR 152 655) for the implementation of a framework contract (for educational editorial services) could not be reconciled with the services provided and some categories of tasks did not reflect the nature of actual work performed, and for some categories, the amount of work paid for did not correspond to the amount actually done, thereby rendering those amounts irregular; notes the Agency's explanation that the number of pages ordered, delivered and paid did not fully match, as due to nature of work, namely editorial and educational content development, this was not always precisely quantifiable in advance; notes further that, according to the Agency's reply, checks were carried out on the deliverables and the categories of tasks were based on those listed in a previous contract with the Publications Office; calls on the Agency to put in place measures allowing the Agency to better quantify deliverables in advance and avoid such situations in the future;

Change 22 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed25.27. Notes with appreciation the Agency’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency and the prevention and management of conflicts of interest; notes with satisfaction that declarations of interests and CVs of the management board members and senior management are published on the Agency’s website and the format of the declarations allows the listing of professional, financial, personal and other interests that maycould relate to the Agency’s activities; notes from the Agency’s follow-up report, with regard to the discharge authority’s observation that declarations onof conflicts of interest and confidentiality for the remunerated experts are not published on the Agency’s website, that the Agency has assessed that due to data protection considerations, publishing the experts’ application/CVsapplications and CVs would lead to a significantly reduced number of applications forfrom experts, given that most of the experts working for the Agency have a lawhavelaw enforcement background;

Change 23 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed26.28. Notes with appreciation from the Agency's follow-up report that, with the launch of its new website in 2022, the Agency improved its public register of documents (PRD) and the technical changes introduced allow citizens to search for the Agency’s official documents by category or to ask for access to a document via a web form when direct access through PRDthe public register of documents is not granted; notes that in 2022, the Agency received five requests for public access to documents and handled 920 public inquiries from citizens;

Change 24 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed27.29. Notes from the Agency's follow-up report that, concerning the several weaknesses in the Agency’s internal control system, in particular in relation to procurement procedures and the management of budgetary commitments, the Agency has taken steps, including training and workshops, to increase awareness and reduce occurrence of administrative errors; notes in this context from the Court’s report that the status of its observations (for the financial year 2021) corresponding to those weaknesses areis closed;

Change 25 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed28.30. Notes the Agency’s assessment of its internal control system in 2022 and its conclusion that it is effective, present and functioning well and that only minor improvements are needed; calls on the Agency to address the shortcomings identified with regard to the internal control components ‘Control activities’ and ‘Information and communication’ and to keep the discharge authority informed of the progress in thisthat matter; notes with appreciation from the Agency’s follow-up report that, in the assessment of the component ‘Monitoring activities’, principle 17 ‘assess and communicate deficiencies’, itthe Agency has taken into account the Court’s relevant observations from previous years; invites the Agency to continue addressing all the observations from the audit on the Agency’s ‘Human resources management and ethics in CEPOL’ carried out in 2021 by the Internalinternal Auditaudit Service;service;

Change 26 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed29.31. Notes that the Agency implements a process for registration and authorisation of exceptions that are analysed to identify specific areas of concern and relevant improvement action; notes that the 2022 report on exceptions confirms that the Agency's internal control system is well functioning, and non-compliance events of non-compliance are detected and mitigated with corrective and preventive actions; notes further that in 2022 a total of 46 exceptions were raised (compared to 27 exceptions in 2021), with a value of EUR 51 697 (compared to EUR 257 825 in 2021), whereas 13 of those exceptions had a financial impact above EUR 10001 000 (ranging from EUR 1 053 up to EUR 12 240);

Change 27 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed30.32. Notes from the Agency's follow-up report, regarding the issue of the Agency of not having enough office space and area for operational activities, that the Hungarian Governmentgovernment made a commitment to ensure continuity and provide the Agency with proper facilities by adopting a decision to ensure new headquarter (6 000 sqm) in form of a rental; notes further that a removal to new premises may take place until the end of 2024, in parallel with the signature of a new Seatseat Agreement;agreement;

Change 28 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed31.33. Commends the Agency for its efforts to increase its public visibility and online presence; welcomes in this context the launch of the Agency’s new website in 2022 that incorporates key enhancements, such as a clearer presentation and structure, improved appearance, and web responsiveness; notes further that, in 2022, the Agency's social media activity was significant, with 1 590 content uploads, which represents 54 % more posts than in the previous year; notes in this regard the upward trend with the Agency’s web users with over 200 000 visits registered, and with its social media fan base with 38 500 followers across LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook;