Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-24-Speech-3-105"
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"en.20020424.5.3-105"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I would like to start by congratulating Mr Costa Neves, for he has certainly made a major contribution to the work of our committee in recent years and his input has always been positive.
As the rapporteur has rightly pointed out in the explanatory statement, the supplementary and amending budget which we are to vote on tomorrow has two distinguishing features. Firstly, it budgets for 2002 a preliminary amount of EUR 10 billion of the surplus carried over from 2001. This surplus, which is mainly the result of underspends in the areas of Structural Funds and Agriculture, is equivalent to a ‘reimbursement’ to Member States as it will decrease their payments for the 2002 Budget. Secondly, it recalculates the financing of the 2002 Budget on the basis of the new Council Decision on own resources and, as a result, the share of Traditional Own Resources in collection costs that Member States are allowed to keep has increased from 10% to 25%.
However, what interests me most at the moment is the first feature of this budget. If we do not allow our attention to be diverted by the populist view that it is good to save money, the full gravity of the situation becomes apparent: in other words, the European Commission, the symbol – rightly or wrongly – for millions of European citizens, of Europe, of integration, of the future, has proved incapable of implementing the budget as adopted by Parliament and the Council, and is now left with a surplus of 12 per cent. However, there is another side to the matter: the Member States, which are constantly asking for more money for structural actions and which, on the eve of enlargement, are fighting tough political battles in order not to lose Community structural support for their citizens, have been unable to implement the commitments undertaken and have not asked for payments which have already been appropriated.
Clearly, ladies and gentlemen, the problem is fairly universal and it is one that needs urgent resolution, for it is an offence to our fellow citizens and genuinely exposes us to the ridicule of a public which is becoming increasingly less disposed to understand and increasingly more liable, on the other hand, to let itself be influenced by summary criticism."@en1
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