Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-13-Speech-1-101"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.19991213.4.1-101"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I shall try to comment on all the interesting contributions to this debate. Some have commented that Parliament must be the first to receive the material the Court produces, be it our annual report or the special reports we produce throughout the year. Let me make an unequivocal and clear statement that this is absolutely the rule we shall obey, that this Assembly will be the first to receive our reports.
I would also stress that the work undertaken in constructing OLAF has to be continued. In the Court's special report on the UCLAF activities we have pointed to a number of proposals that we think both Parliament and Member States should undertake, concerning a European prosecutor and other measures to continue the fight against fraud.
If I may add one thing immediately to the point made by Mr Pomés Ruiz: I entirely agree with him that you must make very special requirements of a Court of Auditors, that it must be like Caesar's wife. But what has happened in this case is that the Court has found out who was guilty of leaking the draft annual report to the press, and has taken the appropriate measures. All of us know that this is not the only time that information on classified material has been passed on. What has happened hitherto is that the Court has established this. I hope we can continue to do the same in every case but I would not deny, as President of the Court of Auditors, that special demands could be put on us as a result.
Many speakers have pointed out the responsibility of Member States. I can only confirm that this is a positive response to the challenge of Member States' willingness to fight fraud, to put their house in order, to enhance control systems, a challenge that we have pointed out in the annual report may be even greater this year, while not for one minute diminishing the role and the responsibility of the Commission in this context. The Commission must, at the same time, dare to impose clear demands and requirements on the Member States' control systems.
Ms Morgan asked me a clear-cut question: is there something specific in this annual report that should make Parliament not grant discharge? Let me underline what the Court's role is in this context: it is to give you all the material we find it appropriate and advisable to put forward, and leave it to you to make the political decision on discharge.
I will only say that the question that needs to be asked is whether the Commission has done everything in its power to remedy the shortcomings that have been pointed out. I would certainly not make any specific detailed remark on any one point. It is the overall material that has been produced both in this annual reports and in the special report we have produced, and will produce, that should be the basis for Parliament's decision on this point.
I would underline what Mrs van der Laan pointed out concerning fraud in the Union, and would point out that, judging from press reports about fraud in general and attacks on public budgets, you would think the European budget was more vulnerable than any.
This is, of course, not true. What has been stated many times is that this is a problem that all countries, both in their regional and national budgets, have to fight.
May I take this opportunity to point out that the Chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Mrs Theato and myself addressed jointly a contact committee of all the presidents of Member States' national audit offices and the Court of Auditors, just to point out to these key people that fighting fraud in European funds is also a national task. This is a clear example of Parliament and the Court of Auditors working to draw this to the attention of the Member States.
I agree with Mr Staes that this is no bedtime reading and I was very worried when they started to put out the lights, but because of Mr Dell'Alba's courageous intervention this was stopped."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Court of Auditors."1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples