Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-09-Speech-2-056"
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"en.20020409.3.2-056"2
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"Mr President, at the outset I feel I should refer to the news of further decommissioning of arms in Ireland. I welcome this news, particularly in the present climate of political hostilities in various parts of the world. It is a clear demonstration that the political process and the peace process are well under way.
Why do I link that with the budget debate? Well, in discussing the budget, it is important to note the important role that the European Union and the European Parliament have played in this peace process through the International Fund for Ireland, the establishment of the Peace and Reconciliation Fund, INTERREG and the removal, through the Single Act, of the economic border which affected the border region for many years. So it is relevant to refer to this.
I would like in particular to commend my colleague, Mr McCartin, for his thorough and comprehensive work on the very important matter before us. The power that we have in Parliament, which we share as the Union's budgetary authority, is perhaps the greatest responsibility that we have. We are talking of EUR 100 billion of public money. We have a duty to subject this expenditure to the highest standards of scrutiny. Parliament may have the final say in signing off the accounts, but it is important to recall that 84% of the Community budget is managed within the Member States. It is also important that a strong culture of openness and cooperation exists between the Commission, the national, regional and local authorities.
Of course, the largest part of the budget goes to the common agricultural policy, one of only a few truly common policies in the Union. It has served us well and must be maintained and defended. I am concerned at some suggestions that export refunds should be ended and I reject any notion that export refunds are somewhat inherently conducive to fraud. I remain convinced that refunds constitute a fundamental element of the policy; they play an important role in the management of agricultural markets and must be defended at WTO level."@en1
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