Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-045"
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"en.20040113.3.2-045"2
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"Mr President, the legislation on European agencies, our opinion on which is contained in the report by Mrs Almeida Garrett, is a subject that goes to the heart of the debate on the future of Europe, that is to say, the fight against European bureaucracy. Now, of all times, when Europe finds itself in a crisis from which we have to extricate ourselves together, it is important that we ask ourselves how the various European institutions, including the existing and future agencies, can be embedded in the democratic structure of Europe: a democratic, transparent and efficient Europe.
I should just like to reiterate that 2004 is a decisive year for Europe. It is a year in which it is vitally important to win back the confidence of the European electorate. This electorate looks at us and sees the European system as unwieldy and bureaucratic. Incidentally, the Heads of State or Government, who are fairly often found wanting, bear a large part of the responsibility for this. Citizens, who mainly see quarrelling between Heads of State or Government over the distribution of power and money, are naturally increasingly unable to grasp what this European cooperation actually means. It is not for nothing that we speak of a democratic deficit in the European Union that has to be filled. Europe is too slow-moving, frequently inefficient and incomprehensible to its citizens, and is thus achieving too little. This has to change, particularly with a view to the enlargement of the EU by ten new Member States on 1 May. That is why we must make Europe more efficient, more democratic. We must root out sluggish bureaucracy. In the first instance, this will of course be carried out by means of proposals in the European Constitution, which will hopefully become reality very soon. However, it will also take place in the case of subjects such as today’s – the creation of a framework for European agencies – which are not dealt with in the European Constitution. The focus is on the performance of essential tasks that are financed with European funds.
I should like to mention a number of things that I believe to be essential within this framework. Firstly, direct scrutiny by the European Commission and political accountability to the Council and Parliament must be guaranteed when the European agencies are set up, and it goes without saying that those agencies must have a management that, on pain of dismissal, presents all problems of a genuinely political nature directly to the politically accountable Commissioner. I am sure we all remember the Eurostat case. Secondly, the confusing situation we find ourselves in at the moment, where we have no less than twelve different structures, must be replaced by a uniform structure that can be monitored and is comprehensible to all. Thirdly, the seat of an agency must be subject to criteria such as efficiency and cost-benefit analyses. That means no quarrelling over Parma ham and Swedish models.
This approach applies not only to new, but also to existing agencies. Only then will we tackle bureaucracy seriously. We give our full support to the report by Mrs Almeida Garrett."@en1
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