Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-16-Speech-2-146"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20031216.4.2-146"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
") Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would just like raise a couple of points in connection with the adoption of the 2004 budget today. Firstly, as I recall, this Commission pledged, when it came to office, to carry out reforms and equip the European Union and the European Commission with the capacity to act for the future and make them less vulnerable to fraud.
The 2004 budget will be your last budget, Commissioner, and it is not yet apparent that all the reforms have been completed satisfactorily. That is why I hope we can agree to put the relevant items in the reserve so that you can finish the work. We will gladly release the funds as soon as the relevant documents have been submitted to us.
I want to raise a second issue which I addressed in very clear terms in connection with the first reading, namely the issue of ‘Europe of the citizens’. We fought for this, and I am very happy that an agreement has been reached with the Council and a legal framework has now been established for city partnerships that will help us to overcome all the problems and create legal certainty for the next three years. It is undoubtedly a programme which can be extended. However, I now hear that there is a solution for the Carrefours and Info-Points for 2004 but not beyond. I do think it is rather worrying, especially after talks with the Info-Point in my home town, that there are obviously different budget lines from which the Info-Points can draw funding and that not all of them are affected by the problems relating to the new budget regulations. Perhaps the Commission could check internally to see where the error lies. I do not think that we can offload the problem on these agencies, which are performing outstanding service to the European Union by providing information to broad sections of the public.
Continuing our debate of this morning and in response to the Intergovernmental Conference of last weekend, I would like to make one thing very clear: it is quite pointless at present to mull over how much money the European Union will have at its disposal after 2006. From this perspective, I can understand why the six governments sent their letter, if we do not yet know what the agenda for the European Union will be after 2006. In my view, that is the first question which must be answered. If an agenda is defined, adequate funds must be provided to carry it out. It will not work if the Member States say: ‘That is the financial platform, but everything that I wish to achieve must be carried out anyway.’
We should use the time that the Heads of State or Government have given us to consider what the European agenda should be and how much money it will cost to fulfil – and this financial framework should then be made available. That is the only rational approach when we come to discussing the financial period after 2006."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Ferber (PPE-DE )."1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples