Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-10-Speech-2-018-000"
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"en.20110510.4.2-018-000"2
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"Mr President, first allow me to thank the Committee on Budgetary Control, and in particular the rapporteur Mr Chatzimarkakis, for their excellent cooperation and the report he has drawn up, including the recommendation that the budget for 2009 should be discharged. I would also like to thank Mr Staes for his report on the implementation of the European Development Fund, and Mr Stavrakakis for his report on agencies.
The discharge procedure has allowed the Commission to learn from the conclusions and recommendations of the European Court of Auditors and the resolution of the discharge authority at a time when we are considering the future design of EU policies and their reflection in the EU budget.
It is now our common responsibility, together with the Council, to translate concretely those lessons into a new set of modern and efficient rules and processes which will enable the Union to meet better the expectations of our 500 million citizens in a sound and cost-effective way.
Let me conclude by expressing my special thanks to the European Parliament for its continuous support, over the years, of the Commission’s efforts to achieve better financial management of the European Union’s budget.
The 2009 discharge procedure is now reaching its end. It was an intensive period in which Parliament and Commission gave shape to the special partnership between our two institutions. We can observe that both institutions have a lot in common as regards sound financial management and European added value.
You have heard the Court of Auditors and examined its reports. Several of my fellow Commissioners have conducted a fruitful dialogue with the Committee on Budgetary Control, and a lot of information has been shared with you. I would like to focus on three topics of special interest.
First, both the Commission and Parliament need to reflect closely, together with the Council, on how the responsibility of the various financial actors can be better defined and outlined in the legislative framework. The fact that the majority of errors are detected by the Court of Auditors and the Commission in projects and payments managed by Member States indicates clearly where more efforts need to be made without delay, as shared management represents almost 80% of the European Funds.
Article 317 of the Lisbon Treaty explicitly requires the cooperation of Member States in the implementation of the budget. To this effect, the Commission has put forward consistent proposals in the context of the current revision of the Financial Regulation. As Parliament is now on an equal footing with the Council as regards recasting this regulation, there is a real and unique opportunity to reinforce Member States’ accountability, and it should not be missed.
Second, you will undoubtedly share the view that the complexity of the rules discourages potential beneficiaries from applying for EU financial support. In addition, this complexity constitutes a significant source of errors, as underscored by the Court of Auditors in several of its audit reports.
The simplification of eligibility rules and financial processes is a priority objective of the Commission in the perspective of the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Therefore, the Commission has also made proposals for the revision of the Financial Regulation aimed at clarifying the rules, ensuring their consistency with sectoral legislation and simplifying financial processes.
Third, these proposals also foresee differentiated control strategies according to the level of risk estimated per programme, action and type of beneficiary. This approach aims at improving the quality of controls by ensuring that their costs are proportionate to the benefits they generate while providing reasonable assurance that the EU budget is managed in accordance with sound financial management principles.
I am happy to see that this approach is high on the agenda of the ongoing discussions and the proposals which are on the table really match the Commission’s ambitions."@en1
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