Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-26-Speech-2-189"

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"en.20041026.12.2-189"2
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"Mr President, I too would like to congratulate both the rapporteurs, and especially Mrs Jensen, who took on responsibility for her report halfway through the year. Speaking for the Socialist Group, we support Mrs Jensen's approach and believe that the amendments represent a satisfactory compromise between the Commission's proposals and the Council's cuts in the draft budget. In particular, I endorse fully the reinstatement of the PDB for the Ombudsman's budget, and also for funding for an objective information campaign on the constitutional treaty. It is important that our citizens are able to make informed decisions based on facts. As regards the secretarial allowance, if we are to improve it, it is essential we have in place an assistant's statute. That is why the funding for this stays in reserve. I have been following the budget for over five years and the issue I have always focused on is transparency. The budgetary cycle each year is a repetition of the same exercise whereby the Commission proposes X, the Council then cuts it to Y and Parliament comes up with Z. This process is flawed and does not always lead to the most efficient and effective use of resources. I believe the problems arise because we have no opportunity to appreciate the behind the Council's decisions to increase the budget lines or decrease them. These decisions are taken behind closed doors. If the Council is serious in wanting Parliament to support its approach, then it needs to make these decisions in the public arena. Over the years, I have tried to improve our budgeting process, especially in relation to the way other institutions come up with and propose their budgets, by encouraging them to take on Activity Based Budgeting, ABB. I have to say that I am deeply disappointed that none of the other institutions have made reasonable efforts to adopt this method. I believe that since the Commission has implemented ABB, its budgeting has improved with greater transparency. Having said that, there is considerable room for improvement even with the Commission. What is urgently needed there is greater openness and a thorough evaluation of programmes, of successes and failures, to ensure that when programmes are re-targeted or re-evaluated, this is done on the basis of independent evaluation. There are areas where the Commission is still failing to match policy priorities with an adequate level of resources. For example, my particular hobbyhorse is poverty eradication. It is not just the Commission and the Council that need to demonstrate greater transparency: it would benefit Parliament too. In the last few years, we have seen the emergence of horizontal amendments. Of course they simplify voting procedures, but they also create two problems. Firstly, they blur the decisions taken by COBU and, secondly, the result is that fewer and fewer people are involved in decision-making, both within Parliament and within the political groups. We have a unique opportunity to address these issues, namely in our deliberations on the next financial perspectives. We have the chance not just to look at the figures and headings, but also to make our internal processes clearer and simpler. The budget process is not just for the anoraks like myself and others who are sitting around here, everyone in this House is accountable to European citizens for the decisions this House makes on the budget. Finally, I call on the Council, the Commission, Parliament and the other institutions to take this opportunity to take radical action so that future budgets are simple and transparent. I would also like to add my thanks to Commissioner Schreyer. I would like to thank her for all her work in this area and wish her all the best for the future."@en1
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