Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-28-Speech-3-147"
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"en.20040128.12.3-147"2
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".
Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to thank Mr Casaca for his comprehensive report. I should say that I can only take up your final comment for the next Financial Perspective in those areas where the regulations are actually to be revised.
The Eurostat affair made last year a very difficult time, and I think that applies to the Commission as much as to the work of the Committee on Budgetary Control. The President of the Commission made a very detailed statement on all aspects here in this House on two separate occasions, and then joint work was undertaken to develop the necessary conclusions and changes. Let me assure you that the Commission, which launched and implemented the administrative reform with great commitment, will be consistent in implementing the necessary additions to that reform.
This report has been prepared with the greatest care and was presented to this House on behalf of the committee. In the report, the rapporteur discusses all the key issues dealt with in the Commission's follow-up report – Eurostat in particular – and the necessary conclusions to be drawn from them. I would also particularly like to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Mrs Theato, for her great commitment as well as the rapporteur, Mrs Avilés Perea, and Mr Bösch and Mr Sörensen for their constructive contributions.
It was in 2001 that the Commission embarked on the implementation of the administrative reform measures. We have now successfully progressed a considerable distance along the reform road. However, along this road, we frequently encounter obstacles that require adjustments and improvements. In two weeks’ time, the Commission will present the next progress report on the reforms. In it, we will also provide detailed explanations of the measures announced by President Prodi last November. At the same time – that is, in two weeks’ time – we will also present proposals for the revision of the OLAF Regulation, which we have discussed here in the context of the Bösch report. In the coming week, the Commission will also adopt the progress report on the modernisation of the accounting system and improvements in the early-warning system. Last week, the Commission adopted a Eurostat action plan as the follow-up to the restructuring agreed last year; the rapporteur has mentioned the various measures arising in this context.
The Commission has learned the lessons of experience, especially from the Eurostat affair. The grave irregularities occurred before this Commission’s term in office. The Prodi Commission has been criticised for failing to respond to this situation more swiftly, but, once it was fully informed – in July 2003 – about the seriousness of the situation, the Commission did take action, and we intend to implement President Prodi's Eurostat action plan. This applies especially to measures ensuring that in future, the Commission is informed more quickly about problems requiring political action.
The annual activity reports and the Directors-General’s statements form the cornerstones of a new and transparent system of internal control. For the third year of the activity reports, we have already agreed various further improvements concerning, for example, the timeframe as well as the more precise presentation of reasons and facts giving rise to concerns. We have agreed uniform norms for internal control and in future, the Central Financial Service of the Directorate-General for Budgets will provide information twice a year of the work undertaken by their internal-audit staff on the implementation of these norms.
The progress report which I have mentioned, and about which my fellow-Commissioner Mr Kinnock has already informed the Committee on Budgetary Control, reaffirms that all Commissioners must reassure themselves that the systems of internal control adopted and administered by the Director-General operate satisfactorily. It also states that the Commissioners must reassure themselves that audits are accompanied by appropriate follow-up measures. If this is not the case, the Commissioner must issue instructions so that improvements can be made. New financial regulations have also been in force for the last thirteen months, and these substantially reduce the risk of fraud, especially the new rules on the allocation of subsidies and allowances and the strict rules excluding conflicts of interest.
As regards accounting, the new financial regulations have restructured the system. They charge the Commission’s accounting officer with the task of validating the systems used to produce accounting data. However, it is not his task to carry out central
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random checks, and nor does he have any staff available for this purpose. The authorising officers are responsible for this, and the Directors-General are responsible for ensuring that the control systems are established in line with the financial regulations and the sectoral rules.
Under Article 60 of the new financial regulations, authorising officers bear full responsibility for financial procedures. The Prodi Commission has thus implemented the recommendation set out in the second report by the independent experts, which was approved by this House.
Important lessons which the Commission has learned from the Eurostat affair concern the exchange of information and inter-service cooperation, for example, between the internal audit service, the internal audit capabilities, and the horizontal directorates-general, for it must be ensured that information about irregularities penetrates as far as political level and results in the adoption of immediate measures. This Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control has rightly placed the greatest emphasis on this aspect throughout the entire debate."@en1
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