Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-16-Speech-2-010"
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"en.20010116.2.2-010"2
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"Mr President, in her report, rapporteur Mrs van der Laan looks at the progress which the Commission has made over the past year with regard to following recommendations set out in the report on the 1997 discharge. She is rather pleased with the reams of paper which the Commission has produced. I am waiting for more substance, for results. The intentions are good, but the effect will not be evident until we see the results, once, for example, OLAF is working truly independently, once the backlog in payments has been cleared, once fewer errors are made in payments and once we finally gain access to confidential documents.
Furthermore, I am unconvinced by all the Commission’s good intentions. The scheme for whistle-blowers, much applauded by Mrs van der Laan, leaves a great deal to be desired. Instead of openness and transparency, the scheme exudes an atmosphere of damage limitation. According to the new rules, whistle-blowers must prove that they have followed the correct procedures. Is this not a case where the burden of proof should be reversed? We should let the Commission prove that it applied the procedure correctly.
Mrs van der Laan devotes much thought to the aid to the Palestinian regions and displays an astonishing degree of faith in the decisiveness of the European Union’s delegation in the process. I would like to see a report in which the role of our Palestinian counterpart is explained. Moreover, the recent executions force us to revisit the conditions for European aid. In this connection, I would draw everyone’s attention to the fact that the teaching material in Palestinian schools contains many anti-Semitic statements, which, in our countries, would fall under the heading of incitement to racial hatred. European aid must serve peace. That is why I have tabled an amendment in which I urge the Commission not to support the spreading of anti-Semitism in schoolbooks in any way. There should be no question of European money being used to pay for the spreading of racist views. I therefore heartily recommend my amendment, and hope it will meet with broad support. A formal condemnation is not doing anyone any good."@en1
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