7.6.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 167/1

I.

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

H.1.

H.2.

II.

I.

J.

K.

L.

M.

N.

O.

P.

Q.

R.

S.

T.

III.

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A.1.

A.2.

B.

B.1.

B.2.

B.3.

B.4.

C.

D.

E.

F.

ANNEX I —

ANNEX II —

ANNEX III —

1.

This report analyses the European Parliament's budgetary and financial management during financial year 2010. It outlines the use made of financial resources and the events which had a significant influence on activities during the year (in Parts I and II) and gives a overview of the results achieved as against the objectives set for 2010 (in Part III).

2.

The report has been drawn up in accordance with Article 122 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (1) (hereinafter ‘Financial Regulation’), Article 185 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2) (hereinafter ‘Implementing Rules’) and Article 13(2) of the Internal Rules on the implementation of the European Parliament's budget (3). The analysis is based on the provisional accounts, as established by the Accounting Officer.

3.

Parliament's final appropriations totalled EUR 1 616 760 399, accounting for 19,99 % of the EU's total administrative expenditure, i.e. heading V of the Financial Framework (4). Table 1 below provides an overview of implementation of Parliament's budget in financial year 2010.

Table 1

Use of 2010 appropriations

4.

Revenue entered in the accounts as at 31 December 2010 totalled EUR 243 094 204 and included EUR 110 298 523 of assigned revenue.

5.

Authorised appropriations in Parliament’s initial budget for 2010 totalled EUR 1 607 363 235, representing a 5 % increase over the 2009 budget (EUR 1 529 970 930).

6.

An amending budget 1/2010 was adopted on 19 May 2010 amounting to EUR 9 397 164 to finance additional expenditure directly stemming from the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community. The amending budget increased the staff figures by 150. A total of 75 temporary posts reinforced the assistance to Political groups, 70 posts were assigned to committees’ secretariats and 5 posts were dedicated to the Directorate for the Relations with National Parliaments. Two budget items were strengthened in particular: Item 1200‘Remuneration and allowances’ and Item 4220/01 ‘Parliamentary assistance: local assistants’. The appropriations for personal assistance to Members increased — the secretariat allowance was raised by EUR 1 500 per month per Member as from 1 May 2010.

7.

Commitments totalled EUR 1 552 290 272, accounting for 96 % of final appropriations (2009: 93 %). Payments totalled EUR 1 321 261 642, accounting for 85 % of commitments entered into (2009: 87 %).

8.

Automatic carryovers to financial year 2011 totalled EUR 231 028 630, accounting for 15 % of the total appropriations committed (2009: 13 %). Uncommitted appropriations at year-end that were carried forward to financial year 2011 (non-automatic carryovers) totalled EUR 9 240 000 — accounting for 0,6 % of final appropriations (2009: 0,7 %) — and were used for the purposes set out in Table 2.

Table 2

Purpose of non-automatic carryovers to 2011

9.

Automatic carryovers to 2010 totalled EUR 180 265 823. Payments against those carryovers stood at EUR 156 561 474 (87 %, as against 92 % in 2009). The amount cancelled was therefore EUR 23 704 349. The bulk of the cancellations was made against: Article 140’Other staff and externals’, Article 200‘Buildings’, Article 202‘Expenditure on buildings’ and Article 324‘Production and dissemination’. The amounts cancelled and main reasons for cancellations are presented in Table 3.

Table 3

Main reasons for cancellations of automatic carryovers from 2009 to 2010

10.

Non-automatic carryovers to 2010 carried over to 2010 in accordance with Article 9(2a) totalled EUR 10 100 000 and concerned Item 2003‘Acquisition of immovable property’ (EUR 9 100 000 and Item 2008‘Other expenditure on buildings’ (EUR 1 000 000).

11.

All the appropriations carried-over were committed before 31 March 2010 as required by the Financial Regulation. Their purpose was the purchase of Millenáris Building in Budapest for the House of Europe and accessory fees linked to the purchase. As regards the payments corresponding to the commitments, which need to be executed before 31 December 2010 a total of 92 % was paid on Item 2003. The main reason for this consumption rate is that the final purchase price was lower than foreseen. Consumption rate on Item 2008 was 0 % since no accessory fees were finally needed.

12.

Assigned revenue made available in 2010 totalled EUR 110 298 523 (2009: EUR 27 576 932). The commitment rate was 13 % (2009: 44 %). Payments totalled EUR 10 247 794, accounting for 74 % of the commitments entered into (2009: 74 %). A balance of EUR 110 017 852 was carried forward to financial year 2011 (2009: EUR 20 637 870). The source of appropriations from assigned revenue is analysed in the figure below.

Figure 1

Appropriations from assigned revenue 2010 by chapter

13.

The major part of these appropriations coming from Chapter 20 in 2010 is due to the payment from the Belgian State. The Belgian State reimbursed on 27 January 2010 the sum of EUR 85 987 000 in the context of its defrayal of the cost of the land forming the site for the D4 and D5 Buildings and of the development costs for the roof over Brussels-Luxembourg Station. In accordance with the Financial Regulation, this amount has been entered in the accounts as ‘assigned revenue’ and can be used only to finance property projects (principle of specification). The sum involved could have been used in 2010, but also, if necessary, can be carried over to subsequent financial years. In particular, it can be used to improve Members’ logistical and working conditions by providing a second office for assistants. Part of the amount could also be used, where appropriate, for the purchase of buildings which are still being rented.

14.

Assigned revenue carried over to 2010 totalled EUR 20 637 870 (2009: EUR 36 808 922). Commitments entered into totalled EUR 15 646 888 (2009: EUR 36 024 461). Payments in 2010 represented 65 % of commitments entered into (2009: 94 %).

15.

Appropriations totalling EUR 55 230 127 (2009: EUR 102 241 198) and accounting for 3,4 % of final appropriations (2009: 7 %) were cancelled. The main reasons for cancellations are set in the table below:

Table 4

Main reasons for cancellations from current appropriations in 2010

16.

Over the course of the financial year, 13 C transfers were approved under Articles 24 and 43 of the Financial Regulation (7). They covered a total of EUR 84 274 488, accounting for 5,2 % of final appropriations (in 2009: 18 transfers accounting for 4 % of final appropriations). The President authorised 6 P transfers under Article 22(1) of the Financial Regulation (8), covering a total of EUR 4 009 571, or 0,2 % of final appropriations (2009: 9 transfers accounting for 2 % of final appropriations). A breakdown of the transfers by legal basis as well as their purpose are summarised in the tables below.

17.

In all, there were 19 C and P transfers in 2010, involving a total of EUR 88 284 059, or 5,5 % of final appropriations (2009: 27 transfers involving a total of EUR 100 518 607, or 7 % of final appropriations).

Table 5

Transfers by legal basis

Table 6

Analysis of C transfers by receiving budget line

Table 7

Analysis of C transfers by expenditure category and purpose

18.

This section looks at the use of appropriations from Chapter 10 0 ‘Provisional appropriations’, Chapter 10 1 ‘Contingency reserve’, Chapter 10 3 ‘Enlargement reserve’ and Chapter 10 5 ‘Provisional appropriation for buildings’ and Chapter 10 6 ‘Reserve for priority projects under development’. These chapters, included in Title 10 ‘Other expenditure’, are hereinafter referred to as ‘provisional appropriations’. Title 10 ‘Other expenditure’ was the main source of the appropriations transferred in 2010 (50 %, or EUR 42 241 800).

19.

Of that amount, a total of EUR 14 089 600 was transferred for property policy purposes, a total of EUR 13 000 000 was transferred for IT purposes, a total of EUR 10 550 000 was transferred for Staff purposes and EUR 4 602 200 for other purposes. The purpose of the transfers from provisional appropriations is set out below.

Table 8

Purpose of transfers from provisional appropriations

20.

This section looks at the transfers from sources other than Title 10 ‘Other expenditure’. A total of EUR 42 032 688 was transferred from other titles. Property policy accounted for the bulk (41 %) of these transfers, followed by staff (30 %) and IT (28 %). An overview of these transfers is given in Table 9.

21.

An overview of the P transfers is given in Table 10.

Table 9

Purpose of C transfers from sources other than provisional appropriations

Table 10

Purpose of P transfers

22.

This section looks at the use of appropriations by budget chapter, their share of the overall budget and changes in the use of appropriations with respect to the previous financial year. When analysing the financial management of the Parliament in 2010 compared to the previous financial year, the following circumstances should be taken into account:

23.

The abovementioned reasons had major influence on the 2010 budget appropriations compared to the financial year 2009.

24.

Four chapters accounted for 70 % of total commitments. They were: Chapter 10‘Members of the institution’, Chapter 12‘Officials and temporary staff’, Chapter 20‘Buildings and associated costs’ and Chapter 42‘Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance’. Table 11 below provides a breakdown by chapter of the appropriations committed in 2010 as against those committed in 2009. Figures 2 and 3 below provide a graphical representation of the changes.

Table 11

Appropriations committed in 2010 as against those committed in 2009

Figure 2

Breakdown of 2010 expenditure by chapter

Figure 3

Evolution of committed appropriations between 2009 and 2010, by chapter

25.

This chapter accounted for 13 % of total expenditure in financial year 2010 and was up by 24 % on 2009. This increase can be explained by an increase on Item 1000‘Salaries’ — up by 121 % and a 16 % increase on Item 1004‘Ordinary travel expenses’ which was compensated by a decrease on Item 1006‘General expenditure allowance’ — down by 13 % and Item 1033‘Optional pension scheme for Members’ — down by 99 %.

26.

These developments were due to the entry into force of the new Member’s Statute in 2009. Financial year 2010 was the first year in which the Statute for Members was implemented in full. First estimations for the budget 2010 were made in the beginning of 2009, i.e. before the coming into force of the Members’ Statute. Even at the end of 2009 after the first months of implementation of the Members’ Statute, the evaluation of the financial needs could only be estimated with a certain range of insecurity, given that 2009 was a untypical year with more than 50 % of Members elected for the first time, with the situation that the rules were new for Members as well as for the administration, with the specificities of a post-election period.

27.

Commitments against Item 1000‘Salaries’ stood accordingly at EUR 67 712 999 (33 % of Chapter 10 commitments), while EUR 75 133 000 was committed against Item 1004‘Ordinary travel expenses’, accounting for 36 % of Chapter 10 commitments. The latter item covers travel and subsistence expenses in connection with travelling to and from the places of work and other duty travel.

28.

In 2010 Members made a total of 17 058 journeys to attend part sessions in Strasbourg and Brussels, 30 216 journeys to committee meetings and 2 536 journeys to political group meetings in Brussels (9). As regards travel outside Parliament’s usual workplaces, there were 866 journeys to committee meetings, 1 399 journeys to political group meetings and 1 842 journeys in connection with parliamentary delegation meetings.

29.

Commitments against Item 1006‘General expenditure allowance’ totalled EUR 36 966 241 (18 % of Chapter 10 commitments). That amount covered expenses resulting from the parliamentary activities of Members. The monthly allowance equals EUR 4 223.

30.

This chapter accounted for 34 % of 2010 spending — the largest share of total expenditure. There was a 6 % increase in spending as compared to previous year due to an increase against Article 120. It was due mainly to higher spending (+ 6 %) against Item 1200‘Remuneration and allowances’ which was reflected in the amending budget (+ EUR 4 565 164) and transfers following the decision of the Court of Justice concerning the backdated salary adaptation in 2009.

31.

The Item 1200 had to be reinforced by EUR 6,2 million (transfer C6) due to a lower real vacancy rate than assumed (too high standard flat rate abatement assumed at the planning stage) and the fact that the 2010 budget had not sufficiently taken into account the increasing number of transfers of officials from other European institutions, when new and vacant posts are filled in. Indeed, these transfers concerned mainly qualified people joining the Parliament with higher grades than the basic grades, AST 1 and AD 5, foreseen for the appropriation evaluation for new posts. Moreover the transfer C12 has increased the appropriations on the item by EUR 10,6 million. The objective of this transfer was to provide sufficient funds to account for the backdated salary adaptation in 2009 (10) and 2010.

32.

In Chapter 12, Item 1200‘Remuneration and allowances’ accounted for some 99 % of expenditure. Commitments against this item totalled EUR 525 864 796.

33.

In 2010, 301 officials and temporary staff members were recruited to the General Secretariat, 149 temporary agents were recruited to political groups and 425 were recruited as accredited parliamentary assistants. Parliament had employed a total of 5 515 officials and temporary staff members as at 31 December 2010. Of those staff members 4 951 were employed by the Secretariat, and 564 by the political groups.

34.

As regards the gender breakdown, women accounted for 25 % of Heads of Unit, 28 % of Directors and 33 % of Directors-General as at 31 December 2010. The figure below gives a gender breakdown of staff by function group.

Figure 4

Secretariat staff by gender

35.

This chapter accounted for 7 % of expenditure in 2010. The 17 % increase on 2009 was due to 27 % higher spending on Item 1402‘Conference interpreters’ and Article 142‘Outside services’ (+ 20 %). 52 % of Chapter 14 appropriations were allocated to Item 1402, and 24 % to Item 1400‘Other staff’.

36.

For Item 1402‘Conference interpreters’, commitments totalled EUR 54 990 000 and covered, as part of interinstitutional cooperation (among others) the fees, social security contributions, travel expenses and subsistence allowances of auxiliary conference interpreters used by Parliament to service meetings organised by Parliament or by other institutions which cannot be serviced by Parliament interpreters (officials and temporary staff).

37.

Parliament interpreters and auxiliary conference interpreters worked 109 256 interpreter days in 2010 providing service to the Parliament and other institutions (11) where the Parliament services provide interpretation (16 % up on 2009, which was an election year). Parliament interpreters worked 51 977 days (21 % up on 2009), and auxiliary conference interpreters 57 279 (12 % up on 2009).

38.

Commitments against Item 1400‘Other staff’ totalled EUR 25 212 376. This item mainly covers the remuneration, including allocations and allowances, of other staff, including contract and local staff and special advisers, employer's contributions to the various social security schemes and the impact of salary weightings applicable to the remuneration of these staff as well as the employment of temporary agency staff. As at 31 December 2010, Parliament employed 634 contract staff. Additional appropriations were transferred to this item during the year to finance recruitment of Croatian contract staff in preparation for Croatia's accession to the EU.

39.

A breakdown of contract staff by function group is given in Figure 5.

Figure 5

Contract staff by function group

40.

This chapter accounted for 1 % of expenditure in 2010. There was a 5 % decrease in appropriations committed against this chapter in comparison with 2009, owing to no spending against Item 1613‘Further training mission expenses’. This item was eliminated from 2010 budget nomenclature and the appropriations were transferred to Article 300‘Expenses on staff missions and duty travel between the three working places’.

41.

Thirty nine per cent of Chapter 16 commitments were made against Item 1654‘Early childhood centre and approved day nurseries’, 28 % against Item 1612‘Further training’ and 17 % against Item 1652‘Current operating expenditure for restaurants and canteens’.

42.

Sub-item 1654/01 ‘Early childhood centre and approved day nurseries: outside management of Parliament's day nursery and family room in Brussels and ancillary expenditure’ accounted for bulk of spending against Item 1654. Commitments against this item totalled EUR 5 163 866 and covered Parliament's contribution to the overall costs of the early childhood centre and outside crèches with which an agreement has been concluded.

43.

Commitments against Item 1612‘Further training’ amounted to EUR 3 680 850 and covered expenditure on training for improving staff skills and the performance, and efficiency of the institution. In 2010 there were 7 504 people who attended in-house language courses, and additionally 392 participants attended courses outside the place of work. Furthermore, 733 people attended IT courses and 998 attended financial training courses. Eighty five staff members attended courses held by the European School of Administration. As regards non-linguistic training, altogether 6 853 participants attended in-house training courses, and 198 attended outside courses.

44.

Commitments against Item 1652‘Current operating expenditure for restaurants and canteens’ stood at EUR 2 313 000. This item covers restaurant and canteen operating costs. The restaurants and canteens served some 1 339 000 customers, and the staff shop some 161 000.

45.

This Chapter accounted for 12 % of 2010 expenditure, up by 2 % on 2009. The higher spending against Items 2003‘Acquisition of immovable property’ (12), 2022‘Cleaning and maintenance’ and 2000‘Rent’ was compensated by lower spending on Item 2007‘Fitting-out of premises’ and 2001‘Lease payments’. As regards the Item 2001, an amount of EUR 86 million of appropriations from assigned revenue was entered on this item in 2010 (see Part I of the report concerning the appropriations from assigned revenue).

46.

A breakdown of Chapter 20 appropriations by expenditure type is given in figure below.

Figure 6

Breakdown of Chapter 20 expenditure

47.

The commitments entered into against Item 2022‘Cleaning and maintenance’ (21 % of the chapter) stood at EUR 39 351 882 and covered the cost, on the basis of current contracts, of maintaining premises, lifts, heating and air-conditioning systems and fire doors, as well as repainting and repair work, etc.

48.

The commitments entered into against Item 2026‘Security and surveillance of buildings’ (21 % of the chapter) totalled EUR 38 917 198 and covered essentially the costs of caretaking and surveillance in respect of buildings occupied by Parliament at its three habitual places of work and the information offices. There were 1 023 (13) security agents working at the Parliament's premises at the end of 2010.

49.

This chapter accounted for 9 % of 2010 expenditure. Chapter 21 spending was 30 % up on 2009, owing in particular to higher spending against Article 210‘Computing and telecommunications’. Spending on this item increased by 34 % due to three C transfers (7, 11 and 14) totalling around EUR 24 m. The appropriations of Article 2100 amount to 82 % of Chapter 21. A majority of this chapter's appropriations is distributed to two Items: 2100‘Equipment and software for information and innovation technologies’ (41 %) and 2102‘Outside assistance for information and innovation technologies’ (41 % as well). A breakdown of Chapter 21 expenditure is given in the figure below.

50.

The 30 % increase reflected in the abovementioned transfers is due to an introduction of the medium-term ICT strategy adopted by the Bureau and in particular the Knowledge Management System and very significant IT projects included in these programmes. The extension of wireless networks and Data Centre in Brussels play also a major part as regards the budgetary implications (for more details see Part III of the report).

Figure 7

Breakdown of Chapter 21 expenditure

51.

Commitments entered into against Item 2100‘Equipment and software for information and innovation technologies’ amounted to EUR 56 626 299. This appropriation covered expenditure on the purchase, hire, servicing and maintenance of equipment and software for the institution, and related work. This equipment and software relates mainly to systems at the computer and telecommunications centre, computing at departmental level and in the political groups and the electronic voting system.

52.

Commitments entered into against Item 2102‘Outside assistance for information and innovation technologies’ amounted to EUR 55 814 490 and mainly covered the cost of outside assistance from service bureaux and data-processing consultants in connection with the operation of the computer centre and the network, the production and maintenance of applications, support for users, including Members and political groups, the carrying out of studies, and the drawing up and input of technical documentation.

53.

Computing capacity and processing power increased by 28 % over the period under review. In December 2009, memory capacity stood at 1 803 021 gigabytes (Gb), as against 2 314 240 Gb at the end of 2010. As regards processing power, Parliament’s central IT systems’ capacity to process a given quantity of data within a given period of time is maintained at the same level as in the previous year. Furthermore, with a view to ensuring information system security, the number of patches tested and integrated into the network, servers, software and workstations decreased by 46 % (1 886 in late 2009, as against 1 019 in late 2010) due to higher stability of the IT system.

54.

This chapter accounted for 1 % of 2010 expenditure. The 4 % decrease against this chapter over 2009 was due mainly to lower spending against Article 232 (Legal costs and damages — down by 21 %).

55.

Expenditure against this article broke down as follows: 55 % against Article 235‘Telecommunications’; 19 % against Article 230‘Stationery, office supplies and miscellaneous consumables’ and 10 % against Article 232‘Legal costs and damages’.

56.

This chapter accounted for 2 % of 2010 expenditure. 2010 appropriations were 15 % up on 2009. This was due to an increase against Article 300‘Expenses on staff missions and duty travel between the three working places’ In 2010 the Parliament gradually resumed full activity following the 2009 election year.

57.

In 2010, there were 33 200 missions (journeys) representing a total of 98 629 mission days. Most of the missions involved travel between Parliament's three places of work (Brussels — 5 391 missions; Strasbourg — 20 125; and Luxembourg — 2 477).

58.

Appropriations against this chapter accounted for 6 % of 2010 expenditure. There was a 4 % increase of appropriations as compared to previous year. Twenty five per cent of the appropriations against this chapter were utilised for Item 3244‘Organisation and reception of groups of visitors, Euroscola programme and invitations to opinion multipliers from third countries’, 14 % for Item 3242‘Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events’, 13 % for Item 3243‘Visitors’ Centre’ and 12 % for Item 3248‘Expenditure on audiovisual information’.

59.

A breakdown of expenditure is given in figure below.

Figure 8

Breakdown of Chapter 32 expenditure

60.

Commitments made against Item 3244‘Organisation and reception of groups of visitors, Euroscola programme and invitations to opinion multipliers from third countries’ totalled EUR 24 534 587 and covered subsidies granted for group visits and associated supervision and infrastructure costs, the running costs of the Euroscola programme, and the financing of traineeships for opinion multipliers from third countries.

61.

Commitments made against Item 3242‘Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events’ amounted to EUR 13 633 133 and covered, in particular, expenditure on information publications, including electronic publications, information activities, public relations, participation in public events, trade fairs and exhibitions in the Member States and the accession countries, and updating of the Legislative Observatory (OEIL).

62.

Commitments entered into against Item 3243‘Visitors’ Centre’ increased significantly (+ 227 %) as compared to 2009 and amounted to EUR 12 725 985. The evolution of expenditure is in line with the planning of this highly complex project. For details see Part III of the report.

63.

Commitments entered into against Item 3248‘Expenditure on audiovisual information’ totalled EUR 12 137 103 and covered expenditure relating to:

64.

As regards the production of audiovisual information, in 2010 there were 12 275 hours produced for the media and other clients. It is worth noting that altogether 767 half-day committee meetings were webstreamed (comparing to 2009 the volume of committee sessions streamed has doubled). Concerning production of Europe by Satellite 809 news items, 58 info-clips and 475 live-stories were produced.

65.

This chapter accounted for 5 % of 2010 expenditure and there was a 10 % increase as compared to previous financial year. Article 400‘Current administrative expenditure and expenditure relating to the political and information activities of the political groups and non-attached Members’ accounted for 70 % of Chapter 40 appropriations. Commitments against that article totalled EUR 53 355 142 and were intended to cover the following in respect of the political groups and the non-attached Members:

66.

Article 402‘Contributions to European political parties’ accounted for 18 % (EUR 14 m) of Chapter 40 appropriations.

Figure 9

Breakdown of Chapter 40 expenditure

67.

This chapter accounted for 10 % of 2010 expenditure and the expenditure was stable between 2009 and 2010. Item 4220‘Parliamentary assistance’ accounted for 99 % of commitment appropriations against this chapter. Commitments made against the article totalled EUR 152 645 163 and parliamentary assistance expenses. It is recalled that the amending budget in 2010 increased the personal assistance to Members (see Part I of the report for details).

68.

On 31 December 2010 there were 1 483 parliamentary accredited assistants working at the EP. In December 2010, 2 198 local assistants had an employment contract with Members. The average number of employed local assistants was 3,4 per Member. The number of employed local assistants per Member varies greatly, between 0 and 45 during 2010. Although 97 Members have no local employees, 35 Members recruited more than 10 employees in their Member States during 2010.

69.

The chapters in this title contain provisional appropriations that may be committed only once they have been transferred to an operational line. Transfers of provisional appropriations are dealt with in Section I of this report. Initial appropriations against this title amounted to EUR 46 441 800 — some 3 % of total initial appropriations. A total of EUR 42 241 800 was transferred out and the amending budget diminished the appropriations on Chapter 10 5 ‘Provisional appropriation for buildings’ by EUR 4 000 000. The unused balance on Chapter 10 1 ‘Contingency reserve’ stood at EUR 200 000 — around 0,01 % of total final appropriations in 2010.

70.

Following the 2009 European elections, in 2010 the Parliament gradually resumed full activity during the year. It was a year of continued adaptation as concerns the improvement of working methods and modernisation, which go hand in hand with its political and legislative responsibilities, and the evaluation concerning a series of major multiannual initiatives launched during the past few years. Following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and its entry into force on 1 December 2009, necessary adaptations requiring budget expenditure had to be dealt with (compare information on amending budget in Part I of the report).

71.

The objectives listed below are based on the guidelines set by the Secretary General for 2009-2010 as well as the ones adopted by the Parliament in its resolutions:

72.

The Treaty extended the use of co-decision as the ordinary legislative procedure, which applies to about 95 % of the legislation. The Treaty had also important consequences for all cases where the consultation procedure has been replaced by the consent procedure, particularly with regard to the negotiation and conclusion of international agreements.

73.

Moreover, the Treaty of Lisbon implied additional technical follow-up from Parliament’s services: Citizens’ initiatives, compulsory consultation of the Committee of the Regions and of the Economic and Social Committee, greater responsibility of the European Central Bank, new role in the appointment of Judges and Advocates-General of the Court of Justice and the General Courts, new rights to be informed, etc.

74.

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has given new important prerogatives to the EP, in areas such as agriculture (Committee AGRI), fisheries (PECH), freedom, security and justice (LIBE), multilateral surveillance (ECON), and it has introduced important changes in the EU budgetary procedure (BUDG). New instruments are being put in place such as the Citizens’ initiative (AFCO), delegated and implementing acts (horizontal responsibility: JURI), the European External Action Service EEAS (with a role for AFCO on institutional aspects, JURI on staff regulations, CONT on financial regulation and BUDG on its budget). The procedures where the EP consent is required (mostly international agreements) has implied consultations of committees: e.g. TRAN, LIBE or PECH.

75.

The reinforcement of the role of national parliaments by the Lisbon Treaty had a direct effect on the working methods of Parliament, and in particular of parliamentary committees; the new mechanism of enhanced control of the principle of subsidiary (‘yellow’ and ‘orange’ card), the additional safeguard measures introduced by the Lisbon Treaty (‘emergency breaks’), or the necessary development of a pre- and post-legislative dialogue with national parliaments has an impact on the committees’ activities and workload.

76.

Many important legislative decisions have been started and prepared by the committees: from the rejection of the SWIFT data sharing agreement to the adoption of the 2011 budget, the Citizens’ initiative, the financial supervision package, the EEAS, economic governance, etc. The legislative activity is regaining pace swiftly, and many strategic non-legislative initiatives by the Commission put forward in 2010 may be followed by a high number of related legislative proposals in the next months, notably in the framework of the EU 2020 Strategy.

77.

For the first time following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the substantially revised EU budget procedure was implemented. Moreover, the Parliament assumed new responsibilities as regards the compulsory expenditures of the EU. Additionally, the EP started work on the alignment of the interinstitutional agreement on budgetary discipline and sound financial management to the requirements of the Treaty of Lisbon and looked forward to a fully-fledged mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework.

78.

The Treaty has important consequences in the field of external relations. Parliament enjoys new legislative, budgetary and control powers and a role to play in the nominations and relations with the Commission Vice-President and High Representative and his/her Special Representatives). For Parliament this affects in particular its bodies dealing with the common commercial policy and with the External Action Service.

79.

In the framework of the negotiations on the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EP obtained important concessions in terms of Parliament’s scrutiny and democratic ex-ante control of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Parliament obtained the right to be consulted, in a format suited to the confidentiality of the case, before the adoption by the Council of CFSP mandates or strategies. It also obtained the right for MEPs to have access to classified CFSP information on a need to know basis (first used for the negotiating mandate on the EU Libya Framework Agreement) and a commitment by the High Representative/Vice-President that she would initiate the process of renegotiating the Interinstitutional agreement on access to classified Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) information. The Committee on Foreign Affairs has also received the right to interview nominees for Head of Delegation or EU Special Representatives’ posts before they take up their duties. Four newly appointed Heads of EU Delegations have been interviewed so far in in-camera meetings. Finally, Parliament obtained much greater transparency in the CFSP budget given that from now on the ordinary procedure will apply and that the major CSDP missions will be clearly identified in separate items (as already done in the 2011 budget).

80.

With the Lisbon Treaty the EU's relations with European Economic Area (EEA) and its Member States have changed in quality, due to the now direct involvement of the EP in the negotiation of a significant number of agreements with the EEA and more than 100 bilateral agreements with Switzerland.

81.

As regards the EU enlargement, 32 Croatian contract staff was recruited. They were essentially assigned to the language services and services of other Directorates-General involved in preparations for enlargement. From mid-September the new Croatian Unit commenced work on the translation of key EP documents.

82.

Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the new responsibilities of the Parliament, the staffing levels of the parliamentary committee secretariat departments have been upgraded and will in future consist of 6 or 9 or 12 administrators depending on their legislative workload. Equally the staffing levels of the policy departments, the relations with national parliaments, the library, political groups’ secretariats as well as the envelope for Members’ assistants have been adapted. The amending budget increased the staff levels for the political groups by 75, for the committee secretariats by 70 and for relations with national parliaments by 5 posts. The secretariat allowance has been increased by EUR 1 500 per Member per month. Furthermore, to increase the efficiency the secretariats of delegations and inter-parliamentary assemblies have been grouped together in joint regional clusters allowing the colleagues to specialise in a region and to facilitate information exchange between connected bilateral delegations and multilateral assemblies.

83.

The provision of assistance to the President and Vice-Presidents has been improved through the preparation of part-session briefings by an inter-service task force involving the Directorate for the Plenary, the Directorate for Presidency Services, the Directorate for Legislative Acts and the Directorate for the Library.

