Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-13-Speech-2-023"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011113.2.2-023"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Karlsson, today you are presenting your annual report as President of the Court of Auditors, together with those Members of the Court still in office. This is the last time you will present the report, as you are leaving office, as are a number of other Members of the Court. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the retiring Members of the Court both personally and on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control for the years of excellent and effective cooperation and mutual trust under your presidency, and also under the previous presidency of Professor Friedmann, who is also retiring. There have occasionally been differences of opinion, but I believe that we have always managed to cooperate well, and we have, above all, performed a control function that has ultimately benefited the taxpayer. So once again, many thanks. The Annual Report of the Court before us today also demonstrates that we have made some further progress. I only want to highlight a couple of points.
The most striking point is the large surplus of own resources: EUR 11.6 million or over 14% of the budget has not been spent. The finance ministers are, of course, delighted, as this means that they will have to pay less to the EU next year, but we in the Committee on Budgetary Control are concerned to know which of the objectives that we have set ourselves have not been achieved. I believe that the Commission would be well advised – and I understand from the press that there will be surpluses again this year – to get to work on supplementary and rectifying budgets so that the money available is really spent on achieving objectives.
The complex and cumbersome nature of the legal framework and the extent of the controls therefore involved are also a matter of concern both for the Parliament and for the Court of Auditors, and, as Commissioner Schreyer has just said, for the Commission too. We need to work to simplify things as a matter of urgency, so that the public can also obtain funding, rather than say, ‘It is so complicated. I do not want any money from the European Union’. Controls need to be proportionate but also to be effective, to lead to positive outcomes and to have a preventive effect.
My last point is the positive statement of assurance, the SOA. Anyone looking for concrete figures or percentages in relation to payments will be disappointed. Once again, the Court has not mentioned any concrete figures. This House had actually pressed for that. The Court now wants to bring forward a refined method of producing this positive statement of assurance. We are more than happy to cooperate on this, but we also have to look and analyse where errors are due to the Member States and where they are the Commission's responsibility. The Commission is ultimately responsible, and it must accept this responsibility. I would like to thank you once again, Mr Karlsson, for your excellent cooperation, and I would like to wish all the retiring Members and you personally all the best for the future."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples