Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-20-Speech-4-038"
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"en.20081120.3.4-038"2
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"Mr President, I should like to thank the Court of Auditors for its presentation this morning, which was extremely detailed and very useful. Yes, the error rates are too high – and we all strive for perfection – but progress has been made, and the EU generally has made progress, so that is to be welcomed.
The general point I would make is that Member States are perhaps more careful with their own money than with European money, and we need to change that mindset. However, as others have said, we do not need to overcomplicate the rules and regulations concerning compliance, because that puts people off, and particularly those who might need to have access to funding.
I have in my hand here – hot off the presses – the health check on the common agricultural policy agreed in the early hours of this morning. One thing that strikes me very clearly from the presentation this morning is that it was clearly said that, when it comes to rural development, there are big problems in terms of compliance when, under the health check, we are now taking more money from the single farm payment to pour into rural development. There is an issue to be addressed here. At the end of the day, putting money into rural development programmes to address climate change, biodiversity and water management is, in theory, a very good idea, but how does one measure these things and assess value for money? That is something we need to look at very carefully.
I have a concern that this report, as in the past, will be used to beat up on the EU – to say bad things about it – rather than in the way it should be used, which is to say: look, we have made progress and we are pointing to areas where we need to make further improvements, so that we spend European money in a way which is good for the European citizen, and avoid making that overcomplicated.
The most widely-used word in the House this morning was ‘simplification’. If it was that simple, then we would already be doing it. While I do not think things are quite that easy, perhaps if those who control and inspect were more in tune with the issues on the ground, then it might help the process someway along. So, I commend the presentation, and let us hope that we continue to spend well."@en1
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