84.

The provision of services for Members (analytical services and library briefings) grew significantly (+ 40 % compared with the corresponding period during the sixth parliamentary term): analytical services were consolidated, and information services expanded steadily. Analytical production increased in terms of both volume and number of products. New products were developed with a view to meeting Members’ needs more effectively. The service provided to library clients (not just MEPs) was improved by introducing a new electronic catalogue-management system (including for acquisitions), which is integrated into the website.

85.

The establishment of mechanisms for receiving and forwarding the opinions of national parliaments (the number of which is growing rapidly) has allowed better communication between parliaments in this area and faster, more flexible provision of information to the relevant parliamentary committees.

86.

The year 2010 was the first full year in which Parliament was responsible for implementing the new Statute for Members and the new Statute for Assistants. The Temporary Evaluation Group on Implementation of the Members’ and Assistants’ Statute (TEG), set up by the Bureau in 2009 and composed of four Vice-Presidents, the Quaestor in charge and the Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, continued its work in 2010 supported by Parliament’s services. The recommendations of the TEG have resulted in a set of modifications to the Implementing Measures for the Statutes of Members and Assistants adopted by the Bureau in its meetings in 2009 and 2010.

87.

The services prepared the IT applications required to implement the Statute as well as the adaptation of the necessary forms for Members and assistants and a wealth of information (various sets of Questions and Answers to be distributed to Members, information sheets for the intranet, etc.).

88.

Interpretation was provided for the European Parliament for 5 664 meetings including missions outside the three working places and IAP services. Furthermore interpretation was made available for 590 meetings for the European Commission, 69 meetings for the Committee of the Regions, 136 for the Court of Auditors including missions and 6 for the Translation Centre.

89.

The total of 1 721 191 pages was translated (1 033 176 of them internally, 381 804 externally and 306 211 for the verbatim report). The analysis of translation by category and its evolution since 2008 is shown below. The Parliament services coped successfully with translation demand despite the fact that the minimum deadlines for submission of documents for translation laid down in the Code of Conduct on Multilingualism were respected in only 35 % of cases.

Figure 10

Analysis of pages translated between 2008 and 2010

90.

Following the proposal of the Committee on ICT Innovation Strategy, the Bureau adopted the medium-term ICT strategy plan on 24 March 2010. This strategy is built on three pillars:

91.

ICT in the European Parliament needs to meet two objectives. The first objective is to establish and maintain sustainable and high quality service in the usage of ICT, for its institutional communication with the European citizens, for providing support to its Members and for the functioning of its administration. The second objective is to deliver ICT products for the political guidelines for ‘Making full use of the new Lisbon Treaty in view of empowering MEPs to exercise their mandate’ to ‘Enhancing mobile communication, connectivity, mobility and interoperability’ and ‘Strengthening the institutional communication with national Parliaments, European citizens and civil society’.

92.

In the framework of the strategy, the Knowledge Management System (KMS) aims to provide Members and the General Secretariat with a single search engine for legislative documents based on multilingual metadata which can be shared interinstitutionally (14). 2009 and 2010 were dedicated to the production of indexation process, functional specifications, completion of external websites and databases.

93.

As regards the new Data Centre in Brussels the design and the target architecture as well as migration plan were completed. As part of the e-Parliament project, a production of AT4AM (management of amendments) started. In the context of the project Paperless, proof of concepts for e-Meeting and e-Committees have been delivered. For the wireless network in the hemicycles in Brussels and Strasbourg light equipment was installed. Study and preparation of the implementation of Wi-Fi in all Member buildings has been completed. Furthermore, a new MEP ITEC Service Desk was launched to provide personalised help to Members.

94.

Concerning audiovisual website for professionals, a new, user-friendly online audiovisual platform was launched in December 2010. It already became the number one contact point for Parliament-produced broadcast quality video, audio and photo material, especially on thematic packages. The web streaming service has been extended to all parliamentary committees, press conferences and important institutional events. 13 simultaneous streaming are now available.

95.

Key improvements of Parliament’s web television included re-organising the content, higher speed programme transmission, visual enhancements and navigation across specific themes. At the same time, an increased integration of Europarltv programmes was realised through Parliament’s main website and Facebook pages. There were 9 858 549 unique visitors in 2010 and 255 922 828 pages were visited in total.

96.

In all activities organised by them, the EP Information Offices (EPIOs) reached around 6 million citizens directly and 60 million citizens indirectly. In particular, EPIOs organised 86 Citizen’s Fora, including 5 with cross border dimension. The fora proved to be a success tool to increase both qualitatively and quantitatively Parliament’s direct contacts with EU citizens. Furthermore, EPIOs organised successfully events celebrating International Women’s Day and Europe day, marking this year the 60th anniversary of Schuman Declaration. From the daily press reviews put together by the EPIOs, a total of about 100 features on the Europe Day celebrations were identified in the media of more than half the Member States. Altogether 26 events and campaigns were organised all over the world and they reached 100 552 participants inside the EP premises and thousands of participants outside the premises.

97.

For Sakharov Prize several diversified activities were organised by all EPIOs to promote Human Rights and Sakharov Prize. In 2010 the Prize was awarded to the Cuban Guillermo Farinas.

98.

In 2010 for the first time the Visitors Service welcomed more than 300 000 visitors. There were around 220 000 visitors in Brussels and about 80 000 during the plenary sessions in Strasbourg. In total these visitors represented around 7 900 groups. Around 28 400 were individual visitors most of whom followed the new multimedia-guided visit in Brussels. In Strasbourg, a total of 8 574 participants (secondary school students and teachers) took part in the monthly Euroscola events hosted by the Information Office.

99.

The highly complex project Visitor’s Centre enters its final phase. It is organised in 8 experience areas with a total of 36 different thematic media installations which will be accessible through more than 300 access points. The stationary exhibition contains more than 700 different stories or ‘things to see’ in the exhibition. Taking into account the media guide tour, the multimodal role-play game, specific content adaptations for children and disabled persons and the MEP wall clips, the overall number of ‘information units’ will exceed 4 500. Taking into account multilingualism, the number of individual ‘information units’ which need to be produced and place in the exhibition is situated in the range between 20 000 and 30 000 units. The thematic approach is multi-facetted ranging from political science and legislative matters to history and sociology. Contrary to traditional museum projects, which are based on an existing collection, the development and production of the exhibition content is integral part of the Visitors’ Centre project. This makes planning and procurement processes very complex.

100.

The project to establish a House of European History was initiated by the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering in 2007. The same year the Bureau decided to constitute a Committee of Experts to draw up a concept for the House of European History. According to the ‘Conceptual Basis’, one of the key objectives of the House of European History ‘is to enable Europeans of all generations to learn more about their own history and, by so doing, to contribute to a better understanding of the development of Europe, now and in the future’. Following the publication of the architectural competition, 26 valid expressions of interest were received. These expressions of interest were examined by an evaluation committee, which finished its work in January 2010. As a result of this examination, 12 candidates have been retained and are asked to prepare a preliminary design. In September 2010, an international jury has examined the projects.

101.

The medium-term property policy adopted by the Bureau decision of 24 March 2010 foresees the following objectives:

102.

At its meeting of 24 March 2010 the Bureau authorised the Vice-Presidents with responsibility for Parliament’s property policy and the Secretary-General to implement that medium-term policy and to submit any relevant proposal to the Bureau for a decision. In particular, it set as an objective the purchase of the buildings rented by Parliament in Brussels.

103.

In that connection, in 2010 the REMARD Building in Brussels was acquired and a project of purchase for the Europe House in Sofia has been prepared.

104.

In connection with the extension of the KAD Building in Luxembourg, the cost of the contract concluded for geothermal works was 30 % lower than projected. This welcome result is explained by a wide-ranging tendering procedure, in which firms from more than four different countries participated. The invitation to tender for the construction of the building was published in August 2010. The invitation to tender for funding the construction work was published in late December 2010.

105.

Work on the Budapest, Washington, London and The Hague information offices has been completed. The design contract for the Copenhagen office has been signed. The Bureau agreed to the opening of rental negotiations with the owners of the buildings in which the Helsinki and Wrocław offices are scheduled to be located. In Sofia, the Rakovsky Building was selected following a property search. A final decision on the matter is to be taken by the authorities by 31 March 2011.

106.

With a view to reducing carbon emissions, new framework contracts and addenda to existing contracts must stipulate that all official cars and commercial vehicles provided for Parliament’s use must comply with the Euro5 standard. Parliament's own vehicles are also being replaced. A new contract for Members’ transport in Strasbourg has also been implemented.

107.

Parliament has set up a ‘paying agent’ scheme with STIB in Brussels to promote the use of public transport (STIB buses, trams and underground trains). Under the contract, signed in October 2010, Parliament bears 50 % of the cost of annual season tickets purchased by its officials and other staff. This system has been in operation since late December 2010.

108.

A major environmental project entitled ‘Relighting’ in Brussels (to replace the bulbs in all offices with LED bulbs in order to generate energy savings) was also launched at the end of 2010.

109.

The major changes to the organisation chart and management of the EP are summarised in the table below:

Table 12

Summary of restructuring changes in the General Secretariat in 2010

110.

As regards other management improvements, accrual based accounting has been introduced in the Parliament. The implementation of the IT support for these modifications has put up speed in the end of 2010. Work Packages 1 (Initialisation of balances suppliers/service providers) and 2 (Incoming invoices and suppliers/service providers) have been put fully into production. For work package 3 (outgoing invoices and debtors’ ledger) the part which relates to business requirements, accounting entries, reports was finished.

111.

The new application ‘Web Contracts’ for the financial and administrative management of procurement procedures (AWP key project 100.c) started its pilot phase in 2010 with strong participation of almost all DGs.

112.

Last but not least, a thorough monitoring has been introduced as regards the Administrative Work Programme 2009-2011 of all Directorates-General. The Administrative Work Programme is a management tool and, as such, reflects what has been achieved by each DG and the Legal Service over the work period. All DGs report regularly on the progress of their key projects.