Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-21-Speech-2-282"
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"en.20031021.9.2-282"2
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"Mr President, I too regret the fact that Structural Funds appropriations have been underused to the tune of EUR 22 billion. My concern deepens given that, as we know, outstanding payments for the years 2000-2006 have now risen to more than EUR 76 billion, thus running the risk of decommitment under the n+2 rule. This is deplorable in view of the high levels of unemployment and poverty pertaining in some Member States, such as Portugal, and the lack of social services and infrastructure, which are essential for social inclusion.
Economic and social cohesion is a central aim of the European Union. For this very reason, the Structural Funds are vital to promoting genuine convergence; they also contribute to redistribution within the Community budget. Failure to execute those funds, therefore, does not merely jeopardise the aim of economic and social cohesion. It also serves to accentuate existing regional inequalities.
The causes of this situation, then, must be dealt with, both by resolving bureaucratic problems through simplifying and decentralising measures, and, above all, by eliminating the budgetary constraints imposed by the Stability Pact. That pact must be reviewed, not forgetting that the Structural Funds are even more important in the run-up to the enlargement of the European Union. The policy of economic and social cohesion, then, demands that these procedures be reviewed so that we can effectively benefit from all the funds available."@en1
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