Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-24-Speech-2-178"
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"en.20020924.10.2-178"2
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". – Mr President, first of all I wish to thank the Parliament for its invitation to this debate today. I tend to interpret your invitation as the recognition of the political importance of the areas of Justice and Home Affairs and Information Policy, and definitely not of its budgetary importance, because comparing my budget with those of my colleagues, I feel like a beggar who is invited to a Christmas party in Wall Street. As far as budgetary issues are concerned, in order of presentation, I wish to thank the LIBE committee, Mr Ceyhun in particular, for the non-stop support this Commission has been given in establishing the area of freedom, security and justice. Once again, the LIBE Committee proposes the increase of the budget lines thought to be politically more important.
On the subject of expert assistance and the priority campaigns, we particularly welcome the specific proposal that the budget line for financing of PRINCE correspondents should also be increased. Without such an increase, we will not be able to engage Member States in developing the priority PRINCE campaigns. We also strongly support the amendment to restore a cut of EUR 500 000 made by the Council, in the line that provides for the use of information correspondents to work with the media in the Member States and for the use of Eurojust experts to answer citizens' questions relating to European law.
On the euro campaign, I must re-state what the Commission has already said in the past. The information to the candidate countries on the euro is included in the enlargement campaign, and the Commission believes that, in the case of the countries which are not yet part of the euro, the necessary funds will be proposed the day that each of these countries decides to join the euro.
Finally, in the new basis of cooperation between the Parliament and the Commission and engaging the Member States, we will be able to improve our information and communication policy and therefore make better use of taxpayers' money.
The PDB was prepared by the Commission based not only on political considerations, but also on the financial framework approved for each of the programmes, or on past experience in the running of the preparatory actions or pilot projects. Moreover, it presents a difficult balance between the human resources needed to ensure the correct management of the credits and those needed to ensure the creation of this area from a legal point of view.
For these reasons, the proposed amounts represent a certain stability concerning the total amount, but with a re-centring of activities, a recast of the cooperation programmes, and an intensification of the actions in the area of asylum and immigration, including the external border control and the establishment of Eurojust.
The Commission welcomes the very constructive opinion of the LIBE Committee, which brings into the PDB the major political developments which have occurred since its presentation – such as the conclusions of the European Council of Seville – which obviously could not have been considered at the time our PDB was presented. Nevertheless, I will make a plea for careful examination, bearing in mind such difficulties as human resources.
I now turn to the Cultural Committee, Mr Perry in particular, and also to the Economic and Financial Affairs Committee, particularly Mr Bergman. In terms of information and communication to the public in general, over the last few years we have seen great progress in cooperation between our institutions, in the provision of information to citizens, at political level between our relevant services and most importantly, on the ground, in the Member States.
Recognising that the challenge of communication with 370 million citizens is immense, and the means available are definitely limited, we are now working increasingly with the Member States so that they share the responsibility for informing their citizens, engaging them in a dialogue that is a prerequisite for good governance and increased public support. The adoption by the Commission, in July, of the communication on an information and communication strategy for the European Union, and the warm welcome it received, both by the Culture Committee and the Interinstitutional Group on Information, provide tangible evidence of our shared political will to be proactive in generating awareness, combating ignorance and apathy and improving perceptions about the Union.
Returning to budgetary aspects, I must underline that, as in all other aspects of the budget, the Commission took a very realistic position in relation to information and communication. We recognised that, whilst informing and communicating with citizens must be a priority, we have to ensure that we have the capacity, especially in terms of human resources, to manage the expenditure of the funds. The PDB is therefore the firm basis for our consideration of amendments, with one exception that relates to the new priority topic proposed in the July communication mentioned above. I am referring to the role of Europe in the world.
If the Interinstitutional Group on Information confirms this proposal at its meeting later today, we will suggest that an additional EUR 1.5 million should be committed for the PRINCE programme. This will be for a campaign which specifically relates to the role of Europe in the world and our actions to regulate globalisation so that it can bring benefits to our citizens and the wider world.
The Commission welcomes the constructive opinions of the Culture Committee as well as the Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Constitutional Affairs Committee. At the meeting of the Interinstitutional Group on Information later today, we must reflect on the amounts proposed in the amendments and the practical implications. I will of course emphasise the need to ensure that we have the necessary human resources available to spend those amounts in an appropriate and proper way."@en1
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