Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-21-Speech-2-234"
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"en.20090421.26.2-234"2
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"− Mr President, I am very pleased to have this opportunity to discuss Parliament’s concerns regarding the issue of debt recovery abroad. I would also like to thank Ms Gill for the report.
I would like to inform Parliament that improving the practical enforcement of judgments will be a high priority of the Commission in the future Stockholm programme in the area of justice, freedom and security for the period 2010-2014 that the Commission will present in 2009.
However, the Commission has not yet programmed any specific legislative measure in terms of follow-up to its green paper.
Finally, in the light of the first results of the consultation, the Commission believes that this proposal – that is, to draw up a manual of national enforcement laws, to increase access to commercial and public registers, to improve cooperation between enforcement authorities and to create a compulsory assets declaration by the debtor – will go some way towards fulfilling our objectives.
In this respect, of course, careful consideration will be given by the Commission to Parliament’s resolution on the different issues incorporated in this report.
What is at stake? Both Parliament and the Commission agree that the problems of cross-border debt recovery may constitute a serious obstacle to the free circulation of payment orders within the European Union and may impede access to justice. Furthermore, this is key for the survival of small businesses in the current economic climate.
Against this background and in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, what should be the Community objectives? The European Union has an impressive set of legal measures to ensure access to justice in cross-border cases and to facilitate the free circulation of civil and commercial decisions within the Union.
However, there is no doubt – as stated in the Hague programme on mutual recognition adopted by the European Council – that it would in fact be much easier to enforce judgments within the European Union if it were possible to obtain accurate information on debtors’ financial positions.
The Commission published a green paper on the transparency of debtors’ assets in March 2008, and all the replies – including a summary – can now be accessed by consulting the public web site.
Most of the respondents agreed with the need for measures at Community level to increase the transparency of debtors’ assets, though views differ as to what can be done in practice.
I am grateful to Parliament for presenting such a detailed response to the green paper. The report is rather sceptical of the ideas put forward in the green paper, believing that the main problem is that of recalcitrant debtors who are unscrupulous.
The report is also very concerned about the data-protection/privacy issues related to obtaining information about people’s financial situation. The Commission is also committed to protecting privacy and the personal data of citizens.
The report instead calls for the adoption of national directories of foreign lawyers working in other Member States as a way to help creditors and suggests a Community provisional measure."@en1
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