Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-11-Speech-2-056"
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"en.20030311.4.2-056"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, under the process of revising and simplifying the Treaties, which is currently being debated in the Convention on the Future of Europe, the European Parliament has taken the opportunity to apply itself to the reform of the European Union’s budgetary procedure.
In fact, year after year, reform after reform, the budgetary procedure has been amended on an informal basis, by means of political agreements between the various institutions involved. These informal amendments have rendered the current text redundant and obsolete. The next constitutional Treaty must contain articles covering the principles that govern the budget and the procedures for approving it.
As a contribution to the debate on this report that the Committee on Budgets has presented on its own initiative, I wish first of all to congratulate our Chairman and rapporteur, Terence Wynn on his commitment and on the exemplary quality of his work.
I wish to express my full and unequivocal agreement with the proposals for reform that have been tabled. Firstly, because I believe we must seize this opportunity to review the issue of the European Union’s funding. More Europe means, amongst other things, more money. The contribution of the Member States must be appropriate and in proportion to the objectives that the European Union wishes to achieve. It is entirely utopian to set objectives, such as those of the Lisbon Summit, which uphold the current financial framework. It should be added that the European Union itself must undertake a thoroughgoing study into its own resources for funding the EU budget. Secondly, because I can see that, in addition to these new challenges, a new reality is approaching: a European Union with 25 Member States. In this context, the Structural Funds will reveal their fundamental importance, on the one hand, to achieving economic and social cohesion in the new States and, on the other, to continuing the progress that has been made in the current Member States. Thirdly, because I believe that the distinction between compulsory and non-compulsory expenditure and their respective procedures has become artificial. I am therefore in favour of a complete revision of the procedures, giving the European Parliament greater power to act by means of the codecision procedure, thereby achieving an equal footing with the Council.
In this context, budgetary expenditure for the common agricultural policy (CAP) would then be studied by the European Parliament under the codecision procedure. If it is adopted, this measure would represent an historical development for the European Parliament, which has been forced to remain at a distance in political terms from the CAP since its inception, despite the fact that the CAP today accounts for more than 50% of the EU’s total budget.
Greater involvement of the European Parliament in the CAP can only be positive for farmers and for rural development. This will provide greater control over the use of funds. I would remind you that every year, enormous sums intended for the CAP end up being refunded to the Member States because they have not been properly used. It is also worth adding that the CAP is becoming increasingly diffuse, incorporating new dimensions, such as rural development, conservation of the environment and food safety and quality, and consequently requires funding that corresponds to this new state of affairs, which is of the utmost importance to European citizens.
Only last week, Eurostat published data that warrants our utmost interest: European citizens, including those of the future Member States, feel that the CAP’s priorities should be food safety and support for improving rural life.
By the European Parliament having this greater ability to act, the economic, social and environmental interests of European farmers will be safeguarded."@en1
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