Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-18-Speech-1-112"
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"en.20080218.22.1-112"2
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".
Mr President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament considers protection of the European Union’s financial interests to be one of its most important tasks since, like all parliaments, it has the right and the duty to monitor expenditure. Moreover, the view that EU funds are inadequately looked after is increasingly widespread in Europe, so we also have a political debt to the public, to our constituents and to our taxpayers in this regard.
We put this legislative and political obligation into practice primarily by means of the discharge procedure, but in addition to this we have been producing regular reports on the protection of EU financial interests and the fight against fraud. Our aim in doing so is not to create a sensation or cause a scandal, but to expose the situation objectively and resolve any problems.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my fellow Member, Mr Musotto, for this excellent report, and to express my gratitude to the Commission Vice-President, Mr Kallas, and OLAF Director-General, Mr Brüner, for the constructive cooperation they have demonstrated in this area too.
Despite the fact that these high-level reports are greeted with much appreciation year on year, we in the European institutions sometimes feel as if we are tilting at windmills, since the findings of the reports encounter resistance on the part of the Council, with the result that the Commission has not been able to put the necessary measures in place for years.
We believe that the weakest link is the attitude of Member States, since in some Member States – our fellow Member Mrs Grässle spoke just now about Germany in this connection – there is a failure to recognise how very important it is to ensure that EU funds are spent in accordance with the rules, that expenditures are subject to scrutiny, and that any amounts unduly paid are recovered.
We consider it particularly lamentable that VAT fraud in the form of 'carousel' transactions is becoming increasingly widespread throughout Europe, to the extent that we have no global figures on the amount involved, although some estimates suggest that it may be around 35-40% of the EU budget. It is time to take resolute action in this regard too, both in the interests of managing European affairs and in the interests of public opinion. Thank you very much."@en1
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