Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-034"
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"en.20000411.3.2-034"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to restrict my comments to the so-called Mulder and Casaca reports. Mr Mulder, I should like to start by thanking you on behalf of the Commission for your report on granting discharge in respect of the decisions on clearance of accounts of the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF for the 1993, 1994 and 1995 financial years. The main thrust of the report is that clearance of accounts for the expenditure financed by the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF was a job well done. This can also be seen from the financial corrections quoted under number 1.
I consider this to represent a certain degree of acknowledgement and, at the same time, to be an order to do even more in the future. I expressly state that I agree with number 4. The date of April 2002 is needed in order at last to guarantee the proper operation of the integrated administration and control system in all the Member States. It is also a prerequisite to our being able to reduce the error rate still further. As regards the question of building up a central database containing data on all payments to final beneficiaries, I should like to draw your attention to the following. The interaction between the common agricultural policy and the final beneficiaries currently passes via approved paying agencies in the Member States. These agencies have all the data on the final beneficiaries and the Commission services naturally have unrestricted access to them. However, I should like to stress that the Commission does not need a central database per se in order to exercise its control function and I would therefore suggest that a cost-benefit analysis should be considered here.
A study is currently examining if it is technically feasible to set up a central database for recording all payments and hence all final beneficiaries. Even if it is not prescribed under law, it could of course simplify a number of operations, not only for the Commission, but also for the Court of Auditors or OLAF. The Commission is aware of the fact that the European Parliament considers it important to know the names of the recipients of the largest sums. However, I should point out here that, because of data protection at Union and Member State level, it would be impossible to publish such information, even if it were technically feasible.
As far as staffing the clearance of accounts unit is concerned, I can confirm, Mr Mulder, that only the three posts of the new unit leaders have yet to be published. The recruitment procedure for the remaining six posts has already been completed, or will be shortly. The Conciliation Body referred to in number 16 of the report is one of the measures which should ensure that efforts to speed up the procedure do not compromise the quality of document audits. However, this is only a consultation process and it is the Commission itself which takes the decision in all cases. I can also assure you that refunds and the aid regime for flax and hemp will be examined very conscientiously. Corrections totalling EUR 249.8 million were made to refunds for the financial years from 1994 to 1998. However, before we can make any further corrections for subsequent financial years, we must first carry out the scheduled control visits.
Allow me to conclude with a few comments on the declaration of assurance. It is proposed in the resolution that there should be a separate declaration of assurance for the EAGGF and the individual sectors. This question is, of course, addressed first and foremost to the Court of Auditors. The Commission notes this proposal with interest. A first step in this direction should of course be a declaration of assurance for individual policy areas, i.e. separate declarations for the agricultural fund, the Structural Fund and so on. This alone would considerably improve this instrument. And finally, my thanks in this respect to the Committee on Budgetary Control for their excellent cooperation in drafting the report.
A few words now on Mr Casaca’s report. I should also like to thank you, Mr Casaca, for your report. According to Council Regulation No 723/97, the Community contributes towards the costs “incurred by Member States in implementing new action programmes, arising out of new Community obligations, approved by the Commission and aimed at improving the structures or effectiveness of EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure controls”. The purpose of the proposed amendment tabled here is to improve controls. In addition, provision is made for the Community to make a contribution in cases in which the Commission calls on the Member States to carry out additional controls over and above the minimum rate laid down in the regulations.
I should like to make the following comments on the proposed amendments. The Commission cannot, unfortunately, accept proposed Amendment No 1 insofar as the rapporteur proposes changing the legal basis for the regulation from Article 37 to Article 280. The Commission takes the view that Article 37 of the Treaty is the correct legal basis because the most important objective of the proposal is to prevent irregularities in EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure.
As far as proposed Amendment No 2 is concerned, the Commission cannot accept the part which refers to the second paragraph of Article 5a, in which mention is made of administrative and staffing costs incurred by the Commission in administering this scheme. I agree with the idea behind the proposal, i.e. to ensure that the Commission has sufficient means at its disposal to perform its tasks, but the proposal confuses the administrative and staffing costs incurred by the Commission which are covered solely from Part A of the budget with the operational costs in Part B of the budget and I am unable to agree to this."@en1
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