Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-29-Speech-3-122"
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"en.20030129.6.3-122"2
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". – Madam President, we granted a discharge to the Commission in April 2002 but we raised quite a number of questions in our motion for a resolution. The Commission has responded with a hundred comments and answers and explanations in a 60 page document. We now report in the follow-up, in our comment on the Commission's response. We underline once again that the Commission under the Treaties has an obligation to make available to Parliament all the necessary information. It is on this basis that Parliament can examine and investigate all the transactions so that the discharge is not only a procedure, but rather a substantial assurance to the European public that Parliament supervises on their behalf and that a rigorous and thorough investigation is carried out.
In its work, Parliament relies heavily on the Court of Auditors' annual report and its special report. This forms an important basis for the issues that we raise and investigate. I believe that, in recent years, the Commission has tried very hard to supply Parliament and the European public with all the information necessary to produce a valid and fair assessment on how the budget is spent. In the on-going reform process, the Commission is moving in the direction of a system of control and accountability. This has, I believe, been said by the President of the Court of Auditors in this House. The Commission is moving towards a system of accountability which will compare with the highest standards of the Member States.
An important point made again in the follow-up to the report is that 80% of the budget is actually administered by the governments of the Member States, while the Commission has final responsibility. A satisfactory outcome can only be achieved with the full cooperation and efficient administration of the individual governments of all Member States. The biggest problem still existing, as identified in our discharge motion for resolution, is the fact that, in the administration of the budget for the year 2000, there was under-utilisation of resources in the order of 14%. Again, we have commented on the recurrence of the same problem in the 2001 budget. This of course is a failure in the budgetary procedure but various comments have been made by different people and we have asked for a simplification of the regulations. I believe, however, that what is necessary is a simplification of regional policy and the bringing about of economic and social cohesion. The cohesion fund and the structural funds will have to be tailored to a more simplified policy if we are to pursue an efficient regional policy, particularly in the enlarged European Union.
This is not a policy that is in transition but rather a policy that we will have for the foreseeable future, particularly with the imminent enlargement, and we must simplify the whole policy so that these funds can be spent. We also took note of the failure of the Commission to collect from the national governments money unduly paid and we note an outstanding amount of EUR 2.2 billion. We are dealing with viable, solvent democracies and while we have to note that the age profile has become lower – the debt is not as old as it used to be – nevertheless, there is no good reason why EUR 2.2 billion should be outstanding. The question has also been raised in our follow-up about the appointment of a European Public Prosecutor. We have to underline once again that this is the policy of the Parliament; the Committee on Budgetary Control has called for it, with the support of Parliament, on many occasions. The national governments do not pursue the obligations to investigate frauds and abuses in relation to European money with the same efficiency that they apply to their own national budgets. While that persists, we will persist with our call for the appointment of our own prosecutor, who can look after our own resources and be seen to do that."@en1
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