Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-237"
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"en.19991005.10.2-237"2
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"The honourable Member is absolutely right to highlight this important issue.
As the House is aware, one of my top priorities is to build on recent improvements in the management of European Union external aid programmes. In this context I should mention the significant personal contribution of Philippe Soubestre Director-General of the SCR.
We have a huge responsibility to the developing countries to ensure effective and timely use of European Union aid. This is vital for the credibility of our policies and for the wider international image of the EU. The honourable Member will know that the Commission’s services have recently made significant progress in eliminating the backlog of late payments on external aid contracts. The vast majority of valid invoices are now being paid within the normal deadline of 6 000 days – I beg your pardon 60 days. This applies, in particular, to the some 5 000 current projects with NGOs, financed either from the budget or via our delegations from the EDF.
It is an unfortunate but inevitable fact of life that we never have as much money as we would like. This is particularly true in development aid where the available resources are never enough. This means, for example, that we have requests for additional support for existing co-financing projects with NGOs amounting to twice the available budget in 1999.
This may create an impression of delays, but in reality it is an unavoidable consequence of pressure on limited resources.
Finally, I draw the honourable Member’s attention to recent changes to the requirements for NGOs to provide bank guarantees, which should make it easier to obtain advance payments up to EUR 1 million."@en1
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