Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-14-Speech-2-089"
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"en.19991214.5.2-089"2
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"Mr President, Madam Minister, ladies and gentlemen, the results of the Helsinki Summit were presented and debated this morning. The decisions to come out of Helsinki have far-reaching consequences for the future of the Union, namely the resolutions on the enlargement strategy, on the intergovernmental conference and on the common foreign and security policy. The Finnish Presidency dealt with a huge agenda; the Summit was a success, a good conclusion to 1999 and, with the Millennium Declaration, a good start for the future. It would be therefore be a great pity if we were unable to announce a satisfactory conclusion to the budgetary procedure. The new budget for 2000 will serve as a clear basis for sound policies. The budgetary procedure has involved difficult negotiations but I have no intention of reviewing the entire process. We have now reached the point where there is fundamental agreement on fundamental points. The Council and Parliament have agreed, as Minister Siimes has just explained, that the entire flexibility reserve may be used for financing expenditure on Kosovo. Most importantly, it has been agreed – and this was particularly important to Parliament, quite rightly, in my view – that an important political statement is being made, namely that the tasks of the European Union in Kosovo and in the Balkans are tasks which extend over several years and that, in order to honour these tasks financially, we may need to increase expenditure on foreign policy in comparison with the expenditure forecast at the beginning of this year, when we based our assessment on a somewhat different political situation. In order to be able to finance these additional requirements over coming years and, above all, in order to remain within the overall framework decided in Berlin for coming years, the financial perspective may need to be changed or reviewed. It is precisely the combination of new priorities, together with budgetary discipline, which may mean that we need to change the financial perspective.
I should also like to stress – and the credit here goes in particular to the rapporteur, Mr Bourlanges – that the Commission is to examine its entire system for outsourcing activities to Technical Assistance Offices. More importantly, Mr Bourlanges has proposed that a new administrative unit be set up which is similar in structure to the agencies. The Commission has agreed on a timetable for reforming the system used hitherto.
I should like at this point to extend my warmest thanks to the rapporteurs, Messrs Bourlanges, Virrankoski and Colom i Naval – even if your report has not been tabled for discussion today – and, above all, to the chairman and members of the Committee on Budgets for their intensive work over recent months.
I should also like to thank the Council and to congratulate you, Minister Siimes, on your Finnish Presidency of the Council. I understand that you proposed a solution to the final differences between the Council and the European Parliament in the overall process, namely that payment appropriations be reduced by EUR 2 billion. I think that this should be stressed here once again.
The strength of the European institutions lies in finding compromises and in forging compromises. The negotiations were long, but we are now at the point at which agreement can be reached. It is now a question of seizing the opportunity to get the budget 2000 and the new year off to a good start and I urge Parliament to do so.
At present the Commission – and this has been stressed here – is unable to submit the exact financing requirements for the Balkans as a whole. The Commission, my colleague Mr Patten in particular, and the administration are still hard at work on this. However, the World Bank and the Commission have produced a very accurate study of reconstruction in Kosovo, which shows that a total of 2.3 billion dollars or euros will be needed in external aid over the next few years to repair not only war damage but the cumulative damage which has arisen as a result of the fact that the political situation in Kosovo over recent years has led to a disaster in human terms. There is an immediate need for a large sum of money, because we cannot in fact say that rebuilding houses or restoring schools and the power supply is a task for tomorrow. No, it is a task for today. There is an urgent need, and I hope that we are still able to find a solution which does not put these needs off until tomorrow but tackles them today.
Agreement has been reached on entering EUR 300 million under the budget for the year 2000, in addition to the EUR 60 million redeployed from this year, and on considering the EUR 140 million granted at the donor conference as part of the funds promised for the year 2001.
Important decisions were also taken at Helsinki on the enlargement of the European Union. Negotiations with the six candidate States are continuing and negotiations with six new candidate States have commenced. The budget includes pre-accession aid which will rise from EUR 1.3 billion this year to EUR 3.1 billion next year. New programmes are being funded in agriculture, infrastructure aid and transport and the environment, thereby paving the way for the candidate countries to join the Union.
The deployment of these appropriations will be very closely observed by my services in the form of financial control. The financial control system forms a separate chapter in the negotiations.
In order to be able to estimate expenditure which may accrue for enlargement – the Berlin financial framework includes expenditure from 2000 onwards –, I shall suggest to the Commission that there be permanent screening of the economic situation and the enlargement expenditure needed as a result. The peoples of the Member States must also be clear that enlargement is not a financial roller coaster.
The budget 2000 includes EUR 32 billion in commitments to support structural policy in the Member States. The new programming period for 2000 to 2006 can therefore start being funded and it is starting with a new programme which emphasises that aid from the structural funds should, at the same time, help to improve gender equality, environmental protection and the employment situation. I can assure you that we shall remind Member States quite clearly of their duty to deploy the appropriations so that these objectives can be achieved.
The budget 2000 includes EUR 41 billion for agricultural policy. I should like to draw attention to the appropriations deployed for the second pillar of agricultural policy, namely for programmes to promote rural development. The European Parliament fought intensively for this second pillar of the agricultural policy. I shall do my very best to ensure that the programmes in this area get off to a good start.
I should also like to mention that the number of posts at the anti-fraud office will be increased under budget 2000 – this has already been mentioned – so that the OLAF is equipped to carry out its task."@en1
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