The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012(1), and in particular Article 39 thereof,

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027(2), and to the joint declarations agreed between Parliament, the Council and the Commission in this context(3), as well as to the related unilateral declarations(4),

–  having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources(5),

–  having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union(6),

–  having regard to its resolution of 14 May 2020 on Parliament's estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2021(7),

–  having regard to its resolution of 12 November 2020 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021(8),

–  having regard to its resolution of 18 December 2020 on the Council position on the second draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021(9),

–  having regard to its resolution of 26 October 2017 on combatting sexual harassment and abuse in the EU(10),

–  having regard to its resolution of 11 September 2018 on measures to prevent and combat mobbing and sexual harassment at the workplace, in public spaces, and in political life in the EU(11),

–  having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2019 on gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament(12),

–  having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled “A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025” (COM(2020)0152),

–  having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Green Deal (COM(2019)0640), in particular its paragraph 2.1.4 on “Building and renovating in an energy and resource efficient way”,

–  having regard to the EMAS Mid-Term Strategy 2024 adopted by the Steering Committee for Environmental Management Brussels on 15 December 2020,

–  having regard to the study: The European Parliament’s carbon footprint - Towards carbon neutrality(13),

–  having regard to the Special Report No 14/2014 of the European Court of Auditors: How do the EU institutions and bodies calculate, reduce and offset their greenhouse gas emissions?(14),

–  having regard to the additionality requirements in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (Renewable Energy Directive), in particular its Recital 90 and Article 27,

–  having regard to its resolution of 17 September 2020 on maximising the energy efficiency potential of the EU building stock(15),

–  having regard to Energy Performance of Buildings Directive(16) and the Energy Efficiency Directive(17),

–  having regard to Statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the exemplary role of their buildings in the context of the Energy Efficiency Directive(18);

–  having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future (COM(2020)0789), in particular its paragraph 9 on collective travel,

–  having regard to the Secretary-General's report to the Bureau on drawing up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates for the financial year 2022,

–  having regard to the preliminary draft estimates drawn up by the Bureau on 8 March 2021 pursuant to Rules 25(7) and 102(1) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the draft estimates drawn up by the Committee on Budgets pursuant to Rule 102(2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to Rule 102 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0145/2021),

A.  whereas the continued increase of the importance of Parliament as a co-legislator, one arm of the budgetary authority, with powers of scrutiny and a promoter of European democracy, including in the context of the European response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to the Joint declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary scrutiny of new proposals based on Article 122 TFEU with potential appreciable implications for the Union budget(19), has highlighted the continued need to equip the Parliament with appropriate legislative know-how and financial resources to ensure the quality of legislative and scrutiny work and to communicate on its results; whereas the credibility of Parliament and its Members in the eyes of European citizens depends on Parliament’s own ability to plan and conduct its spending prudently and efficiently and in a justified manner in order to reflect the prevalent economic realities;

B.  whereas the Commission estimates in its winter forecast that GDP shrunk by 6,9 % in 2020 and predicts that it will not recover to the level of 2019 before 2023; whereas the estimates adopted by Parliament represented an increase of 2,68 % for 2020 and an increase of 2,54 % for 2021;

C.  whereas the budget proposed by the Secretary-General for Parliament’s preliminary draft estimates for 2022 represents an increase of 3,31 %, well above the rate of inflation;

D.  whereas Parliament saw an overall cut of 6 % in its staff during the period of the previous MFF, which was sustained mainly by its administration, while at the same time, since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, Parliament has been dealing with an increased number of legislative files as co-legislator and has increasing activities linked to Next Generation EU; whereas it is highly concerned about the unsustainable workload for many specialised committee secretariats and political groups;

E.  whereas the European Green Deal aims to achieve its ambitious climate targets without compensation (offsetting) of its greenhouse gas emissions through international credits;

F.  whereas a decision on the future of the Paul-Henri Spaak building is expected to be taken most likely in 2021 based on the outcome of a competition by the Bureau, meaning a significant spending increase in a crisis context; and whereas the Spaak building should meet the highest environmental and safety standards;

G.  whereas the voluntary pension fund was established in 1990 by the Bureau's Rules governing the additional (voluntary) pension scheme(20); whereas, at its meeting of 10 December 2018, the Bureau decided to modify the rules applicable to the pension fund by raising the retirement age from 63 to 65 and by introducing a 5 % levy on pension payments for future retirees to improve the viability of such payments; whereas it is estimated those changes to the rules reduced the actuarial deficit by EUR 13,3 million;

General framework

1.  Recalls that the largest part of Parliament’s budget is fixed by statutory or contractual obligations; notes that 55 % of the budget is subject to salary indexation in line with the Staff Regulations and Statute for Members of the European Parliament; recalls that the salary indexation currently forecasted by the Commission for July 2021 and 2022 amounts to 2,9 % and 2,5 % respectively accounting for a EUR 31,9 million increase in 2022;

2.  Endorses the agreement reached in the Conciliation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets on 14 April 2021 to set the increase of the 2021 budget at 2,4 %, corresponding to an overall level of estimates of EUR 2 112 904 198 for 2022, to decrease the level of expenditure of the preliminary draft estimates approved by the Bureau on 8 March 2021 by EUR 18,85 million and to reduce accordingly the appropriations proposed on the following budget lines:

1004 01 - Ordinary travel expenses: sessions, committees or their delegations, political groups and miscellaneous; 1405 01 - Expenditure on interpretation: external interpretation; 2007 01 - Construction of buildings and fitting-out of premises; 2022 - Building maintenance, upkeep, operation and cleaning; 2024 – Energy consumption; 2120 01: Furniture: purchase, rental, renewal, maintenance and repair of furniture; 2140: Technical equipment and installations; 3000 - Expenses for staff missions and duty travel between the three places of work; 3040 - Miscellaneous expenditure on internal meetings; 3042 - Meetings, congresses, conferences and delegations; 3210 09: Expenditure on European parliamentary research services, including the Library, the Historical Archives, scientific and technological options assessment (STOA) and the European Science Media Hub: expenditure for the European Science Media Hub; 3243 01: European Parliament visitors' centres: Parlamentarium and "Europa Experience"; 3244 01: Organisation and reception of groups of visitors, Euroscola programme and invitations to opinion multipliers from third countries: reception costs and subsidies for visitors' groups; 4220 02: Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance: salaries and allowances of accredited assistants – Statute for Members; 4220 04: Expenditure relating to parliamentary assistance: expenses for missions and duty travel between the three places of work and external training of accredited assistants – Statute for Members;

3.  Strongly supports an increase of 76 posts for the political groups and of 66 posts in the committee secretariats to accommodate proportionately the enhanced workload and implement the Union’s policies; in parallel, calls on the Bureau to make use of possible synergies in order to increase efficiency within the administration, and to analyse how digitization and new ways of working help streamline the directorates and allow for transfer of posts towards the committee secretariats; calls on the Bureau to also examine the adequacy of the Members’ parliamentary assistance allowance in light of the growing workload of Members and their staff;

4.  Stresses that Parliament’s 2022 budget must be realistic and accurate to avoid over-budgeting; takes note of the ongoing practice of the year-end ‘mopping-up transfer’ to contribute to building projects; notes that such ‘mopping-up transfer’ takes place systematically on the same chapters, titles and often on exactly the same budgetary lines; considers that such a practice risks being perceived as a programmed over-budgeting; asks that, prior to the next ‘mopping-up transfer’, a reflection be launched on the financing of key investments based on transparency;

Greening the Parliament

5.  Stresses that Parliament needs to be at the forefront of adopting more digital, flexible and energy-efficient working methods and meeting practices, learning from the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and capitalising on the technology investments already implemented; calls, in this context, for a comprehensive and ambitious review of how Members, staff and officials conduct their parliamentary work; considers that such a review should have as its main focus the effective and good functioning of the institution and should also assess the effect of remote and hybrid settings on meeting quality, while avoiding excessively generalising measures meant to cope with exceptional circumstances;

6.  Welcomes the Parliament’s environmental management system (EMAS) targets for 2024; recalls that the EMAS Mid-term strategy 2024 includes a review clause to increase environmental ambition on the basis of the performance observed; calls on the Parliament to re-evaluate its EMAS targets in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and to reassess upwards the targets adopted in 2019 for the key performance indicators; reiterates its call to amend its current CO2 reduction plan for reaching carbon neutrality by 2030, using an internal carbon price;

7.  Recognises that nearly two thirds of Parliament's carbon footprint originate from the transportation of people; calls for a reasonable decrease of travel for meetings that can be effectively conducted remotely or in hybrid mode and to promote a shift to low carbon alternatives for all remaining travel, provided that this does not affect the quality of legislative and political work;

8.  Calls for the expansion of voluntary teleworking to more days and functions; calls for a preference to be given to hybrid meetings or fully remote meetings when they do not involve political decision making, such as hearings and exchanges of views or internal and preparatory meetings, while acknowledging that physical presence is more efficient for political negotiations, including for the provision of interpretation and for remote interpretation whenever needed; calls upon the Secretary-General to establish, following COVID-19 business continuity measures, a new flexible framework for the provision of remote interpretation for the post-COVID era; notes that excessive time spent with digital tools may have negative effects on some persons' well-being; calls for a revision of mission rules by the end of 2022 to ensure a proper needs-based approval, a specific justification for the authorisation of all missions, requirements for low carbon transport modes without hindering Members in the fulfilment of their mandate and the exclusion of the most harmful modes of transport with the exception of extreme cases where alternative transport modes for long journeys or towards areas that are difficult to access would disrupt the balance between the environmental target and the efficiency of parliamentary work; expects fully remote preparatory meetings and post-mission debriefings for all official delegation visits as a condition for authorisation, and the limiting of authorisation of delegations to only those persons who are entitled to participate in such delegations from 2022; calls for the Bureau to ensure that extraordinary committee meetings in Strasbourg are strictly limited to exceptional circumstances and that they are required to be duly justified before they are approved in each individual case;

9.  Encourages Members to use low carbon transport alternatives; reiterates its call to revise the implementing measures of the Statute for Members so as to allow reimbursement of flexible economy airline tickets when travelling within the Union, exempting flights to and from outermost regions and flights with one stop-over or more or longer than four hours of duration; takes note that travel for some Members from their constituencies to the places of work of Parliament requires long journeys and can only be undertaken by plane;

10.  Calls for improvement of bike, cargo bike, e-bike and e-scooter infrastructure on Parliament’s premises, in particular through the installation of easy-to-use and secure parking and bicycle repair stations; calls for the Parliament to closely collaborate with the relevant local authorities and in particular, the Brussels Region in its efforts to be a frontrunner in sustainable urban mobility by taking a proactive role in the implementation of the GoodMove Plan; calls for the expansion of the service bike scheme within Parliament; calls for specific measures to encourage active mobility among Parliament’s staff, including specific training activities concerning safe commuting, maintenance and repair; calls for a cargo bike pilot scheme for certain logistical processes within Parliament and between Union institution buildings;

11.  Encourages Parliament’s staff to use public transport and calls for a system combining subsidised public transport passes for staff, excluding entitlement to a second parking vignette, by 2022; expects official cars to be used to transport Members and staff and APAs with mission orders between Brussels and Strasbourg; calls for an appropriate increase in the number of car parking spaces reserved exclusively for electric vehicles and an overview of the overall number of parking spaces in line with the applicable legislation at the three places of work;

12.  Expects all visitors groups to be informed by the Parliament services about the environmental impact of their transport and that a system of incentive reimbursement of travel costs based on environmental impact is established in 2022; requests the Bureau to start the revision process of the rules related to visitors groups in line with Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future (COM(2020)0789), in particular paragraph 9 of that Communication, on collective travel, and to adapt the travel costs for visitors groups to changing market prices and to allow for modifications in order to avoid market fluctuation of travel expenses creating indirect geographical discrimination for visitors;

13.  Calls upon the Administration to monitor the continued energy cost increases forecast for 2022 and to explore cost savings and consumption efficiencies; calls for a halt to upgrading of fossil fuel heating installations and for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels with specific milestones to be adopted in 2022 to avoid stranded assets and for an analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of using heat pump systems and other relevant technologies in line with EMAS objectives; calls on Parliament to further increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix and in particular energy production and expects the installation of state of the art rooftop photovoltaic panels to match the maximum potential for such panels in Brussels by 2023; calls in parallel for the gradual replacement of Guarantees of Origin procurement with local renewable energy sources;

14.  Expects the Parliament’s services to continue to reduce paper consumption by moving to a paperless, collective and online environment for all meetings, as well as by further implementing e-signature modalities; reiterates its request that an analysis of alternatives to trunks be carried out, in line with the EMAS target for a "paperless" Parliament as soon as possible;

15.  Expects the Energy Efficiency First and the Circular Economy principles to be applied to all investments, including digital investments and management decisions; calls for full implementation of Parliament's waste management strategy in line with the waste hierarchy principles, particularly when it comes to the sustainable and circular approach to managing construction waste; calls for full implementation of measures to make Parliament single-use plastic free;

16.  Recalls the support of the vast majority of Parliament’s Members for a single seat to ensure that Union taxpayers’ money is spent efficiently and for Parliament to assume its institutional responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint; recalls the need to find solutions to optimise parliamentary institutional work, financial costs and the carbon footprint; believes that the experience gained and investments made in remote working and meetings can serve as a basis for adapting staff mission needs; recalls that according to the Treaty on European Union, the European Parliament is to have its seat in Strasbourg; notes that permanent changes would require a Treaty change for which unanimity is needed;

17.  Recalls that tender conditions should go beyond the best-price principle and also include environmental, social and gender criteria with detailed indicators; welcomes the expansion of the mandate of the Green Public Procurement Helpdesk to include social and gender elements and calls for an obligation to consult the Green Public Procurement Helpdesk for procurement above EUR 15 000; expects the Bureau to adopt a sustainability reporting system such as the Global Reporting Initiative and its extension to Embedding Gender in Sustainability Reporting by 2022;

Transparency and accountability

18.  Regrets that the Bureau refuses to implement the will of the Plenary expressed on numerous occasions to reform the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA), thereby actively preventing Union taxpayers' money from being more transparent and accountable; demands the Bureau introduce changes to the rules governing the GEA by the end of 2021;

19.  Regrets that the Bureau refuses to implement the will of the Plenary expressed on several occasions regarding the core reform steps for Parliament that were initially mentioned in its abovementioned resolution of 26 October 2017 on combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU, among which was the introduction of compulsory anti-harassment training courses for all staff and Members; demands that the Bureau immediately implement in full the Plenary’s decisions;

20.  Regrets that the Bureau refuses to implement the will of the Plenary expressed on several occasions to grant a high level of protection to APAs reporting on breaches of Union law as per Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on whistleblower protection(21), similar to the level of protection granted to APAs who are victims of harassment; invites the Bureau to define clear and legally certain standards regarding in which cases whistle blower protection can be granted, including for APAs, and to publish those standards;

21.  Regrets that the Bureau refuses to implement the will of the Plenary expressed on numerous occasions to take action for the full alignment of the allowances rates of officials, other civil servants and APAs in respect of duty travel between Parliament’s three places of work ; calls on the Bureau to address this issue without any further delay and to take the necessary measures to remedy that inequality as from the resumption of the plenary sessions in Strasbourg;

22.  Calls again on the Conference of Presidents to revise the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations and missions outside the European Union; underlines that such a revision should consider the possibility for APAs, subject to certain conditions, to accompany Members on official Parliament Delegations and Missions;

23.  Regrets that the Bureau has delayed to implement the will of the Plenary expressed on several occasions to work on a technical solution to allow Members to exercise their right to vote while benefiting from maternity or paternity leave, during a long-term illness or in cases of force majeure and to clarify the legal, financial, and technical limits such a solution would entail; believes that any steps undertaken in this regard would have allowed to advance the set up of Parliament’s remote working and voting scheme set up when the pandemic arose; expects that, since technical possibility has been now confirmed, the Bureau will take over the work on lifting the legal and financial limits that may remain;

24.  Reminds that according to the Transparency Register’s Annual Reports in past years, around half of all entries in the Register are incorrect; fears that the Register cannot fulfil its purpose of providing greater transparency on the activities of interest representatives if half of its entries provide incomplete or incorrect information; calls for the Parliament to take measures to increase the accuracy of the Register;

25.  Reiterates its request that the Parliament drafts an annual detailed report on the interest representatives and other organisations that were given access to Parliament's premises, and to publish it in the respect of the data protection regulation;

26.  Expects that in the future the Bureau will proactively inform Members on the implementation of relevant Plenary decisions;

Gender

27.  Calls for gender budgeting analysis to underpin the future preliminary draft estimates in line with Union’s commitment to Gender Budgeting; calls for a specific gender accounting system with expenditures for Members, staff and experts in a gender-disaggregated form;

28.  Calls for the adoption of gender procurement evaluation and monitoring criteria, based on the promotion of equal opportunities present in all Parliament’s tender specifications;

Digital infrastructure

29.  Supports the investment in digital infrastructure, including cybersecurity; underlines the need for ICT to integrate secure software solutions, i.e. open source software solutions, ensuring full control of the software and over data management by Parliament as well as freedom in the development of applications and technology procurement that specifically avoids dependence or technological lock-in to large tech platforms, in particular as regards cloud providers;

30.  Stresses that Parliament must integrate the environmental issue into the digital agenda; stresses that digital innovation must positively contribute to the ecological transition; calls for the achievement of a reduction of the environmental footprint of digital technology (green IT) in particular through the adaptation of internal policies; calls on Parliament to integrate the eco-design of digital services in its management of ICT and to choose options that respect the circular economy and promote resource efficiency;

31.  Recalls the inherent risks for information security and privacy of using third-party-dependent solutions for sharing sensitive data and the positive impact of open source software for digital autonomy and its benefits in terms of security; insists that users should be enabled to use open source software on Parliament’s devices, and stresses the need for decentralised, open source solutions for virtual meetings and instant messaging; highlights the need to properly train users with a special focus on cybersecurity; stresses the need for automatic language transcription and translation software to support the equal diffusion of information in all official languages;

32.  Strongly encourages that measures be taken to ensure that Parliament’s procurement of software and digital infrastructure, including cloud solutions, avoids vendor lock-in effects through portability and full interoperability requirements, uses open source software and earmarks procurement to be aimed at SMEs and startups;

33.  Stresses that software data and tools generated by the public sector and/or publicly funded software data and tools should be reusable, openly accessible and compliant with fundamental rights and if they are intended for critical use they must have a security certification or a security audit; considers that, in addition, AI used by the Parliament should be released as open source, under the public procurement procedure, with accessible software documentation and algorithms to allow for review of how the AI system arrived at a certain conclusion; emphasises that a fundamental rights audit should be part of any prior conformity assessment;

34.  Notes that remote voting systems have been put into place to safeguard continuity of Parliament's work during the pandemic; asks for these voting systems to be unified;

35.  Calls for faster and more secure wireless networks in all three places of work;

Engaging with citizens

36.  Underlines that Parliament is the only Union institution subject to universal suffrage; considers it important to provide citizens with a better understanding of Parliament’s activities as well as to raise political awareness and promoting Union values; calls for increased digital means to directly engage with citizens;

37.  Supports the establishment of Europa Experiences by 2024 in all Member States; takes note of the confirmation that delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will not compromise critical milestones ; supports the administration in its policy aimed at maximizing synergies; expects the long term budget impact of Europe Experiences in terms of running costs to be presented to the Committee on Budgets before the adoption of the 2022 budget; recalls that Europa Experiences should allow all citizens to have a better understanding of the functioning of European institutions;

38.  Considers that European Parliament Liaison Offices (EPLOs) should grow their network and engage more with citizens; invites the Parliament to develop meetings and events such as the European Youth Event (EYE) between Members and young people at local level through its EPLOs;

39.  Recognises the importance of visitors groups; notes that no visitor group has been able to visit Parliament premises during the COVID-19 pandemic; recalls that, in line with the Bureau decision of 5 October 2020, 40 % of the 2020 unused quota has been reallocated to 2022; welcomes the fact that Parliament invests considerable efforts in the services it offers to visitors, especially for young people who remain a key target group; calls for there to be no additional increase in the allowances for visitors for the remainder of the mandate beyond what is operationally feasible;

40.  Recognises that about 50 million people belong to various linguistic minorities, regions and communities in the Union; recalls that Parliament encourages citizens’ involvement and participation, including the national, regional and linguistic minorities, in the Union; recalls that Parliament strongly supports multilingualism and promotes the rights of the national, regional and linguistic minorities; considers that Parliament can actively contribute to the fight against disinformation by providing information also in the languages of linguistic minorities, regions and communities where appropriate; requests the Bureau to analyse the feasibility and estimate the financial cost of providing communication materials, for example for the Europa Experience Centres and the Conference on the future of Europe in the languages of linguistic minorities, regions and communities within the different Member States;

41.  Calls on the Bureau to draw up a translation of key foreign policy resolutions adopted under Rule 54 (own-initiative reports) into the non-Union official languages of the United Nations (namely Arabic, Chinese and Russian), as well as country-specific resolutions adopted under Rules 132 (resolution accompanying Commission/VPHR statements) and 144 (urgency resolution) into the official language of the country concerned, with a view to enhancing the impact and outreach of the Parliament's foreign affairs activities, and calls on the budgetary authority to ensure that sufficient appropriations are made available for that purpose.

42.  Calls on the Secretary-General to analyse the feasibility of the introduction of international sign language interpretation for all plenary debates, in line with the requests adopted by the Plenary, and to implement this decision in respect of the principle of equal access for all citizens;

43.  Considers paramount that each Union institution involved in the setting up and management of the forthcoming Conference on the Future of Europe, including Parliament, should be adequately equipped with administrative budgets to make of it a success already from the communication of its Estimates of revenues and expenditures;

44.  Calls to introduce the opportunity for the citizens and residents of Member States and partner countries to make virtual guided tours in the Parliament in order to achieve better understanding of the work and values of the institution among broader public;

45.  Calls for a dedicated visitors service for seniors highlighting Union programmes and policies that benefit active ageing;

Building projects

46.  Expects more transparent and detailed planning and decision making, including the provision of early information, having due regard to Article 266 of the Financial Regulation, in relation to Parliament’s building policy; calls for a debate on the functioning of Parliament and a review of the space needs of Parliament in light of the effects of the pandemic and the expected increase in teleworking and, if appropriate, for the adaptation of its long term building strategy; stresses that careful planning should allow for substantial savings;

47.  Asks the Bureau to make known its decision on the Paul-Henri Spaak building including a detailed breakdown of costs and the supporting documents; takes note of the unavailability of the Spaak building during renovation works and calls for the optimisation of the already available space in line with Parliament’s needs; recalls, in this context, the commitment of Parliament to undertake the necessary adaptation and renovation of its buildings in order to create an environment accessible for all users in line with Union standards; recommends that diversity and inclusion criteria be duly considered in the planning and restructuring of Parliament’s buildings;

48.  Welcomes the decision of the Bureau to adopt building passports for the life-cycle management of the building portfolio of Parliament; expects the use of the new tool to contribute to effectively implementing the pathway to achieve climate neutral or passive buildings as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest; also expects the passport to include on improving indoor air quality and healthy buildings;

49.  Notes that the budget proposed by the Secretary-General for 2022 envisages EUR 4,358 million for construction at the entrance of the WEISS building, further notes that EUR 8 million was already envisaged in the 2021 budget for such construction; requests updated information on the overall costs of this project;

Other issues

50.  Reiterates its request to the Bureau to establish full flexibility of presence for Members during the Green Weeks to facilitate their working arrangements;

51.  Recalls Article 27(1) and (2) of the Statute for Members of the European Parliament(22) which states that “the voluntary pension fund set up by Parliament shall be maintained after the entry into force of this Statute for Members or former Members who have already acquired rights or future entitlements in that fund” and that “acquired rights and future entitlements shall be maintained in full”; calls upon the Secretary-General and the Bureau to fully respect the Statute for Members and to establish with the pension fund a clear plan for Parliament assuming and taking over its obligations and responsibilities for its Members’ voluntary pension scheme;

52.  Notes that service providers were hit hard by the pandemic; welcomes the Parliament’s efforts, such as the provision of solidarity meals, to help reduce the impact on subcontractors and their employees; highlights the fact that subcontracting cleaning and catering services puts people, mainly women, in an extremely vulnerable position; is highly concerned about the massive numbers of dismissals of employees within the COMPASS Group catering company; invites the relevant Parliament authorities in collaboration with subcontractors to investigate all possible alternative solutions to safeguard employment within the framework of social dialogue and to procure additional services justifiable as regards the use of Parliament’s budget; calls on Parliament to take all necessary precautions to ensure that the highest standards of labour law for the cleaning staff, which mainly comprises women, and catering staff are being upheld by external contractors, in particular as regards psychological pressure and working conditions; invites the Bureau to reconsider Parliament’s externalisation policy;

53.  Calls upon the Secretary-General and the Bureau to instil a culture of performance-based budgeting across Parliament’s administration, and a lean management approach in order to enhance efficiency and environmental sustainability, reduce paperwork and diminish bureaucracy in the institution’s internal work; stresses that the experience of lean management is the continuous improvement of the work procedure thanks to simplification and to the experience of the administrative staff;

54.  Highlights the need to revisit Parliaments HR policy in order to allow the institution to make use of expertise acquired by all Parliament staff; believes that it is therefore necessary to change the rules to enable all categories of staff, including Accredited Parliamentary Assistants, to participate in internal competitions and to establish HR development schemes that will allow Parliament to keep the expertise of these categories at the service of the Institution;

55.  Invites the Secretary-General to assess the risks related to employing growing numbers of contract agents, including the danger of creating a two-tier staffing structure within Parliament; insists that core permanent positions and tasks should be performed by permanent staff;

56.  Calls for more flexibility and less bureaucracy in MEPs office management and contracts taking into consideration the repeated errors of the online platforms and difficulty in operating remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic; requests the Parliament’s Secretariat and financial services to establish a special set of flexible rules;

57.  Notes that the Parliament welcomes approximately 250 trainees to Brussels per semester; considers that all trainees in Parliament should be offered the same reduction for transport as the other staff members; considers that these measures would not add a significant burden on Parliament's budget and would result in a significant alleviation of expenses for trainees in Brussels;

58.  Recalls that adequate resources need to be dedicated for the financing of cultural and artistic activities within and outside Parliament’s premises, so as to underline its support to the cultural and creative sector;

59.  Recalls the political commitment of Parliament as regards its external liaison offices and urges the European External Action Service to ensure the necessary conditions, such as joint management of building where it is needed, and ensuring the diplomatic status accreditation of Parliament's staff to the authorities of the hosting States;

60.  Calls for a timely and transparent annual reports of the Authority on Political Parties and Foundations;

61.  Considers that the COVID-19 pandemic has negative impacts on the Parliament’s liveliness; underlines the importance to ensure a dynamic and animated Parliament once the COVID-19 crisis is over; asks therefore the Bureau to undertake an analysis destined to find out new practices that could make the Parliament more lively, followed by recommendations that could be implemented through a revision of the Rules of Procedure, if necessary;

o
o   o

62.  Adopts the estimates for the financial year 2022;

63.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the estimates to the Council and the Commission.

(1) OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1. (2) OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 11. (3) OJ C 444 I, 22.12.2020. (4) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0357, Annex II. (5) OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 28. (6) OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 15. (7) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0123. (8) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0302. (9) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0385. (10) OJ C 346, 27.9.2018, p. 19. (11) Texts adopted, P8_TA(2018)0331. (12) Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0010. (13) https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2020/652735/IPOL_STU(2020)652735_EN.pdf (14) OJ C 364, 15.10.2014, p. 3. (15) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0227. (16) Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings (OJ L 153, 18.6.2010, p. 13). (17) Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p. 1). (18) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0306. (19) OJ C 444 I, 22.12.2020, p. 5. (20) Texts adopted by the Bureau, PE 113.116/BUR./rev. XXVI/ 01-04-2009. (21) Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (OJ L 305, 26.11.2019, p. 17). (22) Decision of the European Parliament of 28 September 2005 adopting the Statute for Members of the European Parliament (2005/684/EC, Euratom) (OJ L 262, 7.10.2005, p. 1).