Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-017"
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".
Mr President, the quality of the dialogue for this discharge procedure has been excellent. My fellow Commissioners and I were very happy to participate and I warmly thank the chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Mr Fazakas, for the kind and efficient way he led the proceedings.
We are studying the implication of the proposal for the accountant to sign off the accounts. We welcome the fact that Parliament has raised this issue and we will come back with specific proposals. You are right: there are supporters and opponents of the views presented in Parliament’s amendment. In my view, there are many questions of this kind where we can say that the matter lies in the details or beyond the details. The main question, in my view, is how to guarantee the right balance between policy-making and financial or fiscal management. Contradictions arise here between the view that the units and directorates-general are responsible for policy-making and the concern that this approach should be balanced so that the financial management will support this policy-making and not interfere with it. It is clear to me, therefore, that this would be one of the most important points and I promise that we do not underestimate this issue but take it very seriously.
I would now like to add a few words on the specific discharges related to the European Development Fund – EDF – and the Agencies. As regards the EDF, I would like first of all to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Xenogiannakopoulou, for a good report and for her open and constructive attitude during the discharge procedure. The Commission was, of course, pleased that the Court was able to give a positive DAS for the EDF.
The report contains recommendations on many important issues. The Commission will follow up these recommendations in the months to come, but I can say already that we are in agreement on the main issues. We will, of course, keep Parliament informed on developments relating to the new accounting system, budgetary support and devolution.
Finally, let me thank Parliament once more for its support for the Commission’s proposal to budgetise the EDF. We believe this is a one-off opportunity to achieve better, simpler and more efficient implementation of the EDF, which will be of great benefit for the ACP countries.
As regards the Agencies, I would also like to congratulate Mrs Ayala Sender and Mr Schlyter. The Agencies are autonomous bodies and it is the directors of the Agencies, not the Commission, that receive discharge from the European Parliament. However, since all the 14 Agencies concerned by the 2003 discharge receive grants charged to the general budget, the Commission notes with satisfaction that Parliament proposes to give discharge to the directors of all 14 Agencies for the financial year 2003.
The Commission will continue to do its utmost to provide all necessary assistance to the Agencies in the future, in particular as regards budgetary, financial and accounting issues. Moreover, within its area of responsibility, the Commission will follow up the requests addressed to it by Parliament in the discharge resolutions for the Agencies.
I will conclude by encouraging Parliament to support the Committee on Budgetary Control’s proposals. I can assure you that the Commission will forward the recommendations upon which you will decide. Finally, it is a unique opportunity for all institutions to go ahead with creating more trust in European institutions. We must escape from under the shadow of suspicions, the shadow of the collapse of a certain Commission several years ago, and reassure citizens that we deal with all matters, including wrongdoing, in the proper way, so that we can create for the European institutions a reputation for reliability.
I welcome the resolution adopted in the Committee on Budgetary Control, its broad support for the Commission’s efforts and achievements and its very constructive approach. It deals with the core political issue of the Statement of Assurance – DAS.
On behalf of the Commission, I congratulate you once more, Mr Wynn, for having contributed so well to bringing so much progress on the Statement of Assurance in so short a time. You, and the Court of Auditors with its opinion on the ‘Single Audit’, have served an excellent first service. The ball is now in our court and, together with the Council, we will try to return it with both speed and precision. Fortunately, contrary to tennis, this is a game where everybody wins. Indeed, we all win if the four relevant institutions – the Commission, the Council, the Court of Auditors and the European Parliament – are able to agree on a roadmap towards a positive DAS in the near future.
The key element in the roadmap, as in the resolution you are adopting today, will be how Member States can provide reasonable assurance to the Commission that adequate supervisory and control systems are in place. The Commission will present a proposal for a roadmap to a positive DAS before July 2005. I hope and expect that the United Kingdom’s presidency will pick up the proposals and lead trialogue negotiations towards an Interinstitutional Agreement in the autumn. Time presses, as legal changes may be needed, both in the legislative package of the new Financial Perspective and in the Financial Regulation.
Mobilising and motivating the Member States will not be easy and the Commission continues to need your support. We can demonstrate that we are doing our part and are prepared to do it better. For instance, the Commission’s accounting system has been successfully converted and is now fully operational. In addition to this, the previous Commission achieved a great deal through its administrative reform and the Committee on Budgetary Control’s resolution is a welcome recognition of this. However, our roadmap will announce further steps the Commission will take to strengthen the Community control framework.
I am happy to inform you that our roadmap has strong links with another initiative, the ‘transparency’ initiative, the purpose of which is to make more data about EU finances available to a wider section of the Union’s population.
I will not comment on the sectoral sections of the Committee on Budgetary Control’s resolution, although I am prepared to respond to any particular questions you may wish to raise. Nonetheless, I would like to add a few words on the four amendments to the Committee on Budgetary Control’s resolution to be put to your vote.
Firstly, I would welcome your support for the amendments proposed by Mr Casaca to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. Indeed, the Court of Auditors’ statement that outstanding commitments for the Structural Funds represented ‘five years’ worth’ of spending is misleading, since the Court included commitments to be made until 2006 under the seven-year programming of the Structural Funds. The outstanding commitments were, in fact, less than two and a half years’ spending. This is normal, as spending is intended to continue up to the end of 2008 and the final payment is due in 2010. It is therefore incorrect to conclude that the programme was not well managed or that funds will remain unused. I hope you will be able to correct this important point today.
Secondly, I would like to comment briefly on the amendment relating to the role of the accounting officer. What is my answer today? Firstly, that we will take this very seriously. I have had numerous meetings at different levels and with various well-known critics of the Commission’s accounting system. We consider this a very important issue and one of the key elements in our roadmap."@en1
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