ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT

2013

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL

FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION

2

Table of Contents

0. BUDGET EXECUTION 31. OBJECTIVES 4

1.1 Objectives of the directorate-general 4

1.1.1 Magnifying Parliament's impact 4

1.1.2 Allocate resources efficiently 5

1.2 Assessment of feasibility and likely risks 5

2. ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS IN THE LIGHT OF THEOBJECTIVES – USE OF RESOURCES 5

2.1 Environment of the directorate-general 5

2.2 The DG’s human resources 6

2.3 Budget implementation in 2013 7

2.3.1 Final appropriations and initial appropriations 7

2.3.2 Final appropriations and appropriations committed 7

2.3.3 Appropriations committed and payments made 8

2.3.4 Use of automatic and non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 8

2.3.5 Use of appropriations from assigned revenue 9

2.4 Results obtained 9

2.4.1 Magnifying Parliament's impact 9

2.4.2 Greater coherence and visibility for Parliament's role 12

2.4.3 New working methods 19

2.4.4 Allocate resources efficiently 22

2.5 Result indicators 24

3. EVALUATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL CONTROL 264. CONCLUSIONS 27

4.1 General evaluation of the reporting period 27

4.2 Evaluation of the available resources 27

4.3 Conclusions on strengths and weaknesses and foreseeable measureswith a view to better adaptation of the available personnel andbudgetary resources 27

5. ANNEXES5.1 2013 budget outturn statements 30

5.2 Report on compliance with payment deadlines 32

5.3 List of exceptions – derogations from the rules 33

5.4 Long-term contractual obligations 33

5.5 Exceptional negotiated procedures 34

5.6 Results of ex-post evaluations 35

5.7 Sensitive posts 35

5.8 Evaluation of the implementation of minimum internal control 36standards

0. Budget Execution

Code Appropriation type € or % Formula

Appropriations of 2013A Initial appropriations 4.090.290B Final appropriations 3.760.290C Commitments 2.459.619D Commitments in % of final appropriations 65,4% D=C/BE Payments 1.417.495F Payments in % of commitments 57,6% F=E/CG Cancellations of 2013 final appropriations 1.300.671H Cancellations in % of final appropriations 34,6% H=G/B

Appropriations carried over (automatic and non-automaticcarryovers) from 2013 to 2014 1.042.124

I Automatic carryovers from 2013 to 2014 1.042.124

JAutomatic carryovers from 2013 to 2014 in % ofcommitments 42,4 J=I/C

K Non-automatic carryovers from 2013 to 2014 0

LNon-automatic carryovers from 2013 to 2014 in % of finalappropriations 0 M=K/B

Appropriations carried over (automatic and non-automaticcarryovers) from 2012 to 2013

M Automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 1.004.260N Payments against automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 721.774

OPayments against automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013in % of automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 71,9% O=N/M

P Cancellations of automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 282.468

QCancellations of automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013in % of automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 28,1% Q=P/M

R Non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013S Payments of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 0

TPayments against non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to2013 in % of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 0 T=S/R

UCancellations of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to2013 in % of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 0

VCancellations of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to2013 in % of non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013 0 V=U/RAssigned revenue in 2013

W Appropriations from assigned revenue in 2013 0

XPayments against appropriations from assigned revenue in2013 0

YPayments against assigned revenue in % of assignedrevenue 0 Y=X/W

Z Assigned revenue carried over to 2013 0AA Appropriations for mopping up transfer 620.000

3

4

1. Objectives

1.1 Objectives of the directorate-general

1.1.1 Magnifying Parliament's impact

To magnify Parliament’s impact on the external action of the European Union byproviding assistance, based on enhanced expertise, to the competent parliamentary bodiesin their legislative, budgetary, supervisory and parliamentary diplomacy roles:

so as to enable them to exercise fully Parliament’s powers in respect of the ordinarylegislative procedure (codecision) and assent, access to documents, budget andcomitology procedures, and the ability to make recommendations;

through growing support for parliamentary oversight over of external policies, boththe CFSP/ESDP and implementation of political and trade agreements, and over theeffective use of EU funds vis-à-vis our partners;

by making action at administrative level reflect Parliament's political, policy-relatedand geographical priorities, and the EU's external policy, so as to make them morecoherent;

through quality support to consolidate the Democracy Support and ElectionCoordination Group and provide greater coherence and visibility for Parliament’srole in democracy support and human rights, by reactivating the Sakharov Network,in election observation (including follow-up of recommendations) and in supportingparliamentary capacities in the EU neighbourhood (through new capacity-developingprogrammes);

by further consolidating the new harmonised working methods through a pilotcollaborative working scheme to enable the secretariats of the DG's bodies and thepolicy department to work in a way which cuts across areas - on a regional orthematic basis - with the aim of helping Members plan ahead and increase theirimpact, including in the area of global governance by extending parliamentarycooperation in connection with the Conference of Presidents of G8 and G20Parliaments;

by increasing the input of interparliamentary delegations and multilateral assembliesinto the legislative process, and encouraging harmonisation of the rules onorganising assemblies' meetings and reducing their organisational costs;

by successfully providing assistance for the European Parliament presidency of theParliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, including setting up itssecretariat;

by consolidating inter-DG cooperation and interinstitutional relations with theEuropean External Action Service and the Commission;

by fostering better public understanding of Parliament's external action, with a viewto the 2014 European elections in particular, by engaging in stepped-up cooperationwith DG COMM and developing staff members' communication skills.

5

1.1.2 Allocate resources efficiently

Allocate the DG’s resources effectively and optimise the management thereof in the service ofthe parliamentary bodies in cooperation with the other DGs:

by streamlining all the DG’s administrative management tools;

by consolidating the process of centralising financial procedures and introducingindicators for monitoring the take-up of mission appropriations, with a view toreducing mission costs at the three places of work by making officials more informedabout them, and about changes in appropriations, and more responsible;

through personnel management which is based on multiannual needs planning,updated recruitment methods, flexibility in staffing in response to temporary spikesin workloads and/or unforeseeable specific needs, DG screening, and improvedinterinstitutional transfer procedures;

through strengthening of internal DG cohesion via communication tools and methodsand training that promotes teamworking;

through the provision of security for delegations on official missions by continuingto help finalise the IT database project, and maintaining its specific securityarrangements pending introduction of an across-the-board procedure requested bythe DG;

through integration of knowledge management projects, collaborative platforms andthe web portal.

1.2 Assessment of feasibility and likely risksThe Lisbon Treaty enhanced the powers of the European Parliament in the legislativeprocess (broadening the areas covered by the ordinary legislative procedure) and in theparliamentary scrutiny of external actions. In order to cope with the increase inparliamentary activities and procedures since 2010, the DG has recruited additional staff.Most of these recruitments have now been completed.

As a large part of DG EXPO's activities take place outside the three places of work,delegations may be called upon to carry out their duties in high risk areas. Therefore, asignificant appropriation of funds (250.000 Euros) was reserved in the 2013 budget forpossible security needs of delegations. In addition, a security support system was createdin order to ensure proper evaluation of the security situation in the countries visited(Country Security Assessments) and in order to ensure that members and staff on missionhave a contact point in Parliament in the event of an emergency (security officer). As partof the improved risk management, a crisis team has been established for emergencysituations. In addition, all staff going on missions outside the three working places mustparticipate in security training before the mission and staff participating in the practicalpreparation of the missions must participate in a specific training related to security filemanagement. The development of the security support system is still on-going.

2 Assessment of results in the light of the objectives – use of resources

2.1 Environment of the directorate-general

DG EXPO is in charge of providing support to 3 committees, 2 subcommittees, 4 multilateralassemblies, 41 standing delegations and the Democracy Support and Election Coordination

6

Group. The Units in DG EXPO assist 113 political bodies dealing with external relations,covering bilateral relations with around 160 countries. In addition, the staff in DG EXPOorganises 10-12 election observation missions and 6 to 10 ad hoc delegations per year.

At its meeting on 12 December 2011, the Bureau decided on the establishment of a newDirectorate for Democracy Support within DG EXPO. Its aim is to give more coherence tothe EP's activities in support of new and emerging democracies. The new Directorate wascreated in a budget-neutral manner through redeployment and started its work on 1 April2012. It includes the Election Observation Unit and the Office for the Promotion ofParliamentary Democracy (OPPD), which were already part of DG EXPO, the Unit forRelations with Western Balkans Parliaments (the unit was renamed later to Pre-AccessionActions Unit), transferred from DG Presidency in 2012, and a new unit called Human RightsActions which became operational at the beginning of 2013.

Based on the Conference of Presidents' decision of 13 September 2012, the enlarged mandateof the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) covers political guidanceand supervision of all activities of the new Directorate. In terms of budget resources, the newDirectorate represents one third of DG EXPO's 2013 budget.

DG EXPO’s responsibilities were further increased at the beginning of 2013 when themanagement and budget of reception and entertainment expenses were transferred from DGPresidency to DG EXPO (financing of these expenses in DG EXPO is implemented under thenew budget sub-item 3020-10).

In addition, the Bureau decided on 26 February 2013 that a programme for Euronest Scolawould be organised and managed by DG EXPO in line with the principles for the alreadyexisting Euromed Scola. The financing of these programmes would also be DG EXPO’sresponsibility from 2013. (Earlier Euromed Scola events were financed by DG COMM). Thefinancing of the programme in DG EXPO will be implemented under the new budget sub-item 3244-04 .

An extension of the programme for Young Political Leaders from Europe, Palestine and Israelto include the neighbourhood countries was decided by the Bureau on 15 April 2013.

2.2 The DG’s human resources

Establishmentplan posts

Establishment planposts Situation at: 31/ 12/ 13

01/01/2012 01/01/2013EffectiveOfficials

EffectiveTemporary

agents

EffectiveContractual

agents

external(SecondedNationalExperts) Total

AD 109 119 108 5 6 9 128

AST 110 116 106 5 5 0 116

Total 219 235 214 10 11 9 244

7

2.3 Budget implementation in 2013

2.3.1 Final appropriations and initial appropriations

As mentioned under point 2.1, the Bureau decided in February 2013 that DG EXPO would beresponsible for the organisation and financing of the programme of Euromed and EuronestScola events as from 2013. DG EXPO plans to organise one of these events every year;starting with Euronest Scola in November 2013. As the event was not included in DGEXPO’s original budget for 2013, a budget transfer of 190.000€ was requested to finance theevent. DG EXPO received the budget transfer in June 2013 (sub-item 3244-04).

DG EXPO paid several old Sakharov Prizes in 2013 which could not be paid in earlier years(Ladies in White 2005, Farinas 2010, Zaitouneh 2011, Panafi 2012). These payments werenot included in the original 2013 budget. Therefore, a budget transfer was needed to financethe payment of these Prizes.

In addition, the programme for Young Political Leaders, which is financed under the samebudget sub-item as Sakharov Prize/Network events, was extended to cover the Southern andEastern Neighbourhood Countries. This extension was not included in the original budget asthe Bureau made the decision on the extension only in 2013. In order to finance the paymentof the old Sakharov Prizes and the extension of the programme for Young Political Leaders,DG EXPO requested a budget transfer of 100.000€, which it received at the beginning ofNovember 2013.

In the two mopping up exercises, DG EXPO gave away in total 620.000€ for the use of otherDGs.

2.3.2 Final appropriations and appropriations committed

DG EXPO used 65,4% of its final budget appropriations in 2013. For committees and sub-committees the rate was 72,9% (including external expertise), for the Democracy SupportDirectorate 70,5%, for Inter-parliamentary delegations and assemblies 49,9%. The lowoutcome for the inter-parliamentary delegations was mainly because the budget is based onthe highest potential number of delegations and on cost estimates which include a safetymargin for unexpected expenses. In reality, the number of delegation activities in 2013 wasone third lower than budgeted for, in line with the COP's recommendations for a policy ofbudgetary restraint concerning inter-parliamentary delegation travel. In addition, only aroundhalf of the reserve for security measures (250.000€) was needed in 2013 (for example asignificant part of the commitment for costly security measures for the EOM to Pakistan wasfinally not needed as the delegation could exceptionally travel in the armoured vehicles of theChief Observer instead of renting the vehicles). The actual cost for the ACP-EU JPAs wasalso significantly lower than budgeted (first ACP-EU JPA was held in Brussels instead ofIreland, the freight of equipment to the second JPA in Ethiopia was only 25-30% of the costin earlier years, due to a more competitive call for tender). The exceptional reasons for thelow cost could not be foreseen when preparing the budget for 2013 (in December 2011).

Item 3043-00 Inter-parliamentary delegations and assemblies

Inter-parliamentary delegations and assemblies used 49,9% of their budget appropriation in2013. The main reasons for the low use of appropriations are explained above under point2.3.2. In addition, it can be said that calculating the cost for inter-parliamentary delegations is

8

problematic due to their high number, more than 100 annually, and uncertainties related toprogrammes which are used as basis for budgeting. Planned delegation missions can becancelled or modified and political developments in an area can raise a need for a delegationoutside the programme. In addition, the cost of a delegation depends on the situation in thedestination, particularly in high risk areas. If security measures are needed, this can have asignificant impact on budget funds needed.

Concerning the PA UfM (Union for Mediterranean), it can be mentioned that the EP paid forthe first time its contribution (€176.319) to the Assembly in December 2013.

DG EXPO gave away 260.000€ from this line in the two mopping up exercises in 2013.

Sub-item 3200 02 External expertise

DG EXPO used 74,9% of its final appropriation for external expertise, which is less than inprevious years. The low use was partly due to the expiry of all seven framework contracts atthe end of September 2013 and the delay in the procurement of new framework contracts(owing to certain complications in the evaluation phase). Because of the delay, more time-consuming individual procurement procedures had to be used for procurement of studies,instead of framework contracts, in the last quarter of 2013. Therefore, fewer studies thanbefore were procured in the last quarter of 2013.

DG EXPO gave away 230.000€ from this line in the two mopping-up exercises in 2013.

2.3.3 Appropriations committed and payments made

Payments made in 2013 correspond to 57,6% of the commitments. Given that DG EXPO usesmore than one hundred imprest accounts annually and that one third of its budget is used forthe procurement of external expertise, where the time lag between commitment andsettlement/invoice is significant, the payment proportion of commitments can be considerednormal.

2.3.4 Use of automatic and non-automatic carryovers from 2012 to 2013

DG EXPO usually has a high number of carry forward commitments, as many of its activitiesare concentrated in the last months of the year and the commitments related to these activitiesare unpaid at year-end. A total of 153 carry forward commitments were made at the year-end2012, with a total amount of 1.004.260 €. Of these commitments, 721.774 € (71,9%) werepaid in 2013. The most significant unpaid carry forward commitments are the following (withreasons for why they were not paid in 2013):

A commitment for an OPPD seminar in Nairobi, which was not used because theorder forms were not sent before the year end 2012 (that was the condition for thecarry forward commitment. In addition, the event was cancelled in 2013).

34.000 €

Three commitments for seminars with Western Balkans Parliaments were notused because the official invitation letters were not sent before the year-end 2012(that was the condition for carry forward commitments).

99.000 €

Sakharov Prize 2012 to Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iran, could not be paid to the laureatein 2013 despite significant efforts from DG EXPO and the Accounting Officer.

25.000 €

Commitments for three briefing notes (each 5.000 €), one order cancelled, twostill unpaid due to delays.

15.000 €

Study visits from female MPs from Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia; part of thecommitment was not used.

16.292 €

9

Study visits from Western Balkan parliaments, part of the commitment was notused.

12.309 €

Part of the travel expenses reserve under the framework contracts was not used. 16.725 €Part of the commitment reserved for invited guests was not needed. 10.526 €Total 228.852 €

The rest of the unpaid amount concerns reserves included in some commitments.

2.3.5 Use of appropriations from assigned revenue

N.A.

2.3.5.1 Specific expenditure appropriations/assigned revenue

n/a

2.3.5.2 Specific expenditure appropriation carry-overs/assigned revenue

n/a

2.4 Results obtainedThe following is a qualitative analysis of the activities carried out by DG EXPO in relation toits objectives for 2013:

2.4.1 Magnifying Parliament's impact

To magnify Parliament’s impact on the external action of the EU by providing assistance,based on enhanced expertise, to the competent parliamentary bodies in their legislative,budgetary, supervisory and parliamentary diplomacy roles:

2.4.1.1 Codecision and assent

In 2013, the secretariats of the committees put a special emphasis on legislative work, mainlyon the financial instruments for AFET and DEVE, and the framework legislation of theCommon Commercial Policy for INTA. The AFET secretariat supported the rapporteurs onthe 5 external financial instruments (IfS, EIDHR, ENPI, PI and IPA and DEVE secretariat forDCI) to continue and conclude the negotiations on the relevant regulations, in parallel withthe negotiations on horizontal provisions (including delegated acts).

The secretariats pursued other legislative and non-legislative work of the committees,including in connection to major INTA legislative reports on International ProcurementInstrument, Enforcement Regulation, and second reading agreements on Omnibus I andOmnibus II (aligning the Union trade legislation to the Lisbon treaty), and also the PublicProcurement Instrument and modernisation of the Union's Trade Defence Instruments. At theend of the year, the AFET and DEVE secretariats began working on procedures for StrategicDialogue on DCI programming. The secretariats of the committees provided indeed detailedadvice on how to safeguard Parliament’s powers, particularly in the use of delegated acts.

The committee secretariats continued the practice of monitoring negotiations of internationalagreements. For AFET, it concerned especially the pending Framework for AssociationAgreements with third countries. AFET also questioned the practice by the Council to requestParliament's consent once the ratification process in EU Member States is almost completed.AFET adopted resolutions on all candidate and pre-candidate countries, as is nowconsolidated practice. INTA monitoring groups continued their work in monitoring trade

10

negotiations. Resolutions were adopted in connection to all negotiating mandates, which weresuggested by the Commission.

Monitoring of developments in Ukraine intensified and with a view to determiningParliament's position regarding the signature of the Association Agreement AFET organisedbriefings with EU and Ukrainian stakeholders. AFET prepared a resolution on the EUneighbourhood policy, which covers the AA with Ukraine (and also Moldova and Georgia).

DCAM, DAND, DMER and DLAT played an important role in support of relevant committeereports and visits regarding negotiation of the EU-Central America Association Agreement,EU-Colombia and Peru Multi-Party Trade Agreement, as well as regarding negotiations for anEU-Mercosur Association Agreement. Cross-participation of committee rapporteurs andrepresentatives in the delegation meetings and visits, and vice-versa, were common practicethroughout the year.

2.4.1.2 Making action at administrative level reflect Parliament's political priorities

Committee secretariats had to adapt their working methods to ensure a better implementationof EP's political priorities. Monitoring groups, gathering different EP bodies, improve thecoherence of EP message.

In 2013, the AFET Monitoring Group (MG on Southern Mediterranean) continued itsactivities despite logistical difficulties (lack of necessary interpretation facilities). AFET alsoset up the Vilnius Group, gathering representatives from all political groups,rapporteur on theENP (Eastern component) with participation of the Commissioner for Enlargement Fühle.The group has proven to be an extremely useful vehicle of continuous information regardingdevelopments in the Eastern Partnership countries and their impact on the negotiation,conclusion, initialling/signature of relevant AAs.

Twenty three established country-specific and regional INTA Monitoring Groups scrutinizedthe on-going trade negotiations and bilateral trade relations, in addition to the WTO Steeringcommittee. In relation to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), theMonitoring Group invited the Chairs of other Committees concerned to participate in itswork, including in particular an exchange of views with the USTR, Michael Froman.

The DROI secretariat introduced a new format in its committee meeting time, that of highlytopical updates from the EEAS. The secretariat participated in the COHOM debriefingsessions and assured that the EEAS and the EU Special Representative on Human Rightsprovide regular updating briefings to Members, as well as debriefings on human rightsdialogues and consultations held with key countries.

For the first time, a Euronest Scola programme and two new Young Political Leaders Forawere very successfully organised in November-December 2013 (Maghreb-EU and EasternPartnership-EU), expressing concretely, via the administrative action, the EP prioritycommitment to strengthen and empower civil society in the neighbourhood.

2.4.1.3 Budget and comitology procedures

Following the decision of the COP, Committees in DG EXPO participated in the screeningprocedure of upcoming legislative proposals.

11

A weekly follow-up of comitology decisions and a follow-up for adopted reports within thecompetence of INTA were continued and the framework for the follow-up of delegated andimplementing acts was put in place.

In budgets, DEVE adopted amendments on the nomenclature of the budget for the first yearof the MFF for 2014-2020, to avoid any loss of visibility in the use of EU developmentfunding.

2.4.1.4 Ability to make recommendations

Through their capacity of recommendation the committee secretariats supported their bodiesin fostering their position in house and vis à vis other institutions or partners. INTA tabledresolutions on the proposed negotiation mandates for the suggested TTIP and the investmentnegotiations with China, in order to make Parliament's positions known to the Council prior toadoption. Meetings were also held with the short-list of the WTO Director General candidates,several meetings with the Trade Commissioner and the DG and the Deputy DG of DGTRADE and Chief FTA negotiators and with several ambassadors to the EU (the US, Canada,Russia, Japan and ASEAN countries).

On own-initiative reports, DEVE responded to the political priorities of global debates andCommission Communications (eg. Kaczmarek report on “Millennium Development Goals -defining the post-2015 framework”). The study on “the cost of non-Europe: Increasing EUdonor coordination” was also based on a secretariat recommendation and led to a legislativeinitiative report on the same.

The ENP resolution prepared by AFET in September is going to be the vehicle of detailedrecommendations by Parliament for activities undertaken by the EC and the EEAS in all(south and east) neighbourhood countries.

Internally, the AFET secretariat contributed substantially to the revision of Annex VII of theRules of Procedure and to elaborate options for the reform of delegations.

The DROI secretariat was responsible for implementing the political will formally expressedin the Tavares report on the EU's human rights strategy and setting up a Contact Groupbringing together the EEAS, the Commission and DROI Members, to examine the ActionPlan and its implementation, as well as other relevant topics, such as the reform of theurgencies. .

The secretariat for the EP ad hoc delegation for observation of trials of journalists in Turkeyprepared a comprehensive interim report which was debated in AFET on 17 September 2013.

In the reporting period, the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee(JPC), the EU-Croatia JPC, the EU-FYROM JPC and the DSEE, adopted a number ofresolutions and recommendations during their meetings. The requests made by the resolutionsand recommendations have been brought to the attention of the EU and EEA authorities, theEuropean Commission, as well as the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

2.4.1.5 Parliamentary oversight over the CFSP/CSDP

Under the terms of the HR/VP Declaration on political accountability of the EEAS, ahorizontal approach was established for the preparation of discussions conducted with the newHeads of EU Delegations, involving the secretariats of the various bodies involved and thePolicy Department. AFET held 12 hearings of newly appointed Heads of EU Delegations.

12

The Parliament was the first EU institution to adopt a clear position on improvements neededto be carried out in this respect and they have been taken into account by the HR/VP for therevision of the EEAS. The secretariat provided substantive input and advice to the chair ofAFET in the negotiations for the revision of the Interinstitutional Agreement on access toclassified CFSP/CSDP documents, which are, however, still stalled.

To enhance the parliamentary control over CSDP the secretariat suggested focusing the workof SEDE on the preparations of the European Council of December 2013, partly dedicated toEuropean Defence. On this the secretariat worked closely with ITRE and IMCO secretariats tofind the right procedure and to ensure a strong EP political position. Regular exchanges ofviews are held with the relevant counterparts in the EEAS, be it the EU Military Committee orMilitary Staff, the CMPD, CPCC or EDA as well as Heads of CSDP missions and operations.

Having contributed to the establishment of the Inter-parliamentary Conference onCFSP/CSDP (Cyprus, September 2012), the AFET and SEDE secretariats, were involveddirectly and through its Chair, in the preparations (agenda setting, qualitative input, shapingthe conclusions, "RoP") of the Inter-parliamentary Meetings on CFSP/CSDP (meeting inDublin, March, during which the idea of holding workshops was implemented, meeting inVilnius, September).

The inter-parliamentary meeting with the Supreme Peoples' Assembly of North Korea, on 15to 19 July 2013 in Pyongyang, was the only dialogue at a political level between the EU andthe DPKR over the past two years, following a phase of high inter-Korean tensions. TheDelegation for relations with South Asia undertook a mission to Sri Lanka and the Maldiveson 14-19 July and held useful discussions on post-conflict policies.

2.4.1.6 Qualitative use of EU funds in respect of its partners

At administrative level, an inter-DG Task Force, gathering administrators from AFET,DEVE, INTA, the legal service, the Codecision Secretariat and DG COMM, continued toprovide necessary support to the negotiations.

Throughout 2013, DEVE’s participation in the Group of Experts on Blending (mixing grantswith loans), ensured MEPs’ concerns were raised. The Platform on Blending comprises agroup of experts set up by the European Commission, to ensure that the spending of grant aid,as a means to leverage more funding from development banks and the private sector fordeveloping countries, is done according to more stringent poverty reduction principles.

The ACP-EU JPA continued monitoring the 10th EDF mid-term reviews of the Country andRegional Strategy Papers and Indicative Programmes.

The Euronest PA held a debate on the allocation of EU budgetary resources to the EasternPartnership policy in May 2013 and decided to dedicate its next Political Committee report to“Engaging in a stronger partnership between the EU and Eastern European Partner countriesthrough the European Neighbourhood Instrument for 2014-2020.”

2.4.2 Greater coherence and visibility for Parliament's role

AFET secretariat organized two major conferences: Political Islam and Afghanistan.

DROI also held an exchange of views with President Schulz, who stressed the need to utilisethe full potential of the EP and DROI in addressing human rights issues. The Cox-Kwasnievski mission to Ukraine and the Tymoshenko case is an illustration of how the EP

13

can make a difference. Indeed, throughout the year the AFET secretariat and the PolicyDepartment provided, in collaboration with other departments of the General Secretariat ofthe Parliament, the necessary support to mediation efforts by MM. Cox and Kwasniewski,mediators appointed by the Speaker of Parliament, accompanying them on mission andproviding political advice.

In September, a major inter-parliamentary hearing was held with the human rights committeesof EU National Parliaments, focusing on the EU's Human Rights Strategy and the ActionPlan, prepared by DROI secretariat.

DPLC conducted a lengthy campaign to raise political awareness of the situation ofPalestinian prisoners, in keeping with Parliament resolutions since 2008, calling for theirrelease and for better detention conditions, thus confirming the stances repeatedly taken by theinternational community. The campaign culminated on 14 March 2013 in adoption of aresolution, in the context of an urgent debate on human rights, calling for a fact-findingmission to assess the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The AFET committee, towhich the matter was referred by the President, has made recommendations accordingly; theyneed to be approved by the Conference of Presidents so that a mission can go ahead before theclose of the parliamentary term.

Another tool for committee secretariats is to secure the participation of their Chair to Council'smeetings. In Trade Policy, the Chairman of INTA was invited to the first ever informalCouncil meeting (Dublin, April), which focused on the opening of negotiations with theUnited States on a TTIP, giving both INTA and the EP Parliament visibility andacknowledging the key role of the EP in the monitoring of negotiations and consent. EP's adhoc delegation to the WTO MC9 underlined the parliamentary dimension of the WTO.

The AFET secretariat managed to secure an invitation for the Chair to attend the informalForeign Affairs Council (Gymnich) in March in Dublin, which debated for the first time theEEAS review process and in Vilnius (September), a session during which Secretary of StateKerry participated. The Chair of AFET was invited to address the full Political and SecurityCommittee of the Council.

The relationship with the Indian parliament intensified at an administrative level, with afurther visit to the European Parliament by Indian officials, to which DG EXPO contributed.

The Canada delegation continued its engagement with representatives of the Canadianparliament and federal and provincial governments, as well as the European Commission, onkey issues in the CETA negotiations, for which a political agreement was reached in October.

The Conference of Delegation Chairs continued to work on identifying ways in which inter-parliamentary delegations could contribute to the coherence and visibility of the externalrelations of the EP. A major event took place in this regard on 4 July 2013, when the CDCChair presented his views to the Conference of Presidents on Parliament's representationoutside the EU, as well as on the future reform of the delegation system.

In the reporting period, the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee(JPC), the EU-Croatia JPC, the EU-FYROM JPC and the DSEE, adopted a number ofresolutions and recommendations during their meetings.

14

At the initiative of the DEEA, a new practice was introduced to strengthen the parliamentaryscrutiny of the EEA. Since May 2013, the EEA Joint Committee prepares a written responseto the resolutions adopted by the EEA JPC, including a reply to the requests made in theresolution and an overview regarding the action that the Commission / EEA EFTA Stateshave taken, or intend to take.

The DEEA effectively promoted the interests of the EU/EP in the inter-parliamentarycooperation on Arctic issues. On the initiative of the EP Delegation, the Standing Committeeof Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region adopted (on 19 September 2013) a statement onpermanent observer status of the EU on the Arctic Council, which provides political impetusto completing the admission of the EU as a permanent observer on the Council.

The D-EEA made significant progress in securing institutional involvement of the EP in thefuture institutional framework of EU-Switzerland relations. A letter from the SINEEA Chairto HRVP Ashton dated 3.10.2013 pleads for establishing an inter-parliamentary pillar in thecontext of the new institutional set-up of EU-Swiss relations and asks to consider includingappropriate provisions on EU-Switzerland inter-parliamentary cooperation in the EU draftmandate for the negotiations. HRVP Ashton replied positively to this request in a letter dated6.10.2013.

At the initiative of the D-SEE, and following the CoP decision of 5 September 2013, relationswith the Parliament of Serbia have been upgraded to the level of a Stabilisation andAssociation Parliamentary Committee, following entry into force of the SAA EU-Serbia.

The EuroLat Assembly presented its main recommendations in a Message handed to thePresidents of Chile, the European Commission and the European Council, on the occasion ofthe I CELAC-EU Summit in Chile in January 2013. In addition, and in the framework of theregular activities of the EU-Mexico and EU-Chile JPCs, a large number of recommendationsaimed at the future revision of the EU Association Agreements with these two countries, weremade in their Final Declarations.

The Bureau of the Euronest PA adopted, in early November 2013, a message withrecommendations addressed to the Heads of State and Government of the Eastern Partnershipand the EU on the occasion of the Vilnius Summit.

In April, the EP Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for theMediterranean (PA-UfM) ended, with the EuroMed & Middle East Unit organising two majorevents: the First Summit of UfM Parliament Speakers, held on 6-7 April in Marseilles; andthe 9th Plenary Session, held from 11-12 April in Brussels, with Jordan taking over the PA-UfM Presidency thereafter.

The Euro-Latin Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat PA) VI Plenary Session took place on 23-25 January 2013 in Santiago de Chile, on the eve of the I CELAC-EU Summit of Heads ofState and Government on 26-27 January. The EuroLat Co-Presidents were then invited, asusual, to attend the Summit itself. A second set of meetings of the Assembly's organs washeld in Vilnius on 16-18 July 2013, at the invitation of the Lithuanian Presidency of theCouncil of the EU, including the constitutive meeting of the new fourth Standing Committeeon Sustainable Development, Environment, Energy Policy, Research, Innovation andTechnology. The EuroLat PA Executive Bureau held an additional meeting in Puerto Plata,Dominican Republic, on 19-20 September 2013, including an exchange of views with theCuban Presidency of CELAC. Finally, the EP Co-President was invited to attend the XXIIIIbero-American Summit in Panama on 18-19 October, thus recognising, again at the level of

15

Heads of State and Government, the role played by the European Parliament and the EuroLatParliamentary Assembly as the parliamentary branch of the EU-LAC Bi-regional StrategicAssociation.

The Euronest PA successfully held its Third Ordinary Session from 27 to 29 May 2013 inBrussels, where four resolutions and amendments to the Rules of Procedure were adopted.

In September 2013, a Workshop of the EURONEST Committee on Energy Security gatheredpoliticians and experts from the EU Member States and Eastern European partner countries atthe Seimas (Parliament) in Vilnius. Following a Bureau meeting, held in early November inUkraine, the two Co-Presidents of the Euronest PA were invited to attend the EasternPartnership Summit in Vilnius (28-29 November), where the EP Co-President addressed theHeads of State and Government.

While the Armenia, Georgia and Moldova PCCs took place in winter and spring, in mid-November, after one-and-a-half years of post-electoral stalling, the EU-Ukraine PCC resumedits work at the EP in Brussels, an event which, in connection with the Cox-Kwasniewskimission and the upcoming Vilnius Summit, raised lively media interest.

The Chair of the South Caucasus Delegation visited Armenia and held talks with the highestState officials in the aftermath of the Armenian U-turn, referring to the country’s decision tojoin the Custom Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The ASEP meeting of October and the ASEM Summit in November 2012 suggested thepossibility of the EP hosting the next ASEP meeting in 2014. Preparatory work has beenconducted, in the light of the Council decision on multilateral Summits of December 2012.

Inter-parliamentary dialogue with Asia-Pacific strategic partners was pursued (China, Japan,South Korea and Australia), as well as political dialogue obligations derived from PartnershipCooperation Agreements (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan).

Regarding the ACP-EU JPA, the 25th Session was held on 17-19 June in Brussels, with the26th held from 25-27 November in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Both were preceded by ACPpreparatory meetings and the Women's Forum, meetings of political groups with theircounterparts, workshops, meetings of the Bureau, and the three standing committees. Inter-sessional meetings of the Bureau and the Committees were held in March and in September.In addition to the continued success of the work of the JPA in debating ACP-EU relations andscrutiny over the Commission and the Council, and the participation of high level speakers,the Ethiopian session also featured a thorough debate on the inter-institutional relations of theEU with the African Union.

The 9th Regional Meeting (Caribbean) took place in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)from 14-16 February; and the 10th (West Africa) was held in Abuja (Nigeria) from 17 to 19July. Both were successful, in particular, in terms of their contribution to the regional debateson the implementation of EPAs. Fact-finding missions of the Bureau of the Assembly wereorganised: to Mali from 5-7 March; to Liberia from 29-31 May, in the framework of thepolitical dialogue under Article 8 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement; and to Haiti, from6-8 November.

The ACP unit, through the three Standing Committees of the ACP-EU JPA, continued tomonitor legislative proposals having an impact on ACP countries and closely followed thenegotiations and implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreements.

16

ACP-EU JPA election observation missions observed the Presidential election in Mali and thesecond round of the presidential elections and the legislative elections in Madagascar, closelycooperating with the EU EOM and the EP EOM, with much added value in terms ofdeveloping ACP election observation capacity.

With a view to increasing the visibility of the ACP-EU JPA and explaining its role and itsactivities to European citizens, the ACP unit produced its own publicity materials during2013, as well as implementing a media and communications strategy, in cooperation with DGCOMM and the Editorial Unit.

2.4.2.1 Consolidation of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group(DEG)

On the basis of the project criteria and guidelines established in 2012, and the available budgetappropriations for 2013, the DEG considered and approved the indicative programme of theDirectorate for 2013 during its meetings of 23 January and 26 February. The DEG reiteratedits recommendation to focus OPPD activities primarily in the European Neighbourhood (Eastand South), to make good use of the expertise of former Chief Observers (MEPs) orrapporteurs for a given country, and that each country's detailed fact-sheet on all ongoingcapacity building activities (including those of PACE, UNDP, Member State agencies,political foundations and/or NGOs) should be provided and regularly updated, in order toallow the Members of the DEG to better judge whether Parliament's activities would carryadded-value for such countries.

The preparation of the (monthly) DEG meetings by all units of Directorate D: DemocracySupport was coordinated by the Election Observation Unit under the authority of the Directorand Director-General.

2.4.2.2 Election Observations

The EP sent election observation delegations to Jordan, Armenia, Kenya, Paraguay, Pakistan,Mali, Madagascar, Georgia, Tajikistan, Nepal, Honduras and Azerbaijan (a country added tothe list of priorities by the Conference of Presidents) contributing to the visibility of the role ofthe Institution in election observation.

As part of its annual programme 2013, DEG held an exchange of views in January withDirector Lenarcic of OSCE/ODIHR, regarding the severing of relations between thisinstitution and the OSCE PA; discussed in March the added value of EP delegations forelection observation in the OSCE area (lead Member: VP McMillan-Scott); and held anexchange of views in July with President Mignon of the Parliamentary Assembly of theCouncil of Europe, on current practices and political priorities of the two institutions, as wellas on ways to enhance cooperation and EP/PACE coordination in the area of electionobservation, democracy promotion and human rights

In May, an exchange of views took place on the "principles, challenges and implementation ofEU election assistance" (lead Members: Mr Cashman and Ms Gomes) and in June, the DEGheld an "Annual debate: reviewing the follow-up to recommendations of past year's missions"(led by Ms Muñiz de Urquiza). As an result of the debate, the DEG Co-Chairs requestedHR/VP Ashton to associate the Group via a structured dialogue in the selection of prioritiesfor follow-up missions.

In September and November, the DEG held debates on "the work of EP election observationdelegations" (led by Ms Muñiz de Urquiza) with the idea to better link EP election observationdelegations more actively with the follow-up process to elections. A separate exchange ofviews was held on the EP election observation delegation to Azerbaijan. Specific proposals onthe matter were sent to the Conference of Presidents by the DEG Co-Chairs.

17

For the first time, the EP was represented by Ms Hall, DEG-Member, at the political level ofthe 8th meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration of Principles for InternationalElection Observation (Warsaw, 17-19 September 2013).

Following the usual practice, the DEG was consulted by HR/VP Ashton on the prioritycountries for EU Election Observation Missions in 2014. The Group also selected prioritycountries to which short-term EP election observation delegations would be sent during theperiod of January-April 2014.

2.4.2.3 OPPD

In the reporting period, 18 study visits and other training events were organised with thefollowing countries, trans-border parliaments and parliamentary assemblies: the ArabParliament; the Gulf Cooperation Council; Senegal; Niger; South Sudan; Sudan; Uganda;Somalia; Azerbaijan; Tunisia; Morocco; Moldova; Myanmar; EuroNest; EuroLat; TurkPA;ECOWAS; and CEMAC. Of particular note, was the conference/training seminar for femaleMPs from the southern component of the UfM-PA (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) andthe study visit of the Human Rights Committees of the Parliaments of South Sudan, Ugandaand Somalia. Training was also offered to Euronest staff and to the other joint parliamentaryassemblies. An innovative e-learning project was developed with the CEDDET Foundationfor the benefit of L.A. Parliaments.

Capacity-building for the parliament of Myanmar started in earnest and a specialparliamentary session which was part of the EU-Myanmar Task Force events which wereattended by 6 MEPs, headed by VP Durant. This session also saw the signing of aparliamentary partnership declaration.

In line with political guidance from the DEG, the main focus of OPPD activities is on the EUneighbourhood, especially ENP-South. The support programme for the Tunisian parliamententered its implementation phase, despite difficulties related to the country´s politicalcircumstances. The first meeting of the Political Steering Committee of the UNDPprogramme took place in April, with Mr Gahler as EP representative. This was followed bystudy visits of staff members from different services of the Tunisian assembly to the EP inBrussels and Luxembourg and a visit to the ANC by the EP Head of Protocol.

A substantial parliamentary assistance programme was also put in place for Senegal, incooperation with EEAS and DEVCO, based on EOM recommendations and a needsassessment visit by OPPD/DG INTE staff. Activities notably included a visit to Dakar by MrBerman (former Chief Observer) and two study visits by staff and MPs from Senegal toBrussels, as well as technical advice to the NA on establishing an interpretation service,which also entailed a technical monitoring visit of the system and equipment in Dakar by atechnician of DG INTE.

In January 2013, the rules of the OPPD Democracy Fellowship programme were updated, andup to now seven Democracy Fellows have been received at the EP, from Moldova (2),PARLATINO (1), Senegal (2) and Myanmar (2).

The OPPD continued to stimulate research on topics of parliamentary practice with thepublication of a study on "Parliamentary control of the security forces" and translations intoFrench and Arabic of the "Parliamentary Ethics" brochure. A new OPPD newsletter waspublished in September and the OPPD cooperated closely with UNDP, notably in ENPcountries, and participated in donor coordination meetings and parliamentary practitioners

18

workshops. Contacts continued to be maintained with, inter alia, the IPU, NDI, the NationalEndowment for Democracy, International IDEA and FRIDE.

2.4.2.4 Relations with Parliaments in the Western Balkans and Turkey (Pre-AccessionActions)

Since January 2013, the Turkish parliament has been fully involved in all capacity buildingand training activities of the Pre-Accession Actions Unit (PAAC), hitherto organised forParliaments on the Western Balkans.

The Pre-Accession Actions Unit contributed to the organization of the Commission's "2ndSpeakup! conference on the Freedom of Expression and Media in the Western Balkans andTurkey" and organised, jointly with DROI, an exchange of views on "Legislative aspects ofmedia freedom in the Western Balkans and Turkey" between Members of DROI and MPsfrom the Western Balkans and Turkey.

A study visit to Brussels of high level officials of the Assembly of Kosovo (including theSecretary General) was organized, in cooperation with the Hungarian parliament.

At the request of the Croatian Parliament, a tailor-made programme of activities was prepared(before Croatia's accession to the EU in July) comprising two workshops in Zagreb on the"scrutiny procedures of EU legislation and policies in the national Parliaments" and on the"EU decision-making processes", with one study visit to Brussels to enable MPs and staff toget better acquainted with the work of the EP and its political and administrative bodies.

Four parliamentary seminars on "EU energy policy", the "Fight against organized crime,corruption and money laundering", "Youth and Education in the Balkans" and "Economiccrisis and its impact on the EU policies and enlargement countries" were organised inBrussels, in close cooperation with the relevant EP committees. A seminar on "Openparliament - transparency of parliamentary activities" was hosted by the Parliament ofFYROM in September.

A High Level Workshop with Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey andTurkish trade union confederations on "Social and Trade Union Rights in Turkey" took placein Strasbourg, in close cooperation with the Delegation to the EU-Turkey JPC. The annualmeeting with national correspondents from Western Balkans and Turkey was held in Tirana,evaluating the Pre-Accession Support Programme 2013 and discussing ideas for 2014.

The new Pre-Accession Fellowship Programme for 2013 was launched and Fellows fromFYROM, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro successfully completed their fellowships in theAGRI and AFET committees, at the EP Library and the Plenary unit. The feedback from theFellows as well as the respective hosting services was very positive. The procedure ofselection of candidates for 2014 was completed and seven candidates, one from eachparticipating parliament, were accepted.

2.4.2.5 Human Rights Actions

2013 was the first full year of activity of the Human Rights Actions Unit (HRAC) on the basisof a comprehensive working programme, endorsed by the DEG. Numerous activities helpedto increase the visibility of EP engagement in human rights and to focus more on the politicalneeds of MEPs. The Sakharov Prize Network (SPN) actions, directly linked to the EPPresident as its co-Chair, were agreed with the other EP-Members of the SPN in March. TheSakharov Prize 25th Anniversary was marked in November by a 3 day high-level Conferencein Strasbourg, hosted by the EP President, in which a record number of Sakharov PrizeLaureates (SPLs), their representatives (22) and numerous MEPs (AFET, DROI, DEG, VP

19

and former Presidents) participated. The Conference included meetings with speakers fromthe EEAS, EC, ECHR, EA for Fundamental Rights, UNICEF and NGOs. Laureates alsoparticipated, together with MEPs, in two seminars with students and journalists. A specialstudy, commissioned by FRIDE, on the impact of the Sakharov Prize over a quarter of acentury of the EP's engagement in human rights (based on contacts and debate withLaureates) was presented at this occasion.

The Conference was concluded by a solemn SPN Declaration, with suggestions for futureactivities. The event provided an ideal platform for the re-launch of the existing but (hitherto)less active Sakharov Prize Network.

In 2013, the EP hosted an unprecedented number of former SPLs, who were finally able toreceive their Prizes: SPL 2005 Ladies in White (Cuba) visited Brussels in April andparticipated in a public debate, chaired by the other 2005 Laureate (Reporters withoutBorders); Guillermo Farinas (Cuba), SPL 2010, received his prize in July in Strasbourg; andAung Sang Suu Kyi, SPL 1990, in October. In November, in parallel with the high-levelConference, the EP awarded the 2013 Sakharov Prize (SP) to Malala Yousafzai. Theceremonies were widely reported by the media.

Human rights public events in member states, with SPLs, MEPs, civil society and NGOs,were organized jointly with Parliament's Information Offices (EPIO): in Dublin (1stSakharov Lecture by Hauwa Ibrahim); in Helsinki (Zeng Jinyan, wife of SPL 2008 Hu Jia); inMarseille (Sakharov Lecture by S. Ghezali); and in Vilnius (Sakharov Lectures by Ladies inWhite and A. Milinkevich). SPLs met representatives of the member state governments andnew contacts with NGOs were established. In November, SPL 2010, G. Farinas, participatedin the World Forum for Democracy of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and SPL 2007, S.Osman, participated in the annual EU-NGO Human Rights Forum in Brussels in December.

Further human rights actions comprised daily monitoring of the SLs' situation; the HRACInfo & Alert Messages system for MEPs; the monthly EP SPN Newsletter; and on-goingcooperation with DG ITEC in creating a Human Rights Database, accessible to MEPs on EPurgency resolutions. In November the new SPN website was inaugurated:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/sakharov/home_en.html.

2.4.3 New working methods

Harmonised working methods were further developed, enabling the secretariats of the bodiesand the policy department to work in a way that cuts across areas – on a regional or thematicbasis – and is complementary and exploits synergies, including between DGs, with the aim ofhelping Members plan ahead and increase their impact.

In November 2012, together with DG ITEC, the EaP-Russia Unit first conceived, began toconfigure and finally test, the Share-Point pilot project "Est", designed to allow several Unitsconcerned in DG EXPO (and others) to work together on sharing knowledge and documents,and to coordinate calendars and elaborate documents in a collaborative/simultaneous manner,thus supporting, from a technical point of view, the already existing inter-service group "Est".The site was put “into production” in June 2013 and is accessible under the following address:http://km-collab..ep.parl.union.eu/expo/epr/SitePages/Home.aspx

Directorate B (delegations, assemblies), in cooperation with Directorate A (committees),focused on an improved method for associating delegations to committees' work in theframework of parliamentary scrutiny on the use of EU funds in third countries.

20

Colleagues working for the relevant parliamentary committee(s) in DG EXPO and DG IPOLare regularly consulted by Enlargement/EEA in order to take into account the latest EPpositions when preparing draft resolutions, joint statements, amendments or other relevantdocuments for Members.

The EEA/Enlargement Unit has continued to cooperate with the Policy Department, by fillinga temporary understaffing in the latter unit. The secretariat provided comments and input todraft country and other briefings produced by the Policy Department and in some casesreplaced it in preparing the notes.

The cooperation between staff in Directorates B (Regions) and A (Committees) hassatisfactorily continued in order to prepare the meetings of the Assemblies, as well as sharinginformation relevant to the work of both Directorates.

At administrative level, inter-service meetings were held regularly, serving as the focal pointfor coordinating the activities of the MENA region and Latin America. New inter-servicegroups were created, or those already existing were enhanced, for the ACP States, Asia,Western Balkans and the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Russia. Strongercooperation between the Policy Department, Enlargement and the Pre-Accession Units wasenvisaged.

In transatlantic relations the issue oriented approach involving committees in the work of theUS Delegation continued, both on the staff level and at interparliamentary meetings. Regularmeetings of the TLD Administrators network, organised by the TAR unit, are now always invideo conference with the EPLO in Washington, thus linking the work of committees, USDelegation and EPLO. At the 74th meeting of the TLD, held from 31 May to 1 June inDublin, economic governance and the TTIP agreement were among the key issues.

A new set of amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EU JPA was adopted, furtherimproving its working methods and the overseeing of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.

At administrative level, the Task Force on Human Rights, chaired by the DROI HoU,regularly brought together all relevant DGs (EXPO/IPOL/COMM) and services to enhancesynergies between the different activities on human rights engaged upon across Parliament.

Limitations on the possibility of travelling came fully into force at the beginning of this year.Following a suggestion by the CDC Chair, two modifications were made to the implementingprovisions in order to reduce the number of Members travelling, by limiting the quota from75% to 50% and by limiting nominative authorisation to travel only to full members and/orpermanent substitute members.

2.4.3.1 Harmonising the work of the parliamentary assemblies

Efforts to reduce the assemblies' costs continued in 2013 in cooperation with the other DGsconcerned (chiefly DG INTE and DG TRAD). Efforts were particularly striking in the caseof EuroLat, since the Conference of Presidents decided to halve the secretariat and interpreterstaffing levels for the meetings of the assembly's bodies in Vilnius between 16 and 18 July2013. In line with the Conference of Presidents' recommendations, following on from thework of the Roth-Behrendt working group, EuroLat remains the assembly which holds mostof its meetings in the shortest period of time.

A Working Group was set up in September 2013, at the initiative of the Eastern Partnership-Russia Unit, to harmonize documents of the multilateral Assemblies and to elaborate, incooperation with DG IPOL, proper and common templates in DocEP, not only to comply with

21

the rules and regulations of the EP, especially when it comes to facilitating access ofdocuments to the public, but also with regard to the internal work flow between differentservices (translation, registration, etc.) to facilitate smooth running. The Working Group willelaborate further on the possibility for Assemblies to use AT4AM, or a similar system, tohandle the tabling of amendments.

2.4.3.2 Policy Department

The Policy Department, in fulfillment of its mission, continued to support the politicalengagements of the President and the key parliamentary organs of the institution, namely itsCommittees and Delegations in the field of external relations. This was achieved by providingexpertise, advice and policy options for 271 briefings and speaking points, as well as in theproject management of 56 completed external studies (including 15 Workshops). Wheninternal capacities were saturated, and in order to continue to provide timely expertise, thedepartment drew upon its wide-ranging networks of external experts.

In addition, the Policy Department produced 161 Country Security Assessments (CSA) priorto the departure of the European Parliament's delegations outside the European Union (whichare not included in the chart below).

The Policy Department continued in the development of a forum, known as the Policy Hub,for exchange amongst experts, inside and outside of the institution.

2.4.3.3 Parliamentary dimension of G8/G20:

The project-team on G20, led by the Policy Department, has produced several analyses on G8and G20 and provided support for the Speakers' Consultation meeting in Mexico City in April.This consultation was marked by a breakthrough: the Russian presidency has been formallyasked to convey the conclusions of the Parliamentary meeting to the G20 Summit.

22

Following suggestions by the AANZ Unit, the Chairs of the six delegations for relations withG20 Asian countries (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia) proposed theorganisation of a joint meeting in 2013. Due to the lack of responses from our partners, thishad nevertheless to be postponed to a later date.

On the G8 and the G20, the TAR and G8 Unit prepared a note, outlining a strategic vision andproposals for more parliamentary involvement in the G8 and G20.

Cooperation with the Russian presidency of the G20 to organize a joint event has provendifficult. Nevertheless, the Policy department has organized a Policy Hub with the EUsherpas, staff concerned and political groups staff, immediately after the Saint PetersburgSummit.

2.4.3.4 Cooperation with the European External Action Service:

All sessions, regional meetings and fact-finding missions of the ACP-EU Joint ParliamentaryAssembly and of the DZA and the DPAP are organised in close cooperation with the EEASand EC services, including meetings with the Head of the EU Delegation in the host country.The second meeting of the EEAS Conference of Heads of Delegations with CDC and Chairsof relevant Committees was also organised on 3 September 2013 in the EP. A novelty thisyear was the holding of parallel sessions of the regional groups, most appreciated both byMembers, EEAS staff and EU Heads of Delegations. EEAS and Commission representativesat all levels were invited and participated in almost all Committee, multi-lateral assembliesand delegation meetings. Draft political declarations were often submitted for commentsbefore being finalised, in order to guarantee the coherence of the EU´s message. Regularsharing of information was arranged.

Cooperation with the EEAS was strengthened, since all regional meetings and fact-findingmissions of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, of the DZA and of the DPAP, wereorganised in close cooperation with the EEAS and the European Commission services,including meetings with the Head of the EU Delegation and the active involvement of the EUDelegation in the host country.

The DG EXPO Management Team met its counterpart in January 2013.

2.4.4 Allocate resources efficiently

The DG’s human, budgetary and IT resources were allocated effectively, and the managementthereof optimised, in the service of the parliamentary bodies in cooperation with the otherDGs.

2.4.4.1 Finance

Consolidating the process of centralising financial proceduresProcedures are updated and made more effective: In line with the objective, furthercentralisation of procurement procedures to the finance unit took place in the reporting period,in order to standardise and increase professionalism in the procurement of expertise.Better value for money: for example by leaving out the maximum amount from the invitationletters for tenders for external studies, the EP could procure ten external studies at 29.000€lower cost than if the maximum amount (15.000€) would have been mentioned (and agreed asthe price).Better use of EP resources: using EP's editing services, instead of outsourcing, can bringsignificant savings when procuring brochures or printed material.

23

The finance unit published a notice of a call for expression of interest in order to rationalizeprocurement of air, sea and land transportation of freight to ACP, Latin American,Mediterranean and Eastern European countries.

In accordance with its objective, the unit made a proposal to the Public Procurement Forum inorder to simplify the forms to be used in the procurement of low value contracts, in order toincrease competition by making it easier for small and medium sized enterprises to participate.Part of this proposal is the possibility of sending invitation letters and receiving tenders by e-mail in low value procurements.

DG EXPO’s internal financial rules for the activities of the Democracy Support Directoratewere finished in 2013. The harmonization and clarification of the DG’s internal financial rulesto cover all its activities still needs to be continued, particularly concerning reimbursement oftravel and accommodation, as well as reception and entertainment expenses.

Increased workload: in 2013 the number of transactions increased by 25% compared to 2012.At the same time the staff was reduced because of long term sickness, early retirement andmobility.

In addition, twice as many financial statements were produced in 2013 than in 2012, reflectingthe stricter requirements of the Conference of Presidents.

2.4.4.2 Events organisation service

The team participated in the organisation of five plenary sessions of Multilateral Assembliesand the Eurolat meeting in Vilnius in 2013. It also coordinated and assisted in the organisationof the EP's Open Days, 1st Summit of Speakers of Parliaments, 25th Sakharov PrizeAnniversary and the EU-Heads of Delegations (EEAS) meeting. Close cooperation with otherDGs (DGs INTE, TRAD, INLO) enabled a more cost-effective use of EP resources in theorganisation of these events. Equally, increased cohesion of procedures for the MultilateralAssemblies and other events was achieved in 2013. However, better communication betweenthe relevant units is still needed in order to increase productivity and effectiveness in the area.

2.4.4.3 ICT

In line with its objectives, the ICT team finished the procedure for migration to Windows 7/Office 2010. In order to improve its "client service", an automated printing service forassembly delegates to print documents from their smart phones was implemented. DG EXPO's"Speaking Time" application was updated and used for the PA UfM Plenary. The installationof new photocopier machines with scanning capacity was implemented in 2013.

In January 2013, the ICT team supported the Eurolat-Plenary session in Chile and thetechnical set up for the PA UFM Secretariat was prepared.

2.4.4.4 Human resources

The objective of human resources is to provide high quality support to the Members ofParliament.

Recruitment: In order to recruit the best qualified candidates and to support them in such away that they remain highly motivated and keep up their knowledge base, vacant posts werepublished in a timely manner which led to low rates of unoccupied posts. Recruitmentinterviews were conducted under standardised conditions, so that the comparison between oneprocedure and another was easy. To date, of the DG's 230 posts, only 10 posts remainunfilled, but all are at different stages of the recruitment procedure.

24

Trainees: As three quarters of the approximately 4000 trainees that apply twice a year for aplace in the EP want to join DG EXPO, we have been trying to convince colleagues, bothwithin the DG and in DG PERS, to provide more traineeships. Twice a year, we nowwelcome 30 trainees. With only 110 permanent AD colleagues in the DG, this is a highnumber. The trainees have welcome meetings, undergo training and are closely accompaniedby the personnel unit. The DG also welcomes a certain number of "ad hoc" trainees and triesas much as possible to find space for trainees from EPLO etc. After the move to Square deMeeus in 2014, the DG will try to host even more trainees.

Training: A training plan for 2014 is being developed and will be adopted soon. A specialplan which will foresee special training courses in the year 2014 during the election periodhas been drafted. Preparations are underway.

Missions: The DG has a stringent policy regarding organigrams in general and derogations inspecific. There is no problem fulfilling the objectives with the existing budget.

Assessment procedure and mobility: The assessment procedure for 2013 is starting inJanuary 2014. For 3 colleagues, derogations from mobility were granted. All other mobilecolleagues moved. The mobility procedure for 2014 is being prepared.

Screening: Some months ago, DG EXPO carried out a survey amongst its staff in the form ofa 'satisfaction questionnaire'. As a follow-up to this questionnaire, working groups will be setup and are expected to be operational as of end of February 2014.

Security of delegationsTwo training sessions were provided in 2013 for delegation and committee assistants, toemphasise the importance of security procedures and instruct on how to complete acomprehensive security file.All staff partaking in travel are required to participate in a one day training course on raisingawareness to security and medical emergencies during travel. In addition, in 2013 sevencolleagues from the DG participated in an intensive five day course for travel to high riskdestinations. This training is offered in cooperation with the EEAS.

To facilitate data collection for travelling delegations in the future, a Safe Mission Database(SMD) was developed. Version 2.0 of this database was tested during user acceptance tests inOctober. However, the database still has some teething problems, identified during thistesting, and it is therefore probable that only the section containing medical data will be usedon a wider scale during 2014. The section designed to contain travel data requires furtherprogramming work.

2.5 Result indicatorsAs most of the objectives at DG level are mainly political and general (as for example“increase EP’s involvement in the EU’s external policies by improved support toparliamentary bodies in their legislative, budgetary, control and diplomatic functions”), it isdifficult to establish meaningful numeric result indicators related to these. Therefore, thereported numeric result indicators should be analyzed together with the qualitative results(described above) in order to establish a total picture of the DG’s results in the reportingperiod.

25

To support the work of the 113 political bodies dealing with external relations, the units of theDG have organized 123 inter-parliamentary and 23 committee delegations or activities in2013. The table below shows the delegations/activities by units in 2013:

Inter-parliamentary delegations No of delegations/activitiesEnlargement/EEEA 23Eastern Partnership/Russia 7Middle East 11Transatlantic Relations 2Asia/Australia/New Zealand 20WTO meetings 1Election Observation missions 14Ad hoc delegations 6ACP delegations 4ACP-EU JPA meetings 12Latin America delegations 8PA Eurolat 3PA Union for Mediterranean (Euromed) 6PA Euronest 6Total inter-parliamentary delegations and Assemblies 123Committee delegations 23Total 146

The procurement of external expertise, mainly to support the work of the committees and sub-committees, stands for almost one third of DG EXPO's budget. DG EXPO procured 41external studies and briefing papers in 2013. In addition, the Policy Department produced 432internal papers and Country Security Assessments, as well as organising 15 workshops tosupport the political engagements of the EP’s parliamentary bodies. The table below showsthe details of the Policy Department’s productivity:

External studies and briefing papers 41Policy briefings 72Quick Policy Insights 30Background notes, speaking points 76Country briefings 93Country Security Assessments 161Total 473

In order to support the work of the committees and sub-committees, the committeesecretariats organized 31 public hearings in 2013. To these hearings, 93 guests were invited topresent their views; out of these 51 were paid guests. The table below shows the hearingsorganized by different committees:

Committee No of hearings No of invited guests No of paid guestsAFET 6 16 11DEVE 4 25 9INTA 6 24 13DROI 8 16 10SEDE 7 12 8Total 31 93 51

26

It can be mentioned that the number of public hearings has slightly declined in recent years,while the number of workshops has increased (the latter being organized by the PolicyDepartment and also requiring a written contribution from the guest). As regards publichearings, the maximum quota for invited, paid guests, was 72 in 2013, of which 70,8% wasused.

In addition, the units in the Democracy Support Directorate organized 52 activities in 2013:OPPD, 27 study visits, trainings and meetings; Human Rights Actions Unit, 10 conferences(including the Sakharov Prize Ceremony and Network Conference); and the Pre-AccessionUnit, 12 seminars and study visits. Three events were also organized for the Young PoliticalLeaders from Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood Countries.

3 Evaluation and effectiveness of internal control

When evaluating the internal controls in DG EXPO, it is worth bearing in mind that in termsof budget appropriations, its activities include a high number of low value transactions.Around one third of DG EXPO's budget is used for expenses directly related to delegations'activities, almost one third for external expertise aimed at supporting the work of thecommittees, and the rest mainly for the democracy support activities.

The programmes and activities of the committees and delegations are adopted by the Bureauor by the Conference of Presidents, while the programmes of the new Democracy SupportDirectorate are adopted by the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group.

After political authorisation, the initiation of the transactions takes place in the operationalunits, procurement/ordering, ex-ante verification and budgetary authorisation in the financeunit. This segregation of duties (after political authorisation) guarantees that each transactionis implemented and monitored by four different actors. In addition, the use of budget funds isreported regularly at consolidated and transaction level to the Director-General, Directors andHeads of Units of the DG. Therefore, the use of budget funds is under very transparent anddetailed scrutiny at all levels of the hierarchy.

The ongoing centralisation of procurement of expertise to the finance unit, improves furtherthe internal control in this context.

As regards sensitive posts, DG EXPO's assessment did not identify any post with sensitivityabove the acceptable level. This is mainly due to the control environment in the DG andparticularly due to segregation of duties which allocates to different individuals theoperational initiation, financial initiation, ex-ante verification and authorisation of eachtransaction.

Concerning programming, objective setting and delegations of powers, programming isperformed through the Annual Programmes and permanently updated calendars for committeeand delegations activities. Objectives are set yearly on the basis of the Administrative WorkProgramme approved by the Secretary General. The objectives of the DG are communicatedto the staff in writing, objectives at lower levels in writing and orally in meetings. Delegationsof powers are clearly defined and always communicated in writing.

Risk management within the DG is still under development and efforts to include it in theplanning and management of the DG's activities is in progress (and in any case, riskmanagement is a continuous process requiring regular monitoring and updating). For detailsconcerning risk management, please see point 6.8.

27

4 Conclusions

4.1 General evaluation of the reporting periodDG EXPO conducts its activities in accordance with the objectives it has set itself on a year-by-year basis and in the projects under the Administrative Work Programme for the period2012-2014. Nevertheless, those objectives simply formalise administratively the decisions ofthe political bodies operating in the field of external relations which the DG assists. It is theDG's responsibility, in this process, to optimise the allocation of financial and humanresources placed at its disposal through Parliament's budget. The economic situation isprompting the political authorities to ensure that Parliament keeps a closer eye on itsSecretariat's resources.

That was a constant concern of the Director-General and the various departments during thecourse of the year, as they consistently attempted to improve the service provided toMembers. It resulted in enhanced monitoring of the needs and duration of missions, and thecareful screening of missions as regards estimated and actual costs. Heads of units were madevery aware of these considerations at departmental meetings, and of the instructions issued bythe Secretary General in this regard. Despite the difficulty of finding genuinely meaningfulquality tools with which to assess the performance of the secretariats of the bodies concerned,DG EXPO considers that it was able to fulfil the tasks entrusted to it very satisfactorily interms of assistance to Parliament and in administrative terms, too, setting up a new directorateproviding greater coherence for Parliament's action in support of democracy. On a strictlyfinancial level, implementation of the various types of expenditure, most of which waseffected as planned, can generally be assessed as positive.

4.2 Evaluation of the available resourcesThere were sufficient budget resources for the DG's traditional activities, though a number ofnew political needs had to be met through transfers, such as the funding for Euronest Scolaand expansion of the 'Young Political Leaders' programme.

DG EXPO’s staffing under the 2013 budget was sufficient for the secretariats of thecommittees and delegations to fulfil the tasks assigned by the bodies they serviced. DG EXPOhas also worked to develop flexibility in the assigning staff in response to temporary spikes inworkloads and/or unforeseeable specific needs.

4.3 Conclusions on strengths and weaknesses and foreseeable measures with aview to better adaptation of the available personnel and budgetary resources

Overall, the staff assigned to the DG's departments match needs in terms of the tasks carriedout. They are skilled (with appropriate initial training, relevant professional experience and arelevant language profile). They are also highly committed to their work: 128 administratorsand 116 assistants provide secretariat services for 113 political bodies at the main places ofwork, in the EU, and in non-EU countries. Lastly, staff are well informed and have a sense ofduty. Accordingly, they meet the requirements of the Staff Regulations as regards ability,efficiency and integrity. Due attention is paid to gender balance and geographical balance.

A number of aspects are being focused on with a view to the following improvements: staff, though they have obligations towards their respective line managers, must work

together; beyond the respective domain of each unit or directorate, or even thedirectorate-general itself, every individual must take a broad-based approach,commensurate with the matters in hand, to their work assignments; contacts,consultations and cooperation are essential in order to produce high-calibre work; it is

28

already the case that some staff members are assigned to a particular unit, but alsowork, to some extent, for one or more other units - an arrangement which could beextended;

by the same token, information flow from one department to another must be standardpractice; information is not the property of a particular official or department; on thecontrary, information must be readily available; the technical means to make that soare there; they are not enough, however; attitudes need to change;

secretariats of political bodies are not always sufficiently well informed aboutprocedures for using resources (staff, finance, and information and communicationtechnology); the departments responsible will give other departments' staff relevantinformation and training and address their specific needs; in this area, there should bea focus on training managers, given the impact of the decisions they take and thechoices they make;

particular attention should be paid to the concern felt by a number of assistants, moreso than by administrators, following the recent changes to the Staff Regulations andConditions of Employment of Other Servants; more specifically, as a result of therecent changes a new function group has been introduced and the scope for careerdevelopment narrowed; these issues are prompting questions; they must be answeredby providing the necessary information, essential clarifications and explanationswhich are expected;in addition, arrangements benefiting staff which are not covered by the StaffRegulations should be based less on grade than on actual operational requirements;that approach would foster a greater sense of being part of a team and of workingtogether.

The total amount of the 2013 budget proved to be sufficient to meet the needs foreseeableduring the preparatory procedure. The transfers' requests were approved following newdecisions taken during the financial year. The non-used appropriations result from differentreasons: planned delegations are cancelled or modified, budgets for certain expenditure aredetermined by political decisions or internal rules, as for example the representationallowance for committees and delegations, the number of reimbursed experts per committee.Therefore, the corresponding appropriations need to be included in the budget. In addition,given that the budget transfer procedure is lengthy, a security reserve for delegationstravelling to high risk destinations is foreseen, however, only a part of it was spent.

Concerning the established rules, some improvements would be useful. There is a risk fordouble use between the limited 16 experts' quota per committee and the unlimited number ofworkshops committees may request. Several regulations in force foresee a reimbursement perkm but the amounts are different without clear ground. Also the requested representationexpenditure is in some cases problematic as regards the eligibility of the expenses.

Year 2013 was an important and demanding transitional year for ICT because of themigration to Windows 7 and Outlook 2010. The service organised this action in closecooperation with DG ITEC, informing clearly EXPO staff before the migrations andsupporting the users during the implementation.

The website support provides appropriate input to the secretariats. However there are anumber of secretariats which need to pay more attention to this communication tool.

29

I, the undersigned,

Director-General of External Policies of the Union

hereby declare in my capacity as authorising officer by delegation that I have a reasonableassurance that:a) the information contained in the report presents a true and fair view;b) the resources assigned to the activities described in the report have been used for their

intended purpose and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management;c) the control procedures put in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality

and regularity of the underlying transactions.

This reasonable assurance is based on my own judgment and on the information available tome, such as, for example, the results of self-assessment, the remarks made by the InternalAudit Service and the conclusions drawn from the reports issued by the Court of Auditorsrelating to financial years preceding that for which this declaration is made.

I also confirm that I am not aware of any fact not set down herein that could be prejudicial tothe interests of the institution.

Done at Brussels

29 January 2014

Signature

30

5 ANNEXES

5.1 Relevés d'exécution budgétaire 2013

Current appropriations

Poste Intitulé Credits Initiaux VirementsBudg. Suppl.

Credits Actuels Engagementscontractes

% Util. Paiementseffectues

Soldes desEngag

Creditsdisponibles

03020-10-99 FRAIS DE RECEPTION ET DE REPRESENTATION DES COMMISSIONS PARLEMENTAIRES ET DES DÉLÉGATIONSINTERPARLEMENTAIRES92.290,00 -30.000,00 62.290,00 42.191,67 67,73 27.191,67 15.000,00 20.098,3303042-02-99 REUNIONS, CONGRES ET CONFERENCES : REUNION DES COMMISSIONS ET DES DELEGATIONS75.000,00 0 75.000,00 37.322,81 49,76 26.166,21 11.156,60 37.677,1903042-05-99 REUNIONS, CONGRES ET CONFERENCES : COTISATIONS AUX ORGANISATIONS INTERNATIONALES10.000,00 0 10.000,00 7.778,38 77,78 7.778,38 0 2.221,6203043-00-01 DELEGATIONS EUROPE - ENLARGEMENT/EEA 0 53.400,00 53.400,00 34.488,50 64,59 22.743,81 11.744,69 18.911,5003043-00-02 DELEGATIONS EUROPE - EURONEST/RUSSIA 0 43.700,00 43.700,00 5.687,61 13,02 4.725,53 962,08 38.012,3903043-00-03 DELEGATIONS MIDDLE EAST 0 55.700,00 55.700,00 17.976,21 32,27 11.374,07 6.602,14 37.723,7903043-00-04 DELEGATIONS AFRICA/CARIBBEAN/PACIFIC 0 22.100,00 22.100,00 5.983,93 27,08 5.983,93 0 16.116,0703043-00-05 DELEGATIONS TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 0 35.400,00 35.400,00 12.689,26 35,85 8.882,40 3.806,86 22.710,7403043-00-06 DELEGATIONS LATIN AMERICA 0 46.900,00 46.900,00 18.531,74 39,51 13.541,95 4.989,79 28.368,2603043-00-07 DELEGATIONS ASIA/AUSTRALIA 0 104.100,00 104.100,00 53.872,84 51,75 19.408,88 34.463,96 50.227,1603043-00-08 WTO MEETINGS 0 32.600,00 32.600,00 1.520,00 4,66 1.520,00 0 31.080,0003043-00-09 ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSIONS 0 324.100,00 324.100,00 120.919,31 37,31 61.122,75 59.796,56 203.180,6903043-00-10 DELEGATIONS AD HOC 0 21.300,00 21.300,00 9.858,85 46,29 4.839,23 5.019,62 11.441,1503043-00-20 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE ACP-UE 0 106.200,00 106.200,00 59.777,81 56,29 10.020,29 49.757,52 46.422,1903043-00-21 FRAIS MISSIONS AUTONOMES ACP 0 17.300,00 17.300,00 3.681,39 21,28 3.681,39 0 13.618,6103043-00-22 FRAIS EXPERTS ACP 0 26.800,00 26.800,00 3.656,06 13,64 1.156,06 2.500,00 23.143,9403043-00-30 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE EUROLAT 0 42.000,00 42.000,00 21.770,18 51,83 21.577,06 193,12 20.229,8203043-00-40 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE UFM 0 227.600,00 227.600,00 210.476,59 92,48 210.226,59 250 17.123,4103043-00-50 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE EURONEST 0 43.800,00 43.800,00 14.212,49 32,45 14.212,49 0 29.587,5103043-00-99 FRAIS DIVERS D'ORGANISATION DES ASSEMBLÉES PARLEMENTAIRES, DES DÉLÉGATIONS INTERPARLEMENTAIRES ET AUTRES DÉLÉGATIONS1.473.000,00 -1.463.000,00 10.000,00 10.000,00 100 0 10.000,00 0

Sous-Total 1.473.000,00 -260.000,00 1.213.000,00 605.102,77 49,88 415.016,43 190.086,34 607.897,2303200-02-01 EXPERTS ET AUDITIONS 0 65.400,00 65.400,00 65.400,00 100 41.542,89 23.857,11 003200-02-02 ETUDES AFET 0 209.000,00 209.000,00 139.608,75 66,8 23.438,75 116.170,00 69.391,2503200-02-03 ETUDES SEDE 0 56.100,00 56.100,00 41.770,26 74,46 7.070,26 34.700,00 14.329,7403200-02-04 ETUDES DROI 0 169.200,00 169.200,00 104.657,81 61,85 23.962,81 80.695,00 64.542,1903200-02-05 ETUDES DEVE 0 166.600,00 166.600,00 140.266,79 84,19 4.670,26 135.596,53 26.333,2103200-02-06 ETUDES INTA 0 137.300,00 137.300,00 118.149,01 86,05 74.399,01 43.750,00 19.150,9903200-02-99 ACQUISITION D'EXPERTISE : ETUDES, EXPERTS ET AUTRES PERSONNALITES1.080.000,00 -1.033.600,00 46.400,00 26.978,19 58,14 26.478,19 500 19.421,81

Sous-Total 1.080.000,00 -230.000,00 850.000,00 636.830,81 74,92 201.562,17 435.268,64 213.169,1903220-12-99 DÉPENSES DE DOCUMENTATION ET DE BIBLIOTHÈQUE:LIVRES ET SOUSCRIPTIONS DG EXPO10.000,00 0 10.000,00 5.907,11 59,07 4.207,11 1.700,00 4.092,8903230-00-01 RELATIONS AVEC LES PARLEMENTS DES PAYS TIERS ET PROMOTION DE LA DÉMOCRATIE PARLEMENTAIRE0 535.000,00 535.000,00 370.442,81 69,24 267.562,88 102.879,93 164.557,1903230-00-02 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIONS 0 115.000,00 115.000,00 43.026,84 37,41 3.526,84 39.500,00 71.973,1603230-00-99 RELATIONS AVEC LES PARLEMENTS DES PAYS TIERS ET PROMOTION DE LA DÉMOCRATIE PARLEMENTAIRE750.000,00 -750.000,00 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sous-Total 750.000,00 -100.000,00 650.000,00 413.469,65 63,61 271.089,72 142.379,93 236.530,3503244-04-01 EURONEST - SCOLA 0 190.000,00 190.000,00 130.951,70 68,92 117.298,70 13.653,00 59.048,3003245-02-01 PRIX SAKHAROV ET FRAIS D'ORGANISATION LIÉS À LA CÉRÉMONIE DUDIT PRIX0 200.000,00 200.000,00 183.202,29 91,6 116.317,21 66.885,08 16.797,7103245-02-02 RESEAU D'ACTIVITES SAKHAROV 0 180.000,00 180.000,00 129.326,00 71,85 117.948,90 11.377,10 50.674,0003245-02-03 YOUNG POLITICAL LEADERS 0 98.000,00 98.000,00 85.303,58 87,04 30.456,50 54.847,08 12.696,4203245-02-99 PRIX SAKHAROV ET FRAIS D'ORGANISATION LIES A LA CEREMONIE DUDIT PRIX, RÉSEAU D'ACTIVITÉS SAKHAROV ET YOUNG POLITICAL LEADERS400.000,00 -378.000,00 22.000,00 0 0 0 0 22.000,00

Sous-Total 400.000,00 100.000,00 500.000,00 397.831,87 79,57 264.722,61 133.109,26 102.168,1303249-03-99 ECHANGES D'INFORMATIONS AVEC LES PARLEMENTS NATIONAUX DES BALKANS OCCIDENTAUX, DES PAYS EN PRÉ-ACCESSION ET DE LA TURQUIE200.000,00 0 200.000,00 182.231,74 91,12 82.461,53 99.770,21 17.768,26TOTAL GENERAL 4.090.290,00 -330.000,00 3.760.290,00 2.459.618,51 65,41 1.417.494,53 1.042.123,98 1.300.671,49

31

Appropriations carried forward from 2013 to 2014

POSTE INTITULECREDITS

REPORTESCREDITSACTUELS

ENGAGEMENTSCONTRACTES

PAIEMENTSEFFECTUES

% UTIL.CREDITS

DISPONIBLES

03042-02-99 REUNIONS, CONGRES ET CONFERENCES : REUNION DES COMMISSIONS ET DES DELEGATIONS11.156,60 11.156,60 11.156,60 0,00 0,00 11.156,6003043-00-22 FRAIS EXPERTS ACP 2.500,00 2.500,00 2.500,00 0,00 0,00 2.500,0003043-00-02 DELEGATIONS EUROPE - EURONEST/RUSSIA 962,08 962,08 962,08 0,00 0,00 962,0803043-00-06 DELEGATIONS LATIN AMERICA 4.989,79 4.989,79 4.989,79 0,00 0,00 4.989,7903043-00-20 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE ACP-UE49.757,52 49.757,52 49.757,52 0,00 0,00 49.757,5203043-00-09 ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSIONS 59.796,56 59.796,56 59.796,56 0,00 0,00 59.796,5603043-00-30 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE EUROLAT193,12 193,12 193,12 0,00 0,00 193,1203043-00-03 DELEGATIONS MIDDLE EAST 6.602,14 6.602,14 6.602,14 0,00 0,00 6.602,1403043-00-01 DELEGATIONS EUROPE - ENLARGEMENT/EEA 11.744,69 11.744,69 11.744,69 0,00 0,00 11.744,6903043-00-40 FRAIS DIVERS ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE UFM 250,00 250,00 250,00 0,00 0,00 250,0003043-00-05 DELEGATIONS TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS 3.806,86 3.806,86 3.806,86 0,00 0,00 3.806,8603043-00-10 DELEGATIONS AD HOC 5.019,62 5.019,62 5.019,62 0,00 0,00 5.019,6203043-00-07 DELEGATIONS ASIA/AUSTRALIA 34.463,96 34.463,96 34.463,96 0,00 0,00 34.463,9603043-00-99 FRAIS DIVERS D'ORGANISATION DES ASSEMBLÉES PARLEMENTAIRES, DES DÉLÉGATIONS INTERPARLEMENTAIRES ET AUTRES DÉLÉGATIONS10.000,00 10.000,00 10.000,00 0,00 0,00 10.000,0003020-10-99 FRAIS DE RECEPTION ET DE REPRESENTATION DES COMMISSIONS PARLEMENTAIRES ET DES DÉLÉGATIONSINTERPARLEMENTAIRES15.000,00 15.000,00 15.000,00 0,00 0,00 15.000,0003200-02-05 ETUDES DEVE 135.596,53 135.596,53 135.596,53 0,00 0,00 135.596,5303200-02-03 ETUDES SEDE 34.700,00 34.700,00 34.700,00 0,00 0,00 34.700,0003200-02-04 ETUDES DROI 80.695,00 80.695,00 80.695,00 0,00 0,00 80.695,0003200-02-02 ETUDES AFET 116.170,00 116.170,00 116.170,00 0,00 0,00 116.170,0003200-02-01 EXPERTS ET AUDITIONS 23.857,11 23.857,11 23.857,11 0,00 0,00 23.857,1103200-02-06 ETUDES INTA 43.750,00 43.750,00 43.750,00 0,00 0,00 43.750,0003200-02-99 ACQUISITION D'EXPERTISE : ETUDES, EXPERTS ET AUTRES PERSONNALITES500,00 500,00 500,00 0,00 0,00 500,0003220-12-99 DÉPENSES DE DOCUMENTATION ET DE BIBLIOTHÈQUE:LIVRES ET SOUSCRIPTIONS DG EXPO1.700,00 1.700,00 1.700,00 0,00 0,00 1.700,0003230-00-01 RELATIONS AVEC LES PARLEMENTS DES PAYS TIERS ET PROMOTION DE LA DÉMOCRATIE PARLEMENTAIRE102.879,93 102.879,93 102.879,93 0,00 0,00 102.879,9303230-00-02 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIONS 39.500,00 39.500,00 39.500,00 0,00 0,00 39.500,0003244-04-01 EURONEST - SCOLA 13.653,00 13.653,00 13.653,00 0,00 0,00 13.653,0003249-03-99 ECHANGES D'INFORMATIONS AVEC LES PARLEMENTS NATIONAUX DES BALKANS OCCIDENTAUX, DES PAYS EN PRÉ-ACCESSION ET DE LA TURQUIE99.770,21 99.770,21 99.770,21 0,00 0,00 99.770,2103245-02-02 RESEAU D'ACTIVITES SAKHAROV 11.377,10 11.377,10 11.377,10 0,00 0,00 11.377,1003245-02-01 PRIX SAKHAROV ET FRAIS D'ORGANISATION LIÉS À LA CÉRÉMONIE DUDIT PRIX66.885,08 66.885,08 66.885,08 0,00 0,00 66.885,0803245-02-03 YOUNG POLITICAL LEADERS 54.847,08 54.847,08 54.847,08 0,00 0,00 54.847,08SOUS TOTAL TITRE 03... 1.042.123,98 1.042.123,98 1.042.123,98 0,00 0,00 1.042.123,98

32

5.2 Rapport sur le respect des délais de paiement

Intérêts de retard àpayer à la demande

(<=200€)

Pas d'intérêts de retardà payer Total

Nombre de factures 537 537

Montant total des factures (EUR) 1.309.984,14 1.309.984,14

Montant des intérêts de retard (EUR)

Nombre de factures 91 91

Montant total des factures (EUR) 128.119,83 128.119,83

Montant des intérêts de retard (EUR) 228,98 228,98

91 537 628

128.119,83 1.309.984,14 1.438.103,97

228,98 228,98Montant des intérêts de retard (EUR)

Factures payées

Endéans le délai

Après le délai

Nombre de factures

Montant total des factures (EUR)

In 2013, 91 invoices were paid late, accumulating late interest amount of 228,98 Euros. Mostof late paid invoices relate to E-tickets invoiced by the travel agency already at the time of theorder, i.e. before the flight takes place. The verification and payment of these invoices tookplace only after the flight, in order to validate the received services. Therefore, in these casesinvoices were paid after the due date. However, none of these interests was paid to thesuppliers as they were all below the threshold of 200 Euros that triggers automatic payment ofthe interest. Lower amounts are only paid if requested by the supplier. In 2013, none of thesuppliers requested such a payment.

The number of late paid invoices in 2013 was more than twice as many as in 2012 (theaccumulated interest was still slightly lower in 2013). This is partly due to significantunderstaffing in the finance unit during several months in 2013 (20-40% less staff thanusually); the remaining staff was not able to deal with all the transactions within the deadlines(the number of invoices increased by 37% in 2013, compared with 2012).

It can be mentioned that the table above does not include two overdue interest payments madein 2013 but related to old invoices concerning two Election Observation Missions in 2008.The invoices for the missions were received in December 2008 and January 2009 but theywere not paid as they needed some clarifications and a correcting credit note. However, theinvoices remained unpaid after the corrections for several months (probably due to highturnover of staff, as can be seen in the comments in the Annual Activity Report 2008 and2009). Due to a weakness of the finord software, the two invoices did not appear on thelistings of the overdue interest extracted from finord at year-ends. Therefore, we were notaware of these two overdue interest invoices before 2013 when they were paid (368,28€ and2.408,87€). The service in charge of finord has been made aware of the problem with thesoftware.

33

5.3 Liste des exceptions - dérogations à la réglementation

In 2013, no exceptions requiring passer outre took place in DG EXPO.

5.4 Obligations contractuelles de longue durée

N.A.

34

5.5 Procédures négociées exceptionnelles

DG Relevant AOContractReference Subject Type Category Duration

EconomicOperators Amount Curr

ExceptionalNegotiatedProcedures Justification Comment

EXPOLuis MarcoAGUIRIANO

NALDA2013/20015-01

ElectionObservationmission toJordan23/01/2013,various services

ServiceContract

27 Otherservices Ponctuel GIZ 16.284,81 EUR NP article 134 NP article 134.1 b)

Various logistical andsecurity services providedby a particular economicoperator

EXPOLuis MarcoAGUIRIANO

NALDA2013/20112-01

Electionobservationmission toParaguay21/04/2013,various securityand logisticalservices

ServiceContract

27 Otherservices Ponctuel GIZ 15.190,35 EUR NP article 134 NP article 134.1 b)

Various logistical andsecurity services providedby a particular economicoperator

EXPOLuis MarcoAGUIRIANO

NALDA2013/20146-01

Electionobservationmission toPakistan11/05/2013,various securityand logisticalservices

ServiceContract

27 Otherservices Ponctuel

INTERN.ORGANISATIONMIGRATION

97.070,00 EUR NP article 134 NP article 134.1 b)

Various logistical andsecurity services providedby a particular economicoperator

EXPOLuis MarcoAGUIRIANO

NALDA2013/20208-01

Electionobservationmissions toMali, 1st and2nd round,28/07 and11/08/2013(EP) 1st roundACP-EU JPA,various securityand logisticalservices

ServiceContract

27 Otherservices Ponctuel GIZ 52.343,33 EUR NP article 134 NP article 134.1 b)

Various logistical andsecurity services providedby a particular economicoperator

EXPOLuis MarcoAGUIRIANO

NALDA2013/20345-01

Electionobservationmission toHonduras24/11/2013various logisticaland securityservices

ServiceContract

27 Otherservices Ponctuel INDRA SISTEMAS 16.510,00 EUR NP article 134 NP article 134.1 b)

Various logistical andsecurity services providedby a particular economicoperator

35

For the five Election Observation Missions in the table, DG EXPO used the same serviceprovider as the European Commission, as the service provider should meet certain quality,reliability and security requirements. The service provider was recommended by theCommission/EEAS.

For the selection of security services for the Election Observation Mission to Pakistan andMali, the agreement of Public Procurement Forum in the EP was requested (3/5/2013GEDA 23732 and 17/07/2013 GEDA 37899 respectively). It agreed with DG EXPO'srequest.

5.6 Résultat des évaluations ex-post

DG EXPO did not have the necessary personal resources to perform ex-post evaluations in2013 in the meaning of the applicable financial rules. Given the low value of transactionsand, the control environment and the fact that each transaction has to pass through an ex-ante control with strict segregation of duties, ex-post control is not considered to providebenefits which would exceed its cost (even controls should be cost-effective).

5.7 Fonctions sensiblesIn line with Secretary General's note of 13 April 2012 (Geda 16635), all posts in DG EXPOwere assessed concerning sensitivity with a methodology recommended by the note. Theresults of the assessment were reported in the note of 26 June 2012 (Geda reference 34238).Its conclusion was that that none of the posts in the DG (excluding Director-General andDirectors) was assessed as sensitive because the control environment sufficientlycompensated the risks related to each post. There have not been any changes in DG EXPOwhich would change this assessment and conclusions in 2013.

The evaluation of internal control (point 3 of this report) explains further the controlenvironment in the DG.

Fonction identifiée sensible Mesures prises

36

5.8 Évaluation de la mise en oeuvre des normes minimales de contrôleinterne

Tableau synoptique d'évaluation

Commentaires sur le résultat de l'exercice annuel de l'autoévaluation des NMCI

1. Normes évaluées achevées - bonnes pratiques

[Indiquez, le cas échéant, les bonnes pratiques mises en place, allant au delà de ce que lesnormes prévoient, concernant les normes notées comme "achevées"]

2. Normes évaluées presque achevées - éléments à compléter

Concerning analysis and management of risks (point 11 in the table above), DG EXPO'srisk management is still under development: risks of the DG have been identified, theirimpact and likelihood assessed, mitigation measures planned and partially implemented.The implementation of the mitigation measures needs to be improved, equally furtherefforts to improve the awareness of risk management of the hierarchy and staff are neededin order to make it part of the general planning, management and implementation ofactivities in a more structured and conscious manner.

N° norme achevée presque en partie démarré à démarrer/ NA

Section 1: Environnement de contrôle

1. Déontologie et intégrité X2. Mission, rôle et tâches X3. Compétences du personnel X4. Rendement du personnel X5. Fonctions sensibles X6. Délégation X

Section 2: Performance et gestion des risques7. Fixation d'objectifs X8. Programmation pluriannuelle X9. Programme de travail annuel X10. Contrôle de la performance sur la base d'objectifs et d'indicateurs X11. Analyse et gestion du risque X

Section 3: Information et communication

12. Information ad hoc en matière de gestion X13. Enregistrement du courrier et systèmes d'archivage X14. Signalement d'irrégularités X

Section 4: Activités de contrôle

15. Documentation relative aux procédures X16. Séparation des tâches X17. Surveillance X18. Relevé des exceptions X19. Continuité des opérations X

Section 5: Audit et évaluation

20. Identification et correction des insuffisances du contrôle interne X21. Rapports d'audit X22. Examen annuel du contrôle interne X

37

It can be mentioned, that some of the risks (for example security of the delegations) are ofcross-cutting character and DG EXPO needs co-operation and assistance from services inother DGs for full implementation of the mitigation measures.

3. Normes évaluées partielles ou démarrées - points faibles et pratiques

[Pour les normes dont la mise en œuvre est évaluée comme "partielle" ou "démarrée",indiquer les faiblesses constatées que vous envisagez d'adresser pendant l'exercice 2013(dépendant de votre DG), celles que vous estimez devoir être adressées mais qui dépendentde l'extérieur, ainsi que, le cas échéant, les pratiques adoptées par votre DG pour faire faceà ces faiblesses]

4. Normes évaluées à démarrer ou non applicables.

[Pour les normes dont la mise en œuvre est évaluée comme "à démarrer" indiquez pourchacune un descriptif détaillé de la situation constatée et les actions envisagées pour 2013,sauf pour les normes que vous considérez "non applicables"].