Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-135"

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"en.20011211.7.2-135"2
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"Mr President, in the conciliation meeting between the Council and Parliament most of the time was spent discussing the use of a flexible instrument. The Commission would have promised 197 million euros for the reconversion of the Spanish and Portuguese fisheries fleets, which is a lot of money. In the same connection, the Nordic countries are demanding 50 million euros to resolve problems on their eastern borders. It was decided to finance these new needs with a flexible instrument under section 2, but over a period of two years. This new interpretation of the use of a flexible instrument shows that if there is the political will to finance something, the rules can definitely be bent. The EU does not have a money shortage. That is evident from the financial statements for 2000. Furthermore, there will be a surplus of billions for this current year. There is 40 billion in outstanding commitments – the so-called ‘RAL’s – in the accounts, and it is to be supposed that most of it will never be spent. The Commission has saved money but it is questionable as to whether it has made any political decisions regarding savings. As there are such huge budget surpluses, the Commission has not implemented those budget decisions Parliament has made. To be perfectly frank, the Commission high-handedly invalidated the decisions of Parliament. If the next EU year is evaluated from the point of view of the budget we might say that things are on an even keel, no rises and no falls. There are no special areas of focus, only running costs are funded from the budget. When the Council lacks the ambition to tackle the problem of unemployment, it also shows in the Commission’s draft budget; for that reason, our group takes a critical view of it. Just a small detail, the Council has not wanted to end the transport of live animals over excessive distances. The ill-treatment of transported animals continues, and the Council of Agricultural Ministers is to blame."@en1

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