Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-160"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030513.8.2-160"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, I should like to thank the Commissioner for her explanation and I should also like to say that I am very pleased that we are able to hold this first debate on the budget that affects the new countries in the presence of the observers from these new countries.
Agriculture: at present, we find little in the Commission’s proposals of what the Parliament proposed in the guidelines. It may come later. Development of marker vaccines, insurance systems, things of that kind, are not to be found. We have noted that there is a 1.4 billion margin in the budget. We are hoping that it is sufficient even if the euro rises more in relation to the dollar.
Structural policy: the slogan is that we must do what we have promised. The big question is whether that is possible with the current level of payment appropriations. They are not being increased very much. There is still an enormous amount as yet unpaid. What relationship does it bear? This too is an issue for Parliament.
The biggest increase, as the Commissioner has already said, takes place in chapter III: internal policy. Strengthening of border controls, the position of Kaliningrad, attention to nuclear safety and so on and so forth. One thing we have not yet mentioned since Parliament’s guidelines and since the budget was printed, is the disturbing development of SARS all over the world. Perhaps Europe will have to do something about it.
The Commissioner has already gone into detail about Chapter IV, on foreign policy. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we shall probably have to adhere to the international accords. No mention has yet been made of Iraq. What does the Commissioner – or what do we – expect to happen there? This we shall also have to discuss.
My final point, Mr President, has to do with administrative costs: a very sharp increase in staffing levels with 780 new posts and also a very sharp rise in the costs of buildings. In all categories, in all policy areas, we see a steep increase for buildings. It cannot come from Berlaymont alone. Where it does come from, we shall also have to sort out in the course of the year.
Finally, category 7, the title of which has been changed. We do not yet know precisely what implications this will have, what kind of openings might still come. I do not know if it will be the case as soon as next year, but it could be. We have noted the increase for Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, which are quite diverse countries. This too we shall examine critically. Mr President, I can only express the hope, as did the Commissioner, that by December we shall have a good level of cooperation between Commission, Council and Parliament to produce a good budget for 25 countries.
The budget procedure, as the Commissioner has already said, will apply to 25 countries. Parliament’s aim – as we have explained in the guidelines – is to vote on a budget for 25 countries in December, on the understanding that the budget for the ten new countries will not take effect until 1 May of next year. How that will all come about from a legal point of view we shall have to sort out in the course of the year.
Activity-based budgeting, as described by the Commissioner, has many advantages. The committees will be able to see which budget lines concern them individually and how they can amend them. I think that it is also important for Parliament to know, and I shall also be referring to this, what relationship this new system bears to the prospects, because we shall always as far as possible have to respond to what was agreed in all the categories in Copenhagen.
Another general point: as a Parliament we consider it important for the budget powers, the budget procedure, to keep pace with the legislative procedure as developed by the Commission in the course of the year.
When I look at the guidelines adopted by this Parliament in March during the vote on the standpoint of the Parliament, then at first sight the Commission has acted wonderfully well in accordance with those guidelines. The Parliament had sought an austerity budget. As the Commissioner has already said, the payment credits are currently 0.99% of GNP for 25 countries, last year they were also 0.99%, but then for 15 Member States. So in this regard they have remained the same. How things pan out though we shall only see in the course of the year.
Parliament has the same priority as the Commission: to make a success of enlargement. The Parliament mentions a number of points in this regard, including in particular the enlargement of the administrative capacity of the Member States. They must be able to make the plans for receiving the money, they must be able to put them into effect and the financial control must be effective. We shall most certainly see whether the 221 million that the Commission has set aside for this is sufficient.
As the Commissioner has already said, a great many parts of category III must be determined under the codecision procedure. We shall have to see whether or not the 2.5 billion that the Commission has proposed is sufficient.
A third point, also made by the Parliament, is the elaboration of the Lisbon strategy. The Commission devotes a whole page to everything it can do. We shall also be looking at this item by item.
Now I come to the individual chapters of the financial prospects."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples