Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 1

Changed1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2022 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority discharge in respect of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2022;

Change 2 under “2. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION”

Changed1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2022 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2022;

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

Added2. Notes that a lack of resources and posts for plant protection products regulatory authorities results in delays in approving low risk active substances and updating assessment methodologies according to scientific developments, which would lower the environmental impact of plant protection products in the long term; calls on the Commission to take appropriate steps to ensure that the Authority has sufficient resources and posts to support Member States to meet their deadlines as set in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, to double the amount of assessments of active substances for plant protection products per year and to triple the speed of development of methodologies to keep risk assessments abreast of the latest scientific developments and in line with societal expectations;

Change 4 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Removed2. Notes with satisfaction that the Authority has implemented an integrated performance framework connecting resources and activities to outputs and expected results, complemented by a set of Key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and drive performance; notes furthermore that the performance against the targets set out in the Performance Framework reached an overall rate of 96 %; observes that the areas of Strategic Objectives 2 (Ensure preparedness for future risk analysis needs) and Strategic Objective 3 (Empower people and ensure organisational agility), featured a good performance overall, whilst the area of Strategic Objective 1 (Deliver Trustworthy Scientific Advice and Communication of Risks from Farm to Fork’), heavily impacted by the implementation of new rules and procedures under the Transparency Regulation, featured a deviation from the target;

Added3. Welcomes the Authority’s contribution to the safety of the Union food and feed chain, and its considerable efforts in providing risk managers with comprehensive, independent and up-to-date scientific advice on questions linked to the food chain, communicating clearly to the public on its outputs and the information on which they are based, and cooperating with interested parties and institutional partners to promote coherence and trust in the food safety system;

Removed3. Highlights that the Authority has finalised 586 scientific questions out of the targeted 701 regarding the Objective 1: ‘Deliver Trustworthy Scientific Advice and Communication of Risks from Farm to Fork’; notes that despite the number of scientific questions closed was lower than forecasted, it broadly equated the new incoming questions received during the year, thus ensuring that the stock of open questions did not increase;

Added4. Notes with satisfaction that the Authority has implemented an integrated performance framework connecting resources and activities to outputs and expected results, complemented by a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and drive performance; notes, furthermore, that the performance against the targets set out in the Performance Framework reached an overall rate of 96 %; observes that the areas of Strategic Objectives 2 (Ensure preparedness for future risk analysis needs) and Strategic Objective 3 (Empower people and ensure organisational agility) featured a good performance overall, whilst the area of Strategic Objective 1 (‘Deliver Trustworthy Scientific Advice and Communication of Risks from Farm to Fork’), heavily impacted by the implementation of new rules and procedures under Regulation (EU) 2019/1381, featured a deviation from the target;

Removed4. Welcomes that the area of communication of findings registered very positive results, with the timeliness of publication on the Authority’s Journal maintaining the positive performance achieved over the past two years;

Added5. Highlights that the Authority has finalised 586 scientific questions out of the targeted 701 questions regarding the Objective 1: ‘Deliver Trustworthy Scientific Advice and Communication of Risks from Farm to Fork’; notes that despite the number of scientific questions closed was lower than forecasted, it broadly equated the new incoming questions received during the year, thus ensuring that the stock of open questions did not increase;

Change 5 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed8.11. Observes that the Authority has been collaborating with the European Chemicals Authority, in the context of the new EUUnion Chemicals Strategy, and with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to develop systems for the collection and analysis of genome sequencing; notes moreover that the Authority has shared human resources and research resources with Sister Agencies and the Joint Research Centre; further emphasizes the horizontal benefits of working together and adapting best practices;

Change 6 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Added13. Welcomes the Authority's intention to strengthen joint data management with Member States and other agencies in order to improve data quality and interoperability (in line with the One Health approach);

Change 7 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed10.14. Notes that, on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 95,55 % implemented, with 5five officials and 382 temporary agents appointed out of 405 posts authorised under the Union budget (compared to 380 authorised posts in 2021); notes that, in addition, 170 contract agents and 14 seconded national experts worked for the Authority in 2022; notes furthermore that in order to implement the newRegulation Transparency(EU) Regulation2019/1381 the Authority was granted 31 new staff posts in 2022, and 15 extra Contractcontract Agentsagents (CAs) for the period 2022-2024;

Change 8 under “3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION”

Changed11.15. Takes note that in 2022 gender balance was achieved within the Authority’s overall staff, with 335 out of 557 (60,1 %) being women and within the Authority’s management board with 37 out of 70 (52,9 %) being women; observes that in senior and management positions, there is a higher proportion of positions occupied by men (63 %) compared to women (37 %); calls on the Authority to intensifyingintensify the efforts to bridge the gender gap in senior and managerial positions;