Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-29-Speech-4-031"
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"en.20071129.3.4-031"2
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"Mr President, allow me first of all to offer my sincere thanks for the many kind words that have been spoken about the Court of Auditors, its report and its presentation. I attach great importance to these comments, and I shall gladly pass them on in Luxembourg. I believe they will also be a very strong motivating factor for our staff. I was also pleased by the very frequent references to the new beneficiaries of the common agricultural policy. Nevertheless, I think I have the opportunity to put some things straight, as indeed Mr Staes directly asked me to do.
I must begin with a little background information. The single-payment system is essentially something that was welcomed from the outset by the Court of Auditors. It simplifies matters considerably, and we are seeing the effects of that. In conjunction with IACS, it has resulted in a sharp reduction in the frequency of errors. But whenever new rules are created, of course, there is always the possibility that they will not be observed. We should also look at this whole area and not focus exclusively on a single phenomenon, such as non-compliance with the ten-months rule and the resulting heavy financial losses.
We must also bear in mind, of course, that the rules have been formulated very broadly and that a great deal is left to the Member States’ discretion. That has given rise to certain phenomena. To be sure, there are what have been termed the side-effects, which may have less serious financial implications but which have perhaps attracted more public attention. It must also be noted that the general concept of agricultural activity has been very broadly defined. It is sufficient today to manage an area of land in accordance with good agricultural and environmental practice. It is enough simply to mow the lawn and claim a subsidy. We seek to highlight that point in order to query it. We have a total of 700 cases, and so I cannot say at the present time whether all of these cases are legally relevant, for each of them will have to be examined on its merits. It goes without saying that, if the support received by a golf club also covered the area of the golf course itself, such a situation would certainly not be lawful. As I said, however, we must deal with these things on a case-by-case basis, and the Commission is invited to do likewise.
I also pointed out, however, that there were other effects to consider. The introduction of a dynamic model means that a redistribution will take place from land managers – farmers – to landlords. I am very pleased that we have also been called upon to comment on the implications of policies."@en1
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