Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-098"
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"en.20040914.8.2-098"2
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"Mr President, today the European Parliament, in accordance with established practice, has approved the supplementary budget, which is refunding EUR 5.5 billion of the EU contributions paid in 2003 to the Member States. This amount has been available to the Commission; it has not spent it in the manner intended for the budgetary authorities.
The Commission did not come up to expectations in 2003. The Commission did not come up to expectations in the years prior to that. The Commission will not come up to expectations next year either. We know that not all of the budget funds will be spent next year either and that next autumn the contributions paid into the EU’s coffers will once again be refunded to the Member States.
Who is to blame when the budget, which has been approved by the Council and the European Parliament, is not fully implemented? Not just the Commission, but also the Member States are to blame for the outstanding commitments that have resulted from underutilisation of the Structural Funds. Not all Member States draft their programmes in the proper way or in accordance with the proper timetable.
With regard to the other sections of the budget, the accusing finger must be pointed at the Commission in the first instance. The Commission neither wishes, for political reasons, nor is able, due to organisational shortcomings, to fully implement the budget. Consequently, the preparation of the Union’s budget for next year will in many respects be a form of shadow boxing involving three parties. The Commission will put on a show of proposing appropriations, which it neither wishes, nor will be able, to spend. The Council will pretend to be satisfied with the savings made, if they are not connected with its priorities. The European Parliament will make a show of struggling against the maximum amounts, or ceilings, for each section recorded in the financial framework. Everyone, however, will know that there is more money actually available than is needed and that it will once again be refunded to the Member States at a later date.
Our group takes a critical view of the cuts that are being made in other appropriations under the section headed external action in favour of the Council’s priority, the reconstruction of Iraq. This means that the other priorities that Parliament considers important will not be addressed. Iraq is the new pretext for failing to fully implement next year’s budget, to be approved in Parliament. As a result, we are fulfilling certain countries’ objective of implementing a ceiling of 1% of GNP in the budget. This budget is a step in that direction."@en1
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