Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-21-Speech-2-162"
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"en.20031021.5.2-162"2
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".
Madam President, I would like to thank everyone who has taken part in this debate and I thank you all for the encouraging words and sometimes also for the disapproving words. That is part and parcel of normal debate. It will be clear to you that I cannot respond to everyone. I would like to touch upon the main points. I am in any event pleased with the comments of Mrs Schreyer, who says that in comparison with previous years the budget on which we are about to vote is one that shows the smallest increase in comparison with the proposals of the Council and the Commission.
I very much appreciate her remarks about the acceptance by the Commission of initiatives with regard to agriculture. This I find a good thing. Once again I hope that the Council too will adopt them, but to be on the safe side this Parliament has amended all the preparatory actions and all the pilot projects in both category I and category III should the Council reject the actions in category I. I can only recommend: try to finance it from category I. The margin is greater here than in category III.
Mr Garriga and Mrs Dührkop have expressed their concern about the progress of the codecision procedure on the A 30 lines, etc. I share this concern. I hope that come the end of the year we do not find ourselves in a situation in which we have serious difficulties about how to continue funding these projects. I think that it is of the utmost importance for the reputation of the European Union in general and in the interest of everything that we fund that these programmes continue. Nor do I think that we should make legislation in haste. It seems to me that the Commission would be wise to reflect as soon as possible on the possibility of a transitional period, so that we can in any event continue with the funding of those projects that we have funded in the past.
As regards the issues touched upon by various speakers, I would wish, as rapporteur, to adhere to the maintenance of the financial perspectives as they have been agreed. I can only express the hope that when we vote, certainly where category 1B is concerned, we do not exceed these financial perspectives. I do of course agree with Terry Wynn, who says that this is only the first reading. Nonetheless, I think that even in the first reading we must adhere to this principle as far as possible.
Mr Dover, he is no longer in the Chamber, expressed doubts about the need for the many languages in the European Union. This is a recurring theme in many speeches. I think that we must simply comply with the Treaty. Mr Terry Wynn has, I think, given an excellent account of the problem, both as regards category 1B, about which I have already spoken, and as regards the Iraq question. I think that we must simply await the result of the vote and decide what we are going to have to do on the basis of it.
Mr Ferber and many others also spoke about the importance of the info points, I have already talked about them myself. In this matter too I think that the Commission must come up with proposals quickly, so that we do not cause these info points any irreparable damage, because they are highly regarded by the European public. Even with new financial regulations we need to take measures so that we can continue with them.
As for Mr Kuckelkorn, so far I have been pleased with the satisfactory level of cooperation with regard to the agencies. I hope that this remains so in the future too. Two points about these agencies, on which a decision will probably be made on Thursday: putting 10% in the reserve and talking about the organisational charts of the agencies. I hope that everything can be worked out in close cooperation with both him and the agencies, so that we can resolve this whole issue before the second reading. There is no intention to make unnecessary difficulties, but a Parliament does need to exercise its democratic powers properly.
Mr Bartho Pronk, he is no longer in the Chamber, but I can confirm that the guarantee funds for small and medium-sized businesses will also apply to those small and medium-sized businesses that are concerned with health and safety at work. There is nothing to prevent this.
Finally, Mr Goodwill, who was wondering about us giving the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen extra duties without making new resources available to it. There has been close consultation with the agency and it feels that it would be able to perform these extra duties within the draft budget handed over by us. So if they themselves say that, then who am I to give them extra money? That is why I have come to this viewpoint. I am hoping for continuing good cooperation with each and every one of you and once again can I express my thanks to everyone who has contributed to this debate."@en1
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