Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-02-Speech-2-340"
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"en.20030902.14.2-340"2
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"Thank you, Mr President. Those of you are still in the House will have certainly noted that the explanatory statement of Mrs Izquierdo’s report contains a series of considerations which formed the basis of the amendments she tabled in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The Committee on Agriculture did feel a degree of sympathy with these considerations. Nevertheless, the great majority of the said committee adopted my amendment to the draft legislative resolution that seeks to approve the Commission’s proposal without amendment. This is the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, for whom I am the draftsman.
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs agreed unanimously to propose the adoption of the Commission’s proposal without amendment. We did so for the good reason that it is only a question of adopting a legal basis for the economic accounts for agriculture. A legal basis is urgently needed.
If it is not put in place before enlargement, the very existence of this mechanism, which is vital for monitoring and assessing the CAP, will be threatened.
As has already been stated, to date, the economic accounts for agriculture have traditionally been established by the Member States and then supplied to Eurostat in accordance with a common procedure within the framework of a gentlemen's agreement. For the time being, it is therefore just a question of maintaining continuity and consolidating an existing satisfactory statistical mechanism. If it proves necessary to adapt this tool in line with the reformed CAP, this will have to be done, as the Commissioner just said. This is why it is important not to allow amendments to delay adoption of this regulation. Interesting as the amendments may be, they have no place here. In the context of codecision, our main concern must be to establish this legal basis. The procedure can be adapted in time, if this proves necessary in the light of the reform of the CAP. Fortunately this reform has not yet come into force, as the Commissioner has just stated. Our rapporteur has been able to put forward her concerns in her explanatory statement. The representatives from the Commission, Eurostat and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development have had the opportunity to reassure her that our agreement today will not prejudice the future with regard to any new requirements concerning the details, information or deadlines that may prove necessary.
For this reason, I would like to call on Members to vote against the amendments tabled by our rapporteur, even if this seems illogical. We will of course vote against ourselves, for a good reason. Nevertheless, I would like to invite Mrs Izquierdo to demonstrate her goodwill and withdraw these amendments.
Given the state of affairs concerning Eurostat, Commissioner, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight its excellent work in the past. There is no justification for discrediting this body by condemning it, while disregarding the principle of the presumption of innocence. I think the Commission is being over-zealous in this matter. It risks jeopardising the work of Eurostat staff. I am not referring now to the hundreds of innocent individuals whose jobs are in danger as a result of brutal decisions of the Commission. The latter has decided to suspend the contracts and payments of companies that have worked for Eurostat for years. Without these companies, Eurostat would not have been able to fulfil its tasks. It would not have been able to supply us with the statistics we required whilst not providing it with the necessary means."@en1
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