Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-16-Speech-4-014"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-09-16"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:European Reconstruction Agency – Situation in Kosovo2
dcterms:Language	"nl"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19990916.2.4-014"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-09-16-Speech-4-0152
lpv:speaker	lp:Lousewies van der Laan2
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member_of_the_bureau; ELDR (1999-09-13--2003-01-29)3 vice-chair; CONT (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Democraten 66 (1999-07-20--2003-01-29)3 member; Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, after months of misery it looked as though it was going to be possible for a little ray of hope to shine on Kosovo. The European Union generously released EUR 500 million to help the Kosovars rebuild their country and the Commission did its best too. Instead of the usual bureaucratic “to-ing and fro-ing” between Brussels and the location where the work takes place, the Commission opted for a decentralised agency which was in a position to start work on an autonomous basis. But nothing came of the Commission’s good intentions. Yet again they were torpedoed by political games in the Council. It was due to horsetrading, for it cannot be called otherwise, between the Germans and the Greeks, that the unhappy decision was taken to have the Reconstruction Agency based in Thessaloniki. This leads to wastage, wastage of money, wastage of manpower and wastage of efficiency. It also produces incomprehension in Kosovo, for at the end of the day, it is Kosovo itself that has to be reconstructed and not Greece. But the worst is still to come. Do you know that a Kosovar needs a visa to travel to Greece? And that he can only obtain that visa from the Greek Consulate in Belgrade? Of course that is very hostile territory for most Kosovars, which means that in deciding to base the agency in Thessaloniki, the ministers are excluding the people they are trying to help from the reconstruction process. The members of the Committee on Budgetary Control have decided unanimously, that is across all parties, to reject this state of affairs. We also call for there to be effective supervision of the agency. Some of the points have already been mentioned by my colleague from the Committee on Budgets. Furthermore, we consider it to be of the greatest importance, of course, for OLAF to be able to intervene when things go wrong. I will just return briefly to the question as to where the agency should be based, and I also speak for my group. Mrs Pack has very courageously taken upon herself the task of clearing up the Council’s mess, proposing a completely logical solution that involves establishing the agency in Pristina and linking it with the Stability Pact in Thessaloniki. That ought, at the same time, to give some substance to the motley collection of talking shops we have now. I applaud her intentions, but of course the question is whether the Council is going to take any notice. I think it was made clear yesterday that the Council has no intention of listening to what we want in any way, shape or form. That is why I wholeheartedly support her proposal to postpone things. We are simply going to have to do battle with the Council for what is right and efficient."@en1

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