Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-20-Speech-4-030"
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"en.20081120.3.4-030"2
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"Mr President, I too would like to thank the Court of Auditors. Having read their report and listened to the debate here this morning, I ask myself: is the glass half empty, or is the glass half full?
The first sentence in the conclusions from the Court states that for 2007 the Court has identified further progress in the Commission’s supervisory and control systems, so at least we are going in the right direction. There are improvements in certain areas, but the error rate is still way too high in some sectors, and those have been outlined here this morning.
An extremely important aspect is that, according to OLAF, suspected fraud in the Structural Funds affected 0.16% of payments made by the Commission between 2000 and 2007, and that is a hugely significant figure. However, as a politician on the ground, I see the other side of it. I am constantly being told by community groups, by voluntary groups, by NGOs, of the huge difficulty they have in applying for funding and adhering to strict compliance rules at every single step. I am constantly being bombarded about Brussels red tape and Brussels bureaucracy and, in the middle of citizens and this debate, we have Member States – many of whom need to seriously improve their act – the Commission, which still has some work to do, Parliament and the Court of Auditors.
I believe, however, that the recommendations from the Court will make a difference, particularly in simplifying the basis of calculation of eligible costs and making greater use of lump-sum or flat-rate payments. We are making progress but it is too slow.
So, is the glass half empty or half full? When I consider the full impact of European funding, the improvements that are being made, and hopefully the implementation of the recommendations, my opinion is that the glass is half full."@en1
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