Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-16-Speech-2-020"
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"en.20010116.3.2-020"2
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"Mr President, I want to acknowledge the important role of the Court of Auditors in preparing these reports. I am dealing with four reports relating to the dairy sector, the cereals sector and swine fever involving total spending of approximately EUR 16 billion, which is a considerable proportion of the budget. The study by the Court of Auditors involves a great deal of detail and we must acknowledge the important role it plays in assisting Parliament in its work, because, obviously, without this interaction between the Court of Auditors and Parliament, Parliament would be in no position to evaluate or judge the effectiveness of Commission spending. We can also acknowledge that the Court of Auditors plays a role in assisting the Commission to identify weaknesses in its administration and difficulties which it may not have observed in the way Member States implement our various schemes.
The Court of Auditors, in this particular report, has drawn attention to the weaknesses in the basic regulations, weaknesses which make it difficult for the Commission and indeed even the Member States to effectively control spending. In the special report on the reform of the cereals sector, the Court of Auditors has drawn attention to the question of whether or not the policy itself attains its economic and social objectives.
To go back to the dairy sector – there are two reports here, one relating to skimmed-milk powder, the other to butter – we should remember that even though we have a quota system which is designed to bring production close to the level of consumption, we still have to spend approximately EUR 3 000 million a year disposing of surpluses, and of the skimmed-milk powder which we produce something like only 37% of it is sold at market value. In other words, the rest of it must be subsidised for use in animal feed and other things. Similarly, in the case of butter, only 75% of the butter we produce is sold at market prices. This identifies the weaknesses in the policies where we have a quota system and at the same time require vast Community resources to subsidise surpluses.
The Court of Auditors' report – and Parliament supports this – draws attention to the fact that we should perhaps utilise our resources better in a way that might encourage greater consumption of dairy products on our European markets, rather than subsidising unused quantities.
In the cereals sector, the main concern of the Court of Auditors was the fact of overcompensation which has been well documented and which we acknowledge, and it also draws attention to the fact that it is necessary in designing policy at all levels – Commission, Council and Parliament – to take account of market changes. When we designed this policy we did not foresee the rise in world prices which led to gross overcompensation in the sector. The report also draws attention to the fact, and Parliament notes this, that something like 40% of all the EUR 14 billion spent in the cereals sector goes to 3% of farmers, and 54% of farmers only get approximately 5% of the aid.
This again draws attention to the whole thrust of the policy and whether or not we should review it with the idea of making it more compatible with regional policy and with social policy. These were the main concerns expressed. We should also say in relation to the cereals sector or to the dairy sector that we have noted that the Commission has undertaken a root and branch review of the policy and has already set that study in motion. So we look forward to its completion.
I want to thank the Commission for its cooperation and the fact that it has already taken action on some of the weaknesses identified in the various reports."@en1
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