annual activity report 2010 - europarl.europa.eu

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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR PERSONNEL

ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2010

AUTHORISING OFFICER BY DELEGATION:

Mr Yves Quitin

DG PERS - Annual Activity Report for 2010

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1. OBJECTIVES

1.1. Directorate-General’s objectives DG Personnel’s objectives for 2010, which are based on the administrative work programme forwarded by the Secretary-General, are as follows:

1. Ensuring harmonious management, in the broadest sense of the term, of the Secretariat's human resources, with a view to providing Members with all the assistance they require in the performance of their duties. In accordance with the principles of equal opportunities and diversity, such management is to be carried out in close cooperation with the directorates-general and the other entities within the Secretariat and in such a way as to provide a personalised service to individual staff members.

2. Ensuring that the available human resources are commensurate with

Parliament’s needs by continually analysing the situation and taking a proactive and forward-looking approach (identification of needs, selection, recruitment, training, development, communication).

3. Ensuring that administrative management is effective and is geared to the needs

of ‘corporate clients’ (directorates-general and other entities) and of individual staff members, in keeping with the rules and the budget resources available

4. Implementing a person-centred human resources management policy

1.2. Assessment of feasibility and likely risks

The specific risks attached to each objective are: Objective 1: Ensuring harmonious management, in the broadest sense of the term, of the Secretariat's human resources, with a view to providing Members with all the assistance they require in the performance of their duties. In accordance with the principles of equal opportunities and diversity, such management is to be carried out in close cooperation with the directorates-general and the other entities within the Secretariat and in such a way as to provide a personalised service to individual staff members.

The risks attached to ‘harmonious management’ stem from the ever-increasing complexity of the rules that the DG is called upon to implement or comply with. For instance, the introduction of separate arrangements for accredited parliamentary assistants has resulted in DG PERS having to administer a fourth category of staff (in addition to officials, temporary staff and contract staff) with its own specific requirements. The DG is therefore having to deal with an ever-larger staff complement (6285 posts and some 1500 parliamentary assistants in 2010). At the same time, human resources management requires optimum coordination between human and budget resources and the rules laid down and can be disrupted and/or slowed down by unforeseen events, planning problems and the introduction of new tasks.


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Objective 2: Ensuring that the available human resources are commensurate with Parliament’s needs by continually analysing the situation and taking a proactive and forward-looking approach (identification of needs, selection, recruitment, training, development, communication). The risks attached to this objective are relatively minor, given that the relevant procedures (selection, recruitment, training, etc.) form part of DG PERS’s core activities, in which it has long and extensive experience. However, difficulties arising when attempting to recruit people with specific skill profiles, in particular for technical or specialist posts, or when there is a shortage of suitable candidates for certain types of jobs (for example, interpreter posts), can hamper the achievement of this objective. Objective 3: Ensuring that administrative management is effective and is geared to the needs of ‘corporate clients’ (directorates-general and other entities) and of individual staff members, in keeping with the rules and the budget resources available. Here, the main risks lie in identifying the expectations of client entities. DG PERS relies on both formal and informal communication channels in meeting other DGs’ expectations. Managing information is crucial, both as regards quality and as regards observing Parliament's command structure. Furthermore, the expectations of the various DGs do not always dovetail with one another and indeed sometimes clash, which can make DG PERS’s role as a 'referee' harder to perform. In this connection, DG PERS also acts as the guardian of the Staff Regulations and the internal rules, and as a result is obliged to reject some requests made by DGs. Lastly, in 2010 the DG was obliged to work within the confines of severe budgetary constraints on Parliament’s main items of expenditure (staff, parliamentary assistance, etc.). Objective 4: Implementing a person-centred human resources management policy The risks attached to this objective are mainly rule-related. It is extremely difficult for any administrative rules to take proper account of specific personal circumstances, despite the best efforts of the people who draft or apply those rules. It is also difficult for any organisation to detect when someone is running into problems and to take swift and effective action. Lastly, it is difficult to strike a balance between the duty of care which underpins the institution's welfare activities and the need to respect the privacy and wishes of individual staff members.

2. ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS AND SHORTCOMINGS IDENTIFIED

2.1. Environment within the directorate-general

The main factors which current have a bearing on the administrative and operational environment within the DG are:

the preparations for the likely enlargement of the Union to include Croatia, the implications of the 2010 amending budget, the continuation of efforts to implement a new staff training policy, following up action plans in response to recommendations made by internal and

external auditors, the impact of the reorganisation of the DG as from 1 January 2010, the continuation of work relating to the deployment of Streamline,


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the tightening up of the DG’s internal control procedures.

2.2. 2010 budget outturn

2.2.1. Final appropriations and initial appropriations As at 31 December 2010 (year-end), the DG’s final appropriations totalled €694 820 473, up by €28 615 164 on the initial appropriations. This increase stemmed mainly from expenditure on staff, and breaks down as follows: Additional appropriations against Item 1200 (Remuneration and allowances):

o impact of the amending budget: + 4.565.164€, o transfers totalling €16 800 000 to cover the 1.85% salary increase

payable in respect of 2009 and the salary adjustment for 2010. Additional appropriations against Item 1400 (Other staff):

o transfers totalling €4 350 000 to cover the recruitment of Croatian contract staff members for the period until the end of 2010 and to top up the appropriations earmarked for contract staff in Parliament's Secretariat and the political groups.

Final appropriations were up by 14.51% on 2009 (when they stood at €606 793 830).

2.2.2. Final appropriations and appropriations committed Item 1200 (Remuneration and allowances) At year-end total payments stood at €525 864 796.40, as against total commitments of €529 744 960.95. A transfer of €6.2 million was made in June 2010. The appropriations against this item were topped up in response to the rate of utilisation against this item and the need to cover specific items that had been budgeted for (annual travel costs, 2010 promotions, annual end-of-year pay adjustment and the 2010 SAB). An additional €10.6 million was transferred in late in the year. This new transfer was made in order to enter sufficient appropriations against the items concerning Members' salaries and staff remuneration and allowances to cover the impact of any decision the Council might make before the end of the year that would require back payments to be made1. The Council adopted a new regulation before the end of December 2010 and, thanks to the transfer, the back payment could be made before the end of the financial year.

1 In December 2009, in its annual decision on salary adjustments pursuant to Articles 64 and 65 of, and Annex XI to, the Staff Regulations, the Council decided on an increase of only 1.85% from 1 July 2009, although the Commission had proposed an increase of 3.7% based on the ‘method’ contained in Annex XI to the Staff Regulations. Following the Council decision, the Commission appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-40/10, Commission v Council, concerning the 2009 salary adjustment. Since the Court's judgment, which was handed down on 24 November 2010, quashed Council Regulation No 1296/2009, the Council to adopted a new regulation in late December 2010. The portion of the salary adjustment that had initially been rejected (1.85%) therefore needed to be paid retroactively for the period from July 2009 to December 2010.


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At year-end available appropriations stood at a little less than €4.5 million (0.83% of final appropriations). Average monthly payments since the start of the financial year stood at €42.7 million, or €41.5 million excluding exceptional items (travel expenses and promotions). Item 1202 (Paid overtime) At year-end 75% of appropriations had been committed and payments had been made against only 44% of initial appropriations. This was due mainly to the small number of overtime payment claims made by the DGs, in particular DG PRES, DG TRAD and DG IPOL. Overall, the DGs used only 74% of the overall amount earmarked for paid overtime. Thirty per cent of the initial appropriations against this item were carried over to 2011. Item 1204 (Entitlements in connection with entering the service, transfer and leaving the service) Expenditure as at the date of this report stood at some €2 540 900.82 (51% of initial appropriations). That utilisation rate must be viewed in the light of the fact that carryovers were also used, making it difficult to estimate the figure for the year as a whole. It does, however, show once again how difficult it is, when drawing up the budget, to assess likely expenditure against this item, which varies greatly from one year to the next and depends on a wide range of disparate factors which are hard to model. Article 122 (Allowances for staff retired in the interests of the service – Articles 41 and 50 of the Staff Regulations – and Allowances for staff whose service is terminated and special retirement scheme for officials and temporary staff) Payments totalling €2 763 285.19 (86% of initial appropriations) were made against this item. 86.5% of the initial appropriations were committed. Item 1400 (Other staff) This item mainly covers the remuneration and allowances of contract staff members employed in the Secretariat or the political groups, as well as services provided by temporary staff agencies at the Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg sites. As stated above, two transfers of appropriations covering a total of €4.35 million were made to this item. The two transfers were intended to provide cover for the growing demand for services in response to Bureau decisions or projects coming under the administrative work programme initiated by the Secretary-General which had not been allowed for when the budget was drawn up, as well as recruitment of the first Croatian contract staff members. At year-end the rate of utilisation of appropriations stood at close to 98%. Total payments stood at €25 212 376.41 (89.5% of final appropriations).


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The volume of appropriations available at the end of the financial year was due to the major cut made to the annual pay adjustment and the fact that a margin is required in order to cover various expenditure items (crèche staff, pay for contract staff covered by the political groups) in respect of which reimbursements against this line are not normally made until the very end of the financial year. Item 1404 (Graduate traineeships, grants and exchanges of officials) During the course of the financial year, a transfer was made between Sub-Items 1404-01 (Graduate trainees) and 1404-03-01 (Secondment of national experts) in response to requests from directorates-general to take in a larger number of trainees for the year’s second round of recruitments. By year-end 99.85% of final appropriations had been committed and payments stood at €2 378 980 (95% of initial appropriations). The uptake of appropriations against Sub-Item 1404-03-01 (Secondment of national experts) was close to ideal, with €1 630 431.73 of a total of €1.65 million being used, making for a utilisation rate of almost 99%. Against Sub-Item 1404-03-02 (EP resources for national and international bodies) €94 644.32 was paid out of total appropriations of €155 000, making for a 61% utilisation rate. Item 1610 (Expenditure on recruitment) All the appropriations for the financial year were committed. The low level of expenditure (payments totalled only €148 408.75, as against €600 000 committed) was due mainly to a time lag between the provision and invoicing of services and to lower spending on certain items, such as invitations to successful candidates concerning vacant posts and the recruitment of Croatian contract staff members. €200 000 was carried over to 2011. Item 1612 (Further training) At year-end 99% of final appropriations had been committed. Payments stood at €2 230 866.18 (61% of commitments). The main reason for this lies in the fact that there is often a time lag between the implementation and invoicing of training measures. A transfer of €100 000 was made at the Secretary-General’s request in order to give DG IPOL its own budget to cover specific measures. Article 163 (Measures to assist the institution's staff) The uptake of appropriations against this article was in line with the budgets adopted. Close to 94% of the initial appropriations had been committed by year-end.


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Item 1650 (Medical service) By year-end, 64% of the initial appropriations (94% of final appropriations) had been committed and payments totalled €622 970 (72% of final appropriations). Despite the fact that, when the 2010 budget was drawn up, costs were expected to be higher owing to the introduction of the special arrangements for accredited parliamentary assistants, the level of payments was in fact down over the year. This was due mainly to lower spending on equipment purchases and lower annual medical check-up costs. The latter was due to priority being given to pre-recruitment medical examinations for parliamentary assistants, which meant that the Medical Service had less time to carry out annual medicals for existing staff. As a result €400 000 from this item was included in transfer made to Item 1200 at the end of the year. Item 1654 (Early childhood centre and approved day nurseries) By year-end 92% of appropriations against this item had been committed and payments stood at €4 577 656.12 (close to 82% of the total). Sub-Items 2100-04 and 2102-07 (Streamline) By year-end more than 99% of appropriations had been committed. Payments stood at 54% of appropriations. Item 3000 (Staff mission expenses) More than 85% of the appropriations against this item had been committed by the time this report was written. Payments stood at €20 735 513.7 (74%). Sub-Item 4220-02 (Accredited assistants – Staff Regulations) This item, which was created following the establishment of the accredited parliamentary assistants category, covers staff pay (sub-item 01) and mission expenses (sub-item 02). The average monthly remuneration paid since the beginning of the financial year stood at a little less than €6.2 million and was in line with the projections made when the budget was drawn up. However, the volume of initial appropriations was not large enough to cover all pay in 2010, and DG PERS therefore submitted a request for the transfer of an additional €10 million from Item 4220 (Parliamentary assistance). No specific remarks need to be made about sub-item 02, against which 96% of appropriations were committed and payments totalled €4 989 677 (90% of final appropriations). At year-end the average commitment rate for all of the appropriations allocated to DG PERS stood at 99.12%. Over the year, payments were made against 97.8% of the commitments entered into and accounted for 97% of final appropriations. A total of €7 507 303 was carried over to 2011.


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2.2.3. Appropriations committed and payments made Where appropriate, the main disparities between appropriations committed and payments made were discussed in section 2.3.2 above.

2.2.4. Utilisation of appropriations carried over from 2009 to 2010 The table shown below give the percentage utilisation rates for appropriations carried over to 2010.

Budget line Appropriations carried over to 2010 Utilisation rate (%)

1202 67.200 100,00 1204 574.021 100,00

01404-01 215.976 74,55 1610 475.562 22,76 1612 1.318.143 93,97 1613 117.864 98,92

01630-01 86.965 20,77 01630-02 23.000 100 01630-03 27.877 69,21 01630-04 25.019 95,38

01631 9.141 100 01632-01 114.886 89,66

1650 246.697 68,19 01654-01 500.202 66,44 01654-02 70.561 0,00 01654-03 3.097 55,60 01654-04 279.839 93,06 02100 04 630.398 100 02102-07 216.571 72.21 03000-01 2.734.536 97,05 03000-02 874.794 80,44 03220-06 775 100

TOTAL 8.613.130 85,57 Although the appropriations were carried over on the basis of underlying legal commitments, a small proportion of them were not used, chiefly as a result of differences in interinstitutional rules, inadmissible invoices or a failure to submit invoices2.

2.2.5. Utilisation of appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue As required under the Financial Regulation, available appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue were used as a matter of priority. At year-end, the rate of utilisation of assigned revenue stood at 65.89%. This relatively low rate stemmed principally from the specific conditions relating to the utilisation of assigned revenue for the Luxembourg crèche.

2 Special attention is being paid to Item 1610, with a view to identifying the appropriations to be carried over to 2011.


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2.3. Performance indicators The objectives set by DG Personnel have very little impact on the utilisation of appropriations. The implementation rate is chiefly determined by:

Parliament’s establishment plan (list of posts), as adopted by the budgetary authority,

the rules and regulations in force, more particularly the Staff Regulations and the

Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. However, the following indicators give an insight into the work of the directorate-general.

Indicator 2009 2010 Budget

item No of posts published 613 731 1200 No of officials recruited for the Secretariat 285 301 1200

No of temporary staff recruited for the political groups 22 149 1200

No of accredited parliamentary assistants recruited 1374 425 4224

No of participants in language courses 5511 7504 1612 No of participants in external language courses 265 392 1612

No of participants in IT courses 1771 733 1612 No of participants in financial training courses 737 998 1612

No of participants in EAS-MTP-CU courses 97 85 1612

No of participants in internal non-language courses 5263 6853 1612

No of participants in external non-language courses 225 198 1612

No of missions 35580 44.860 3000 and

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2.4. Results achieved The results are presented with reference to DG Personnel’s objectives: 1) Ensuring harmonious management, in the broadest sense of the term, of the

Secretariat's human resources, with a view to providing Members with all the assistance they require in the performance of their duties. In accordance with the principles of equal opportunities and diversity, such management is to be carried out in close cooperation with the directorates-general and the other entities within the Secretariat and in such a way as to provide a personalised service to individual staff members.


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This objective concerns DG PERS’s core activity. It is difficult to assess, by reference to the rules themselves, the degree to which it has been met. What can be highlighted, however, is the small number of complaints received about personnel management in general, as opposed to complaints about specific, personal issues.

Equal opportunities is an essential component of the policy conducted by the DG, as embodied in Project 53 (Action plan for the promotion of gender equality and diversity in the Secretariat). That project is now in its third planning phase.

2) Ensuring that the available human resources are commensurate with Parliament’s needs by continually analysing the situation and taking a proactive and forward-looking approach (identification of needs, selection, recruitment, training, development, communication).

The DG is involved in a large number of projects relating to this objective:

Project 49 - Identifying and encouraging talented colleagues

DG PERS has conducted a review of the current state of play and is finalising arrangements for workshops at which the DGs will be represented.

Project 56 - Targeted selection via the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)

The methodology has been laid down and the project team is in the process of analysing the current situation. The progress that has already been made in this area has resulted in better planning of competitions and selection procedures and better-targeted candidate profiles.

Given its responsibility for staff management, DG PERS maintains close contacts with the Secretary-General's Office and all of the directorates-general, in order to ensure that all departmental restructuring and expansion within the Administration is properly implemented and resourced.

Lastly, DG PERS continued with the preparations for the possible accession of Croatia, initiating a first round of Croatian contract staff recruitments.

3) Ensuring that administrative management is effective and is geared to the needs of ‘corporate clients’ (directorates-general and other entities) and of individual staff members, in keeping with the rules and the budget resources available

With regard to this objective, attention should be drawn to the latest developments in the Streamline IT project, such as the automation of various processes (including the leave procedure) and the increased use made of the HR management module, which gives the DGs access to some of DG PERS’s on-screen functions and management processes. Lastly, the sending of an electronic form to all staff, enabling them to check their own administrative and personal details using the web application, drastically reduced the amount of paper needing to be processed and at the same time substantially improved internal controls on individual entitlements.


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During the year DG PERS held a number of human resources seminars (‘Departmental overview’ in January and ‘Reinstatements’ in April), MMAP programme workshops (‘Departmental overview’, ‘Contract staff’, ‘Remedial and disciplinary procedures’, ‘Choosing the right person’, ‘Feedback’) and briefings on specific topics (missions, the introduction of new Streamline modules, etc.).

Lastly, as regards organisational matters, mention should be made of the DG's role in implementing the restructuring measures, in particular the setting up of resources directorates with a view to ensuring a more professional approach to resources management in the ‘political’ DGs (DG Presidency, DG for Internal Policies, DG for External Polices and DG for Communication).

4) Implementing a person-centred human resources management policy

DG PERS is involved in a number of projects coming under the administrative work programme in this area too, namely:

Project 42 - A person-centred resource management system

Project 53 - Action plan for the promotion of gender equality and diversity in the Secretariat (2009-2013)

Project 60 - Pilot projects for improving working conditions

Substantial progress was made with projects 42 and 60, with the stakeholder consultation phase being completed for both.

As regards organisational matters, Directorate C – Directorate for Management of Support and Social Services was set up in order to bring all the main social policy staff and managers together under one roof, raise the profile of the work carried out in this area within Parliament and enhance inter-departmental cooperation.

3. EVALUATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL CONTROL

General remarks As was the case with 2009, 2010 may be regarded as a year in which the measures to strengthen internal control within DG PERS were consolidated. The DG continued with its efforts to improve its management tools (chiefly IT tools) and thus to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness. This included : developing an interface between the pensions databases and the Streamline

system, developing pensions management tools, improving the MISS system, computerising lending library operations, consolidating Luxembourg crèche management tools.

Only one internal audit report was forwarded to DG Personnel in 2010, namely the report entitled Follow-up of the two audits of the individual entitlements of staff: ‘Evaluation of the control environment and control activities’ (IA Report No 07/06 of December 2007 and ‘Substantive testing of specific risk areas’ (IA report No 08/09 of 14 November), on which DG PERS submitted its comments in late September 2010. In response to those comments, the Internal Auditor submitted a new version of the report


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on 25 November 2010. Although the report is not yet final, it states that DG PERS has made substantial progress as regards the management of individual entitlements, while pointing out that governance and the control environment can still be improved3. As was the case last year, DG PERS continued with the efforts being made in the units involved in financial management and responsible for managing substantial budgets to separate more clearly duties in the areas of financial management, ex-post checks and the training of financial managers. For example, following the setting up of Directorate C, management of all of the directorate’s financial operations was centralised in the Social Services Unit. Three types of specific checks were made on the DG’s main expenditure items, namely pay and allowances (which, for the four main staff categories, accounted for close to 92% of final appropriations). These were: systematic review of all new recruitments and changes of status review of the recruitment of 1573 accredited parliamentary assistants (as at 10

May 2010) review of dependent child allowances paid (2101 children)

A more detailed account of the above reviews is given in Annex 6 to this report. The reviews have entailed a very heavy workload for DG PERS and will continue into 2011. Review of minimum internal control standards The findings of the self-assessment of the implementation of minimum control standards are given in Annex 8.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The budgetary and human resources available are largely consistent with the initial requests and are therefore adequate. The internal control system, which has been steadily improved in the light of the practical experience gained and the work of the Internal Auditor, guarantees the proper budgetary implementation of operations. Furthermore, throughout the year the DG continued with its efforts to improve its internal control environment (checks on documents in personal files, introduction of new procedures for derogations and exceptions in operational areas). The internal control framework would thus appear to be adequate and able to detect any problems or shortcomings.

3 The outcome of this follow-up shows that, whereas DG Personnel has made considerable progress in addressing specific risk areas identified in the two original audits, there remains significant scope for improving its governance processes, control environment and control activities in the area of individual entitlements.


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5. DECLARATION BY THE AUTHORISING OFFICER BY DELEGATION

I, the undersigned, Yves QUITIN Director-General of the Directorate-General for Personnel, hereby declare in my capacity as authorising officer by delegation that the information contained in this report is true. I can state with reasonable assurance that the resources allocated to the activities described in this report have been used to the intended ends and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, and that the control procedures put in place provide the necessary guarantees as to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. This reasonable assurance is based on my own judgement and on the information at my disposal, such as, for example, the results of self-assessment, ex-post controls and remarks by the Internal Audit Service, as well as information derived from the reports of the Court of Auditors on financial years preceding that in which this declaration is made. I also confirm that I am not aware of any fact not set down herein that could be prejudicial to the interests of the institution. Done at Luxembourg,

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6. ANNEXES

6.1. Overviews of budget implementation in 2009 - Financial data

6.1.1. Current appropriations 6.1.2. Automatic carryovers 6.1.3. Appropriations from assigned revenue 6.1.4. Carryovers from assigned revenue 6.1.5. Revenue

6.2. Report on compliance with payment deadlines

6.3. List of exceptions (derogations from the rules)

6.4. Long-term contractual obligations

6.5. Exceptional negotiated procedures

6.6. Results of ex-post evaluations

6.7. Sensitive posts

6.8. Evaluation of the implementation of the minimum internal control standards

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