Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-15-Speech-3-089"
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"en.20001115.4.3-089"2
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"Mr President, the Council quite rightly hoped to rationalise EU aid to the Balkan states and to reform the European Agency for the Reconstruction of Kosovo, whose competence could gradually be extended to cover the entire region.
We fully support this approach and the two proposals for Council regulations which would implement it. But we cannot support the amendments tabled by the European Parliament which aim to profoundly upset the balance of the system in favour of the Commission. Today, the European Agency for Reconstruction is administered by a Governing Board on which the representatives of the Member States and the Commission each have one vote and on which decisions are adopted by a two-thirds majority. The Commission is not at all happy about a situation in which it is under constant supervision and complains that the weight of the Member States hinders its freedom of action and therefore, in its view, impedes the effectiveness of its assistance.
The European Parliament has rallied to the call of its old friend and has just voted for amendments in its favour. Amendment No 5 proposes returning the running of the Agency to the Commission, which would be responsible to the European Parliament. Amendment No 14 weakens the Governing Board vis-à-vis the Commission, by stipulating that its decisions are adopted by simple majority. Amendment No 10 extends the tasks of the Agency, which is now effectively controlled by the Commission. Finally, Amendment No 15 gives the Commission free rein in determining the rules governing the languages used by the Agency, about which we are very concerned.
We are witnessing the repetition of a classic scenario in which the Commission believes it will manage external aid better if it has more powers and more autonomy, and if it is less supervised by the Member States. That is a mistake which, as we well know, could unfortunately take us down a very dangerous path. We are therefore asking that the Member States retain the upper hand regarding the management of aid and the Agency. In this way, they will exercise better control and they will maintain a vital link between European aid and national policies in this sensitive region."@en1
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