Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-21-Speech-2-277"
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"en.20031021.9.2-277"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I originally wanted to say something about the nonsensical procedure that we are going through at this witching hour, but then I saw all the young people who have been listening attentively and with great concentration, and whom, in the meantime, we seem to have lost again. I hope somebody explained to them why it is ...
… that there are so very few Members in the Chamber. That brings me back to the question of whether it makes sense to be here at this late hour. We few Members of this House here present know what we think. We have exchanged views in lengthy discussions in very in-depth preparatory meetings. It dishonours the rapporteur, who has invested so much zeal in this work, to have his words declaimed shortly before midnight to an almost empty Chamber. The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats endorses his report. I am grateful to Mr Pittella for his good cooperation.
As the problems have been aired, let me draw your attention to just a few points. It is not acceptable for national ministers to rejoice when funds in Brussels are not drawn on. They may well be glad when a few million euros are returned to them and can be used for this or that other purpose, but if that happens, then the Structural Funds, which were set up to benefit the most needy regions in the EU, are failing in their purpose. When we analyse the way funds are administered, we cannot but note with a critical eye the re-emergence of old familiar problems. Although national co-financing creates great problems for some Member States, we have good reasons for wanting to hold fast to the principle of it; we should, on the other hand, abandon excessively complicated and extensive, even sometimes unnecessary requirements in the procedure as a whole. Simplification and clarity, too, can result in stringent and necessary monitoring and even make it easier. This is something for the Commission and the Member States to do. The excessively lengthy planning procedures mean that delays are virtually inevitable. The current state of affairs as regards the outflow of funds is disturbing, but surely no surprise to the actors involved. It will be no simpler after the European Union gains ten new members. That is why there is a need for coordination between the actors to be simplified in order to enable EU funds to be targeted and used in a rational way."@en1
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