Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-13-Speech-1-103"
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"en.19991213.4.1-103"2
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"I think that, following a habit already established in the Budgetary Control Committee, I will stick to my second language and I hope that you will forgive me for this national treason.
Mr Bösch, I agree with you and I think everybody agrees with you that there are special requirements to be placed on those parts of the budget which are managed by the Commission itself.
I have already underlined that it is important that the Commission should also shoulder its responsibility concerning the Member States; but when it comes to internal policies, external aid and personnel administration, we can put clearer demands on the Commission and we can also deal with it differently when it comes to the statement of assurance, something which we have started to do and will continue to do.
I congratulate Mr van Hulten on his first speech here. I agree with him as regards the need in our work to reassure tax-payers that their money is being spent well and I also underline, as Mrs van der Laan has done, the need for Member States also to fight fraud.
Mr Schori asked me about my conclusions, or the conclusions of the Court of Auditors, concerning events in the Stockholm representation of the Commission. I have two reflections to make; one being that this shows that the only way to cope with problems of this kind is to have functioning internal control systems. There has to be, whenever expenditure of European money is concerned, an internal control system which is efficient and reliable so that the external controller can ascertain whether systems function and not go through every detail of administration. The other is that I have also publicly stated that this is a test case for the Commission's willingness to reform its disciplinary procedures, of which we are very critical and which I know that the Commission also intends to do something about.
I have already pointed out in my first speech the same problem that Mr Blak brought up – that staff administration has to be improved. As for Mrs Eriksson, who asked me why we do not audit the European Investment Fund, we asked the Council when it was established whether we should do so and the reply was "no" and that is why. I do not agree with the Council but it is the Council that decides.
Finally, I will make a general comment on what Mrs Schreyer pointed out in her speech. As you can hear, the attitude of the Commission to this annual report is to take it to its heart and to start embarking upon the reform programme we are discussing today.
Let me say, on behalf of the European Court of Auditors, that we hope that we can, in a climate of dialogue and openness, work together to see to it that this new Commission can carry out the reform that we are eagerly looking forward to."@en1
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