Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-054"
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"en.20000411.3.2-054"2
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"Mr President, the issue of discharge is an immense one for the institutions of the EU. Its importance is evident in the fact that in many cases it is now being proposed that the discharge should be postponed. As far as the Commission is concerned, this is the fifth year in succession that the Court of Auditors has not delivered an unambiguously favourable verdict. As the Member States, that is to say the Council, has advocated discharge, this is almost a matter of structural conflict. Apparently, the Court of Auditors should specify the shortcomings and incidences of malpractice in more detail and place less trust in mathematics.
Although I say this, in no way does this diminish the Commission’s responsibility, which is a great one. The reports concerning discharge show just how badly administrative reforms are needed. Commissioner Kinnock’s package of reforms must be pushed through without delay. The main focus is the reform of internal auditing in each of the institutions. Administration and auditing must go hand in hand to preserve a sense of personal responsibility and help it grow. The present system, in which it takes various signatures to authorise payments, does away with the notion of personal responsibility. It is totally impossible to find anyone who will take responsibility. Improving the quality of administration is a basic requirement for a greater sense of responsibility and better efficiency. Increased control is only a reflection of the fact that the organisation has failed.
The main financial difficulties focus on the largest budgetary category, agriculture. This is because agricultural aid is largely based either on land area or the number of livestock, and the Member State in question pays it. This development is largely due to the WTO agreement, which determines the various forms of agricultural aid, their classification and the desired trend it should adopt. The system has led to a tremendous amount of bureaucracy, an enormous increase in monitoring, and, in the long term, we can assume it will also lead to inefficiency and the entrepreneurial spirit of agriculture will vanish forever. At the same time, the European farmers have become the most closely observed section of the population on the Continent, and, for that reason, I am hoping for a lucid clarification of the agricultural aid system at the forthcoming WTO talks.
Mr President, over the last few days we have read in the press that the European Parliament is a haven for thieves. This is both embarrassing and distasteful. We must act in such a way that EU property is treated with the same respect as other property. In this connection, we must check up on the matter of parliamentary administration. In the EU budget this year there is an appropriation of EUR 300 000 set aside for an investigation into parliamentary administration. According to the budget, this investigation will be given to an independent expert. What has happened to this investigation, why has it not got under way, and what is going to be done about it?"@en1
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