Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-04-Speech-4-039"
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"en.20000504.3.4-039"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I do not intend to use up all the time between now and the votes at 11 a.m. This draft regulation concerns a civil crisis management measure and I feel that, as rapporteur, Mr Laschet has certainly left us in no doubt as to the fact that this is not some peripheral budgetary decision we are discussing, but an absolutely crucial issue, that of the extent to which responsibility for civil crisis operations and foreign policy management is shared by the European Parliament. That is what the debate on whether it should be established in the first or third pillars is all about.
I would just like to say something about comitology, because there is also a proposed amendment on this. The Council Presidency, for its part, signalled that the comitology measures could be deleted and that it could be left to the Commission to take full responsibility for implementation. Of course, that would be another way of bringing home the fact that this is a civilian crisis management measure and the Commission is responsible for its implementation.
As far as UNMIK is concerned, and the situation that has arisen there – that is to say, a new legal basis is being adopted although the necessary budgetary step has not yet been completed – I can explain what was agreed at the trialogue on 12 April: so as to guarantee uninterrupted financing of the UNMIK actions, the Council has resolved that financing will continue under the CFSP in the interim. As soon as the supplementary budget, which I am hoping the Commission will approve on 10 May – I will present it in any case – has been adopted, it will be possible to rearrange the financing in the desired manner. I hope that the Council and Parliament will discuss the supplementary budget very soon, so as to enable a clear regulatory framework and financial safeguards to be established for financing these measures, which are intended to build a civil society in regions that formerly experienced, or are currently experiencing, crisis.
What we are discussing here are the special administrative bodies set up by the international community that have been entrusted with the task of implementing peace agreements in crisis regions, or taking charge of the interim civilian administrations in the regions in question, and I am disappointed by your comment, Mrs Vachetta, that you consider this merely to be a cosmetic exercise. I believe there are considerable opportunities for intervention, with a view to promoting the development of civil societies in crisis regions.
The EU budget is currently helping to finance two such bodies: the office of High Representative for Bosnia and UNMIK in Kosovo. In its original proposal for a new regulation, the Commission proposed creating a general legal basis for Community participation in the financing of administrative bodies of this kind set up by the international community. Parliament has pronounced itself in favour of creating a special legal basis for the two existing administrative bodies, OHR and UNMIK. I believe it is indeed necessary to reach this compromise, so as to take this step forward, and you have certainly cited exhaustive grounds to this end. All in all, I would like, on behalf of the Commission, to extend my sincere thanks to the rapporteur, Mr Laschet, and to the committees involved, for the work they have done and their commitment in this matter, which has certainly been in evidence during this debate.
As for the remaining proposed amendments, I can assure you that, needless to say, the Commission will keep the budgetary authorities informed on a regular basis. The Commission will also endeavour to fulfil the new task with existing personnel. I would also like at this point to take up the criticism that has been raised here – indeed Mr Staes went into great detail in his intervention – concerning financial management in the High Representative’s office in Bosnia. The Court of Auditors has presented a highly critical report – a special report. Whilst the Commission does not reject the Court of Auditors’ accusations as unfounded, I would like to remind you once again that the conditions under which people are having to labour out there are very difficult, and would point out that this explains a great deal, even if it does not excuse it.
In this regard, however, I would stress that the office of the High Representative comes under the aegis of the peace implementation council, and the fact that other regulations are sometimes applicable in this respect makes it difficult of course to strictly enforce the financial regulations that come from the Commission. The Commission is of the opinion that the financial and procedural regulations emanating from the High Representative’s office were improved during the course of 1999. It was mainly regulations governing personnel deployment and budgetary management that were pushed through."@en1
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