Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-29-Speech-3-136"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030129.7.3-136"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, I wish to begin by congratulating Mr Mulder on his excellent report and on the work he has carried out on the clearance of accounts. I must also extend these congratulations to Mr McCartin. We have, in fact, attempted to work, albeit holding different political points of view, in a direction that I believe is necessary to support a thoroughgoing reform of the common agricultural policy.
In any event, I think it would be a serious mistake to see the clearance of accounts merely as an activity whose success can be measured according to the profits made. The need to recover funds from the Member States is primarily more an indication of failure than of success, because it demonstrates the poor functioning of the systems of farm subsidies. This is frequently due to the enormous complexity of these systems and the disproportionate bureaucratic burden that they impose both on the administrations and on the farmers themselves.
Secondly, we must consider that the clearance of accounts in situations in which the Member State replaces food-producing or farming companies is an abusive form of State aid that distorts the rules of competition in a particularly unfair way, benefiting those who defraud the public purse and causing those who act honestly to suffer.
Thirdly, the forms, processes and criteria with which this clearance of accounts is undertaken do not always appear to be as balanced as they could be. We note, for example, that with regard to the mega-scandal of butter falsified by the Neapolitan camorra and marketed by various European dairy companies, the Commission gave an answer only a few days ago, to the effect that, more than two years following OLAF’s submission of its allegations, nothing has yet been done, with legal confidentiality continuing to be invoked as the reason for doing nothing. This is not acceptable.
Lastly, I should like to refer to the establishment of an incentive mechanism of 20% for Member States to recover funds from the economic actors, which appears in principle to be a good idea. I feel, however, that the way this is being carried out by the Commission is unacceptable: we are quite horrified to hear that the Commission cannot tell us how much it has spent on this incentive, it cannot tell us what Member State institutions were given these funds and whether the legal conditions necessary to recover them were properly checked. This is a situation that we find totally unacceptable and we hope that the Commission will remedy it as soon as possible."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples