Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-02-Speech-4-031"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041202.4.4-031"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, yet again we are presented with a Court of Auditors’ report that questions the reliability of the Commission’s accounting practices and the accounts themselves for the tenth year in a row. The Court indicates that nearly 95% of the EU budget has serious problems with regard to accountability and effective spending. Two years ago Marta Andreasen, the Commission’s chief accountant, raised many problems regarding the EU’s accounts. Instead of listening to her and acting on her advice, the Commission briefed against her, suspended her from her job and then, two weeks before the old Commission retired, fired her.
People in Europe are sceptical about many EU issues but their biggest worry is the fact that the European Union is unable to have properly signed-off, audited accounts. This situation cannot continue, because it will bring the European Union into more and more disrepute. It is imperative that the new Commission act immediately to restore the confidence of the general public.
As a member of Parliament’s Temporary Committee on Foot and Mouth Disease, I now wish to focus on the Court’s special report on the 2001 crisis. The Court’s report points out the UK Government’s many failures during FMD. There were no provisions to handle a serious outbreak of disease and there were no proper financial controls to manage the outbreak. The Court also identified many major problems over animal movements. The three-day delay by the government in banning animal movements allowed the disease to spread rapidly, resulting in double the number of animals being slaughtered. The lack of financial control by the UK Government resulted in the EU Commission disqualifying nearly two thirds of Britain’s claim and some GBP 948 million of emergency EU funds. This has led to the UK taxpayer losing some GBP 600 million.
The Court of Auditors’ special report on foot and mouth has highlighted yet again the need for a full public inquiry to be held in the United Kingdom into the FMD outbreak of 2001."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples