Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-21-Speech-2-139"
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"en.20090421.19.2-139"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, we are talking about the European Development Fund, which concerns African, Caribbean and Pacific States. From our point of view these countries are not standard regions, they are not conventional states and they do not present typical problems. In terms of implementation of the fund, in 2007 we saw an increase in payments and in commitments, which also means an increase in efficiency. This is undoubtedly a positive point, and I would like to start with this.
The fund consisted of two parts: the part managed by the European Commission and the part which was under the control of the European Investment Bank. The part managed by the European Commission is the part which is the subject of this debate on discharge, whereas the part managed by the EIB is for the time being excluded from the discharge, and I would like to come back to this matter later.
Our debate is based on the position of the European Court of Auditors. The Tribunal stated clearly that the transactions underlying the revenue and commitments for the year 2007 are, taken as a whole, legal and regular, but drew attention to the high fiduciary risk with regard to budget support resulting from the Commission’s ‘dynamic interpretation’ of the eligibility criteria. The audit revealed, however, a material level of errors and found – and here we are in agreement – that a rapid improvement in the area of supervision and control is essential. Such possibilities exist, and we share this point of view.
The sample taken for the audit included six states and 250 transactions. A very important finding was made, namely that the Commission is still not able to give full accounting information. We welcome the declaration that a new system will be functioning as of February 2009. I hope that the commissioner will confirm this fact.
Another very important matter is the difference between words and deeds when preparing agreements. Drawing up and signing cause a great deal of ambiguity. The Commission must clarify this, especially because the ACP countries also have different approaches to this. A very important matter from our point of view as the European Parliament is that the assessment of regularity should not only be carried out after the fact, but that it should take the form of supervision and control to prevent irregularities. Preventing irregularities also helps in assessing the benefits we achieve from allocating funds. This is not only a matter of showing regularity in the accounts, but is also about showing the degree to which the objective is achieved, and in this respect we would like to draw attention to the need for cooperation from national parliaments, because they should to a large extent understand this matter. This is a matter of cooperation with authorities and governments, and also with civil society.
One aspect which would appear to be of particular importance is the question of supervision of funds managed by the EIB. The EIB continues to be, from our perspective, an institution which it is not possible to supervise. We confirm very clearly in the report that the EIB had a sum of EUR 2.2 billion at its disposal. This was public money – it did not come from the financial markets. The EIB would, therefore, appear to be a most undemocratic institution which nevertheless has public money at its disposal.
Finally, I would like to thank the commissioner for his cooperation during this term of office. I would like Mr Łuckiewicz to accept our thanks on behalf of the Court of Auditors. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the Committee on Development, and also from the Committee on Budgetary Control, which was efficiently led by Mr Bösch."@en1
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