Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-28-Speech-3-244"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071128.23.3-244"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
". −
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank Parliament for giving its support to the Commission proposal from last August. As the rapporteur, Mr Arif, emphasises in his report, Lebanon is in a very difficult situation both politically and economically. Its need for funding is acute. With this macro-financial assistance, the European Union is acting on the pledge it made at the international donor conference last January in Paris, when we agreed to give financial support to Lebanon.
As you know, the operationalisation of the financial assistance is beset by considerable uncertainties due to the political and constitutional crisis which has not yet been overcome. Nonetheless, the Commission is keeping to its pledge to complete all the necessary internal procedures so that the assistance can come on-stream as soon as circumstances permit.
Our talks with the Lebanese authorities on the political conditions to be linked with the programme are nearing a conclusion and I can assure you that these conditions will be in full conformity with the EU-Lebanon Action Plan established within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy and with the Lebanese authorities’ medium-term economic reform programme. We will of course be utilising all available means in order to minimise, as far as possible, the risk of fraud, corruption and financial abuse, as called for in the draft report.
I note that the rapporteur is proposing various amendments to the Commission proposal. We will look at these amendments very carefully and give our opinion to the Council. However, I can already tell you that we will not be raising any objections to most of the amendments on the legal provisions themselves.
The Commission is aware that, at the hearings about new financial assistance, Parliament had to react to very short deadlines. The timetable for all the institutions involved has been tight, due to the specific nature of this financial assistance as a crisis instrument.
However, in order to ease the situation and improve cooperation with the Committee on International Trade (INTA), the Commission pledges in future to inform the INTA Secretariat systematically, and in advance, of any new financial assistance transactions; this will be done by means of an information memorandum as soon as new financial assistance is in prospect."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples