Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-04-Speech-1-109"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000904.7.1-109"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Outwardly, Mr Galeote Quecedo's report seems very reasonable, but on closer examination, we get a rather different picture. If the proposals were pursued, we would have another building block in the construction of a European State.
There are many points of detail in the report which are particularly controversial, not least the idea of European Union embassies and the suggestion that the European Union should have "coordinated representation in international bodies such as the UN". The implication of this is that the United Kingdom and France should give up their seats in the Security Council and make way for an EU representative. I am alarmed at the anti-United States rhetoric which we have heard from a number of speakers, and at some of the other outbursts from other Members.
This is hardly the moment for the Commission to be encouraged to embark on yet another ambitious development of its role. The Commission's external assistance programmes account for nearly EUR 10 billion this year, and the priority task of the Community delegations is to administer these programmes properly and efficiently. Mr Patten has just made reference to this. In his communication on the reform of external assistance, Mr Patten recognised, and I quote, "acute staff shortages have had a direct and negative impact on the speediness and quality of EC aid delivery". He said that there is an urgent need to focus activities on core tasks and that additional staff needs will be concentrated in the area of project and programme implementation, in particular within delegations.
The clear conclusion is that the most important role of delegations is the administration of external assistance, not to try and run some additional diplomatic tasks. Management personnel is what we need in the delegations. There is no recognition of this in the Galeote Quecedo report. Yes, the Commission needs to recruit a different sort of personnel. Yes, it needs to give them improved, specialist training, but not for some new-fangled diplomatic service, but to get the external assistance programmes on the right footing."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples