Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

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

Changed18.19. Notes with satisfaction that the EDPS developed various procedural tools and policies to enhance its investigatory processes in 2024; commends in this context the EDPS for having amended its Rules of Procedure in 2024, whereby the “review‘review procedure”procedure’ was replaced by a “preliminary‘preliminary assessment”assessment’ in order to safeguard the right to be heard of all the involved parties; notes that as of July 2024, EUIBAs can share their views on the preliminary assessment before the EDPS takes a decision that could adversely affect them; notes that these procedural safeguards contribute to a fair and timely handling of complaints and investigations; notes that in 2024 the EDPS also reviewed investigation methodologies, developed a manual on access to the file, enhanced litigation preparedness, updated the internal complaints case manual and improved hearing recordings and transcription processes;

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

Changed19.20. Notes from the Annual Report and the Follow-up Report the EDPS’ special attention regarding processing of children’s data, in particular in law enforcement contexts; notes that one of the audits carried out by the EDPS in 2024 was on the processing of children’s personal data in research projects managed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Spain, in particular with regard to child-robot interaction; notes with satisfaction that in October 2024, the EDPS attended the G7 DPAs Roundtable in Rome, on the occasion of which the DPAs issued a “Statement‘Statement on AI and Children”Children’ urging action to safeguard children’s privacy and ensure AI fosters trust while protecting the most vulnerable; recalls that the EDPS carried out thea annualdedicated inspection on Europol’s processing of data about minors under 15 marked as suspects; appreciates that the EDPS found that the general process for the assessment of information provided by partners on minors (including minors under 15 years old) is clear and well developed; notes that the EDPS inspection report asks Europol to conductcontinue conducting its own assessment on the lawfulness of data received and raises concerns onunderlined whetherthat Europol meets theneeds thresholdto ofassess ‘strict proportionality’necessity’ for the processing of data on minors suspected of minor infractions;crimes;

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

Changed22.23. Recalls that in 2022 the EDPS brought an action for the annulment of two provisions of the amended Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilbeforeCouncil before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which was later rejected by the CJEU, but then appealed by the EDPS at the General Court ruling in case T-578/22, believing the issues raised should be addressed at the highest level; notes from the Follow-up Report that the EDPS is refraining from commenting on that appeal, as it is ongoing; recalls that bringing legal matters before the CJEU by the EDPS in its supervisory role should not be seen as affecting the loyal cooperation and good relations between the EDPS and the entities it supervises;supervises, but notes that it casts doubts on the EDPS’ position towards the role of Parliament and the Council as legislator;

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

Changed24.25. Notes from the Questionnaire that the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) launched one audit in 2024, on governance for IT services provided by Parliament to the EDPS, which resulted in two recommendations currently being implemented by the EDPS; notes with regard to an audit from 2023 on the ‘methodology for the planning of EDPS audits’ that one of the two recommendations issued by the IAS has been addressed while implementation of the other recommendation (on the design of methodology to establish the EDPS audit plan) has been postponed for when the new Supervisor will be appointed; calls on the EDPS to keep the discharge authority informed on the progress made in this matter;matter, noting that the EDPS should consult the entities audited by it regarding the feasibility and suitability of recommendations planned to be made, to ensure a swift, effective and resourceful implementation of the recommendations thereafter by the audited body;

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

Changed25.26. Notes that, at the end of 2024, the EDPS had 137 members of staff, compared to 129 in 2023; notes that the EDPS employed 55 contract staff (CAs) under Article 3(b) of the Staff Regulations3b of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (50 CA in 2023), 9 temporary agents (TA) under Article 2(b)2, points (b) and 2(c)(c), (7 TAs in 2023) and used the services of 10 external services providers (EXT) working intra-muros in 2023 (12 EXT in 2022); invites the EDPS to reflect on the way to reduce the number of CAs in favour of permanent contracts to guaranteeensure talent retention and business continuity; notes that the EDPS had 23 nationalities from the Member States in 2024 (the same as in 2023) represented among its staff, which is, despitedespite, the over-representation of 5 nationalities and the underrepresentation of other nationalities, an excellent score for such a small institution; calls on the EDPS to continue its efforts towards a balanced geographical distribution of nationals from all Member States, with particular regard to the managerial level, including through its recruitment policy;

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

Changed26.27. Notes a high occupancy rate of the establishment plan of 98,80 % (compared to 95,65 % in 2023) but also a high turnover rate of 12 % in 2024 (compared to 13 % in 2023); notes that most of the unfilled positions were a result of candidates being unsuitable; acknowledges the challenges identified in recruitment and selection procedures; notes with satisfaction from the Follow-up Report that the EDPS addressed these challenges by developing a comprehensive staff retention and talent attraction strategy which was adopted in the beginning of 2025, with short, medium and long-terms actions for retention of experienced staff, mitigation of turnover risks and improvement of the EDPS’ attractiveness as an employer; encourages the EDPS to continue improving recruitment procedures, while fully respecting the principles of merit, transparency and equal treatment;

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

Changed30.31. Notes, from the Questionnaire, that the EDPS offers flexible and hybrid working arrangements, that are well-received by members of staff who can benefit inter alia from parental leave, time credits, part-time work or working from abroad for a limited number of days per year; notes that the next staff satisfaction survey, covering teleworking, was planned for 2025; considers that building infrastructure could be optimised, where appropriate, in order to reflect teleworking and hybrid working arrangements, with a view to reducing operational costs and ensuring a more efficient use of office space;

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

Changed32.33. Notes from the Questionnaire the EDPS’ reply whereby the EDPS has no access to medical files of its staff and is not in the position to know the root cause of absences, as they are validated by the Medical Service of the Commission; notes that the EDPS only has access to aggregated data such as the number of sick-leave days and whether they are accompanied by a medical certificate; notes that the increase from 2023 to 2024 in the number of sick leave days, i.e. from 1 680,50 to 1 946 (+15,80 %) outpaced the increase in the number of staff from 129 to 137 (i.e. +6,20 %); notes that the average duration of sickness per person also increased, from 14,7 days in 2023 to 18,30 in 2024, and that the sick leave rate increased from 3,60 % in 2023 to 3,9 % in 2024; is worried by the current situation and continues to request a clearer evaluation of staff wellbeing to identify possible recurrent causes of burnout, cases of which should be reported yearly to the discharge authority as every other institution; requests that the EDPS, in cooperation with the Commission’s Medical Service, perform a targeted assessment of the root causes of this increase, with a specific focus on preventing burnout;

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

Changed34.35. Notes that the EDPS has set up a framework to prevent conflicts of interest at the level of senior management and staff through codes of conduct, awareness raising and declarations of absence of conflicts of interest and confidentiality (DOICs); notes that all staff joining the EDPS have to sign a DOIC; notes that in 2024 no cases of conflicts of interest or whistleblowing were registered at the EDPS; notes with concern that one case of alleged fraud was reported in the EDPS in 2024, which the Commission’s disciplinary office (IDOC) investigated; notes in this case that IDOC closed the inquiry in 2025 with the recommendation made to the EDPS to initiate disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the Staff Regulations; invites the EDPS to keep the discharge authority informed on final outcome of that matter;matter, as well as related to any potential measures taken to strengthen internal anti-fraud controls;

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

Changed36.37. Welcomes the overall high level of transparency achieved by the EDPS concerning its activities, including as regards the publication of the agenda and the declaration of interests of the Supervisor and of the SG; notes with satisfaction from the Questionnaire that, following an internal assessment on transparency measures performed in 2023-2024, the EDPS adopted a decision in 2025 whereby the Supervisor, the SG and the EDPS staff holding managerial responsibilities will meet interest representatives only if registered in the Union’s Transparency Register; welcomes that with that decision the EDPS is part of the Union’s Transparency Register, whose Management Board was duly notified; recommends that the EDPS publish a list of all meetings held with interest representatives on its website to further enhance public accountability and transparency;

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

Added39. Emphasises the role of the EDPS in supervising the personal data processing operations of EUIBAs; expresses concern about the time it takes the EDPS to handle complaints; recalls the European Ombudsman’s Decision of 7 November 2024 in case 1888/2023/TM, in which the European Ombudsman found that six years for the EDPS to complete its assessment of a complaint does not constitute a reasonable timeframe and that the EDPS’s approach constituted maladministration; notes that the European Ombudsman found that the EDPS also failed to keep the complainant informed on the progress of the case;

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

Added43. Notes that the EDPS’ limited internal IT staffing is partly compensated by IT services provided by Parliament and the Commission under SLAs and a chargeback mechanism; recalls that Parliament already identified, in its 2023 discharge resolution, structural gaps between such interinstitutional IT services and the specific operational needs of the EDPS; stresses that, while this model can generate economies of scale, it may reduce cost predictability and the direct control of small institutions over the evolution of IT-related expenditure, and underlines the importance of taking these structural cost pressures into account in future budgetary planning;

Added44. Highlights the EDPS’ work on open-source, Union-based collaborative cloud solutions, notably the Nextcloud project and its migration towards a Commission-managed data centre, with a view to strengthening data sovereignty and reducing dependencies on non-Union providers; invites the EDPS to provide the discharge authority with an assessment of the project’s total cost of ownership, security benefits and scalability for other Union institutions;

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

Changed48.52. Notes that the EDPS has not joined the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS); notes that, with a view to becoming EMAS certified, the EDPS established in 2024 a cross-unit working group whose objectives are to map existing measures already implemented by Parliament, develop carbon reducing strategies and propose innovative solutions; invitescalls on the EDPS to set a clear timeline for achieving EMAS certification and to keep the discharge authority updated on the progress made in this matter;

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

Changed52.56. Welcomes the budgetary and administrative savings achieved by the EDPS through inter-institutionalinterinstitutional cooperation, particularly the conclusion of service-level agreements with Parliament for the rental of its premises and the use of IT system applications, hardware supplies and maintenance and with the Commission for HR and business administration processes, as well as through participating in large inter-institutionalinterinstitutional framework contracts in areas such as IT consultancy, interim services and office supplies, among others; commends in addition the EDPS for maintaining a structured cooperation with the European Ombudsman, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and CERT-EU through memorandums of understanding; notes from the Questionnaire that the EDPS is also participating in the interinstitutional HR Transformation project, led by the Commission, which aims to digitalise HR processes, whereas the rollout of this project will be concluded by 2029;