Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-13-Speech-2-326"
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"en.20090113.28.2-326"2
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"I have two questions today on the budget reform, one more general and one more concentrated on agricultural matters. I am very happy to have at least two questions because we were asking for more interest from Parliament.
In response to the first question, this is more general and concerns more the delivery and efficiency of European budget delivery. Part of the public consultation concentrated specifically on how to make delivery of the European budget more efficient, faster, simpler and more transparent. The public consultation has made a strong call for the improved effectiveness and efficiency of the European budget, in particular through the simplification and proportionality of the administrative budget and control.
In this context, a number of issues were identified, some of which are already taking concrete shape in the Commission. Among those initiatives which are already in place is the European Transparency Initiative. Thanks to this initiative, the Commission has already provided a first response to the need for increased openness and accessibility to the budget.
Some other issues mentioned in the consultation deserve our serious attention. The first is the integration of expenditures currently outside the budget – the so-called budgetisation of the funds. This would obviously increase synergies, legitimacy and administrative simplification, but we have not been very successful over the years. You are aware of this with regard to some funds. The responsibilities of the Member States are another important element. It is important to further strengthen the responsibilities of Member States, who manage over 80% of the European budget, particularly in areas under shared management. A clearer allocation of responsibilities between Member States and the Commission is needed. This will also hopefully be partly improved if we have the Lisbon Treaty in place.
The third element is the rigidity of our budget. The current European budget is still rather too rigid, recent examples being the negotiations for the food facility or the European recovery plan, especially in the current environment. Then we have problems with the gas supply in Europe where we are not able to deliver or have an agreement between the Member States to invest in future projects such as interconnections or gas storage. That again shows how much we need to invest in the European budget’s operational capacities to react.
The third group of problems which has been mentioned in the consultations concerned minimising the administrative burden. The Commission has also already made various commitments. In the action plan towards an integrated internal control framework, the Commission has committed itself to making proposals for simplified rules on cost eligibility issues. This includes extending the use of lump sums or flat-rate payments wherever this is appropriate. In its recent communication on tolerable risk, the Commission proposes to redefine the control system in terms of risk objectives and an acceptable level of error. We hope for the support of the Parliament in these political discussions and later in negotiations with the Council.
The Commission looks forward to the Parliament’s support in general in rationalising and simplifying budget delivery and then in examining future legislation in general. I thank you for the questions. This is the least attractive question we usually receive because it is sometimes treated as being too technical. No matter how good the political decisions being made are, good politics can fail if we do not have efficient delivery mechanisms."@en1
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