Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-08-Speech-3-226"
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"en.20050608.19.3-226"2
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".
Mr President, I wish to begin by thanking Parliament for its support and efforts, which culminated in the conclusion of an anti-fraud agreement with Phillip Morris International on 9 July 2004. This includes the payment of USD 1.25 billion to the European Community and participating Member States over 12 years. The agreement underlines the importance of anti-fraud policies and is regarded as a major success for the Commission and OLAF.
Since the agreement was signed, the Commission has pointed out that all the other Member States should also join it. Austria, Ireland, Malta and Poland have recently signed and we hope that the other Member States will soon. We also sincerely hope that the Phillip Morris agreement can serve as a model for a similar agreement with other companies.
The Commission, on behalf of the European Community, and the ten Member States that concluded the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement with Philip Morris International, will decide how the funds are to be shared out. Discussions are ongoing and the Commission has repeatedly stressed the urgency of reaching agreement on the distribution of the amounts to be allocated. In this regard, we are grateful for Parliament’s support in seeking an adequate share for the Commission allocation.
The agreement is intended to contribute to the fight against smuggling and fraud. It specifies that the monetary payments may serve as a source of additional funding for anti-contraband and anti-counterfeit initiatives. However, it does not include specific obligations for their use.
In the Bösch report on the fight against fraud, adopted only yesterday, Parliament asks the Commission and the Member States to use the payments accruing from the agreement to fund measures to prevent and combat cigarette smuggling, including anti-counterfeiting activities.
Funds received by the European Community under the agreement will be entered in the Community budget as non-earmarked funds, in accordance with the rules of the Financial Regulation applicable. The Community legislator and the budgetary authority can, however, decide to adopt a new programme or to widen the scope of an existing programme.
The Commission considers that the Community is entitled to receive a fair share of the funds, reflecting the principles of the Community’s own resources system.
The Commission has been discussing the distribution of the funds with the ten Member States and is confident that a consensus will be reached soon. In December 2004 Commissioner Kallas sent a letter to the ministers of finance and has convened two meetings on the subject. A final agreement has not yet been reached. The question of the share that should be allocated to the Community budget is dependent on the solution that is found to the division of funds between the Member States.
The Commission actively continues to seek a final consensus."@en1
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