joint programme & budget group [ JPBG | joint programme and budget group ]

Mixed Study Team on Culture and Communications Programs [ Study Team on Culture and Communications Programs ]

Mixed Study Team for the Review of Programs of the Minister of the Environment [ Study Team for the Review of Programs of the Minister of the Environment ]

Working Group on United Nations Programme and Budget Machinery

21. Takes into consideration the conclusions of the Joint Bureau - Committee on Budgets Working Group on the Parliament budget to pursue structural and organisational reforms; notes, in that regard, that the provision of independent scientific advice and the capacity to exercise scrutiny, as well as support to the Members, should be further improved to strengthen Parliament's work as an institution vested with legislative and democratic scrutiny powers; stresses that these objectives shall be implemented in a financially responsible manner and that the Secretary-General should set out clearly a detailed plan, to be presented to the Com ...[+++]mittee on Budgets, on how these objectives will be met and the budgetary impact they will have before the Parliament's reading of the budget for 2015;

19. Takes into consideration the conclusions of the Joint Bureau - Committee on Budgets Working Group on the Parliament budget to pursue structural and organisational reforms; notes, in that regard, that the provision of independent scientific advice and the capacity to exercise scrutiny, as well as support to the Members, should be further improved to strengthen Parliament's work as an institution vested with legislative and democratic scrutiny powers; stresses that these objectives shall be implemented in a financially responsible manner and that the Secretary-General should set out clearly a detailed plan, to be presented to the Com ...[+++]mittee on Budgets, on how these objectives will be met and the budgetary impact they will have before the Parliament's reading of the budget for 2015;

10. Takes into consideration the initial conclusions of the Joint Bureau and Committee on Budgets Working Group on the Parliament budget to pursue structural and organisational reforms that aim to achieve greater efficiencies without endangering legislative excellence and the quality of working conditions; notes, in that regard, that the provision of independent scientific advice and the capacity to exercise scrutiny should be improved to strengthen Parliament's work as an institution vested with legislative and democratic scrutiny powers; welcomes the fact that the Joint Working Group is looking for further potential savings and effic ...[+++]iencies, and expects it to present its first findings in time for the preparation of Parliament's 2014 budget reading according to the two-step procedure agreed in the Conciliation;

8. Considers that the Joint Bureau and Committee on Budgets Working Group on the Parliament budget could, on the basis the work it began in 2012, play a useful role in this reform, by identifying possible savings and reflecting on and presenting to the Committee on Budgets ideas for improving efficiency; notes that the working group has already largely achieved the objectives established for it at the end of 2011, in particular as regards the reduction of travel expenses; in the light of the Group’s preliminary ...[+++]findings based, inter alia, on comparative studies of the European Parliament’s budget with the budgets of the US Congress and a sample of Member States’ parliaments, encourages the continuation of its work and the development of a corresponding action plan, to be presented to both the Committee on Budgets and the Bureau for consideration in the 2014 Parliament budget process; recalls its resolution of 23 October 2012 in which it expressed the expectation that these studies will ‘create long-term savings in the Parliament’s budget and present ideas for improving efficiency in 2013 and the following years’; notes that the European Parliament has lower overall spending per inhabitant than comparable Member State parliaments and the US Congress; notes further that there is a need to strengthen the scrutiny role of Parliament and to provide it with better-targeted research support so that it is able to fulfil its role in democratic representation;