Changes from adopted text to adopted text

Removed54. Urges the Council to mandate that all high-ranking officials, including Permanent Representatives and Heads of Delegation, publicly disclose their meetings with interest groups and lobbyists in a standardised transparency register, similar to the obligations imposed on Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission;

Removed55. Strongly regrets that the Council continues to systematically withhold or delay access to legislative documents and the decision-making process in the Council is still far from fully transparent, thereby hindering public scrutiny of its decision-making, negatively affecting citizens’ trust in the Union as a transparent entity and jeopardising the reputation of the Union as a whole; recalls and supports the recommendations of the European Ombudsman regarding the transparency of the Council legislative process in strategic inquiry OI/2/2017/TE; urges the Council to take all the measures necessary to implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman and the relevant rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union without undue delay; recalls that the Court of Justice of the European Union, in its judgement in Case T-163/21, De Capitani v Council, underlined that clearer legislative transparency is needed from the Council in order to ensure access to legislative documents, corresponding to the Council’s obligation in terms of public scrutiny and accountability of the co-legislators as the basis of any democratic legitimacy;

Removed56. Is concerned that, in 2023, the European Ombudsman once again called on the Council to make legislative documents available at a time that would allow the public to participate effectively in the discussions; notes that the European Ombudsman also called on the Council to continue its efforts with regard to informing the public adequately about the restrictive measures adopted against Russia, to the greatest extent possible; welcomes the strategic enquiry launched by the European Ombudsman in 2023 on how the institutions handle requests for public access to legislative documents, based in particular on six recent complaints to the Ombudsman concerning public access to Union legislative documents handled by the Council;

Removed57. Notes that the Access to Documents team reported that they received and replied to an unusually high number of requests for public access to documents in 2023, 3 732 initial requests for access to documents and 40 confirmatory applications, which required the analysis of 13 912 documents; notes that, among the initial requests for access, full access was granted to 10 908 documents (78,4 %) and partial access to 1 600 documents (11,5 %) while access was refused to 1 404 documents (10,1 %); notes that for the confirmatory applications, full access was granted to 53 documents and partial access to 45 documents, while access was refused to 48 documents; notes that initial requests were processed, on average, in 16 working days and confirmatory applications in 32 working days;

Removed58. Welcomes that, according to the publicly available annual reports, no cases of fraud or irregularity were brought to the attention of the responsible authorising officers by delegation during 2023, nor were such cases subject to the competence of the panel (Article 143 of the Financial Regulation) or OLAF;

RemovedDigitalisation

Removed59. Notes that, in 2023, the Secretariat continued to pursue its goal of digital transformation, in line with its Digital Strategy priorities for 2022-2025; notes, that out of 113 digitalisation projects in the annual work plan, concerning, in particular, the areas of shared services, policy, legal and IT, 37 % were completed at the end of the year while 8 % were cancelled or merged and 38 % were still ongoing; notes that more diversified training courses were organised, including specific courses for the electronic signature of contracts and to promote FIORI, the new user experience of SAP;

Removed60. Urges the Council to accelerate the implementation of secure digital voting and document-sharing systems to enhance efficiency, accountability, and reduce unnecessary paper-based processes;

Removed61. Welcomes that, in 2023, 97 % of invoices were submitted electronically, the same as in 2022; acknowledges that, with between 30 and 40 % of purchase orders and contracts being signed electronically each month in 2023, significant progress was made towards the full digitalisation of the financial workflow, from launching procurement procedures to paying invoices electronically;

Removed62. Notes that, in 2023, the Council took steps in favour of greater digital accessibility, in particular through the publication of a Digital Accessibility Guide;

RemovedCybersecurity and data protection

Removed63. Notes that, in 2023, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) issued a Supervisory Opinion in accordance with Article 57(1)(g) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the need to conduct a data protection impact assessment concerning the project of the Secretariat regarding the use of centralised human resource analytics and reporting services and the establishment a data warehouse; notes that the EDPS did not report any investigation or complaint concerning the Council in 2023;

Removed64. Expresses concern over the lack of robust safeguards against surveillance and data collection by third parties; calls for enhanced security measures, including mandatory data encryption and regular security audits of all digital communication systems used by the Council;

Removed65. Notes that, in order to improve the cybersecurity awareness and preparedness of its staff, the Secretariat designed and launched several new training courses related to information security, counterespionage, and cybersecurity in 2023; notes further that awareness-raising events about cybersecurity and information security were organised during Cybersecurity Month in October 2023;

RemovedBuildings

Removed66. Notes that budget line 2 0 1 1 for ‘Water, gas, electricity and heating’ was reinforced by 33 % through a budgetary transfer in 2023; notes that the Secretariat continued to reduce its energy consumption, through methods such as reducing the building heating and replacing the boilers in the Justus Lipsius building;

Removed67. Notes that key building projects were executed in 2023, such as the renovation of some meeting rooms in the LEX and Justus Lipsius buildings, the continuous renovation of office corridors in the Justus Lipsius building, improvements of facilities and infrastructure for bikes in the Council’s premises and the modernisation of the Justus Lipsius reception desks;

Removed68. Regrets that the Council has still not implemented a simplified accreditation procedure to facilitate the access of the other Union institutions’ staff to Council’s premises; calls on the Council to implement this measure;

RemovedEnvironment and sustainability

Removed69. Notes that, further to an external audit performed in 2023, the EcoManagement and Audit Scheme was maintained and that Energy Performance of Buildings certificates were renewed;

Removed70. Notes that, as part of the continuing priority efforts for sustainable mobility, facilities and infrastructures for bikes in the Secretariat premises were improved and tailored and videoconferencing facilities in the form of ‘meet anywhere rooms’ were renovated or put in place; notes further that efforts to on-board staff and managers in the green transformation were deployed through training and awareness-raising actions;

RemovedInterinstitutional cooperation

Removed71. Stresses the need for Article 319 TFEU to be revised in order to explicitly stipulate that Parliament, besides granting discharge to the Commission, also grants discharge to other Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies in respect of the implementation of their sections of the budget or of their budgets; invites the Council to overcome the inter-institutional conflict and to resume talks with the European Parliament in order to reach a common agreement for a smooth resumption of the discharge procedure;

RemovedCommunication

Removed72. Notes that, in 2023, the overall budget for communication implemented in the course of the year, taking transfers into account, was EUR 11 871 300, i.e. 3,54 % higher than the 2022 budget;

Removed73. Notes that the Secretariat provides communication services to the President of the European Council, whose web presence was fundamentally revamped in 2022, the President of the Eurogroup, the rotating presidency, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Member States and the Secretariat; notes that 2023 saw a marked increase in collaboration between the Secretariat’s digital team and the presidencies, in particular, close editorial coordination led to increased synergies in terms of content reuse and better complementarity, which maximised the overall communication impact;

Removed74. Notes that, according to an online survey conducted in the last quarter of 2023, 67 % of users were satisfied with their overall experience with the Council’s website, which had over 23 million visits in 2023, a 1 % increase compared to 2022, and 57 900 subscribers, compared to 51 600 in 2022.