Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-396"
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"en.20081118.31.2-396"2
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".
Mr President, the European Council in March 2008 ordered new, fast-track legislative initiatives to be taken in order to improve the business environment for companies in the Union by reducing administrative obligations and costs. In my opinion, the Commission’s proposal for a directive which we are debating contributes little to the objective set.
The core problem for companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is that objective conditions are needed for improving the bureaucratic, legislative and fiscal environment in general and we expect an even more substantial contribution on the part of the Commission in this direction.
In this particular instance, the main purpose of publishing companies’ annual accounts and other financial statements is to apply the principle of transparency and publicity in commercial activities. However, the low level of penetration of the Internet in a significant number of Member States of the Union does not constitute an adequate guarantee.
Apart from that, having compulsory records in purely electronic format would also mean the loss of thousands of specialist jobs in traditional printed media. Furthermore, the press is an essential component of the principle of the transparency and democratic life of the Union, the contribution of which to the multilingualism and diversity of the European Union is beyond question.
I consider that the safety valve of adopting a single fee and of maintaining the parallel facility to publish in the printed media, in conjunction with the introduction of an electronic register, as formulated in the consensus reached and voted by all – I repeat all – wings of the Committee on Legal Affairs, is the balanced and rational solution needed.
In closing, allow me to emphasise that what is required of the European Parliament and what it has a duty to provide is productive consent to Community lawmaking whilst retaining the full independence of its legislative will. It is the will of the Committee on Legal Affairs, as already formulated, that plenary adopt the report by Mrs Kauppi, whom I congratulate on her work.
In post scriptum to you, Commissioner, I do not know if the consensus proposal by the Committee on Legal Affairs comes as a disappointment to you, but I should like to say to you and I honestly hope that, as soon as the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the culture of cooperation between the Commission and the European Parliament will – and must – change. That is what we are waiting for now; that is what the democratically elected European Parliament is waiting for."@en1
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