Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-26-Speech-4-008"
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"en.20091126.3.4-008"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour for me to have the opportunity to take part in your debate today about the Annual Report of the European Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget for the 2008 financial year, which I have already presented to you, Mr President, and to the Committee on Budgetary Control on 10 November.
Cohesion remains the area most affected by error. The Court estimates that at least 11% of the total of EUR 24.8 billion reimbursed during 2008 in respect of the 2000-2006 programming period should not have been reimbursed.
The Commission has claimed that the correction and recovery mechanisms mitigate the effects of the errors. However, the Court considers that Member States do not provide sufficiently complete and reliable information on financial corrections to support this claim. And the Court found cases of Member States replacing ineligible expenditure rejected by the Commission with new expenditure which was also ineligible.
As regards the 2007-2013 programming period, almost all payments are pre-financing, for which there are relatively few conditions. It is therefore too early to say whether changes to rules or systems have reduced the level of errors. However, delays in approving Member States’ systems descriptions, compliance assessments and audit strategies have slowed budgetary implementation and may increase the risk that control systems do not prevent or detect errors in the start-up phase.
Although there continues to be a material level of error in Research, energy and transport, remedial measures taken by the Commission have helped to reduce it. Nevertheless, legal requirements remain complex and control systems continue to be only partially effective.
Payments for External aid, development and enlargement also continue to be materially affected by errors, with weaknesses in systems for external aid and development assistance mainly at the level of the implementing bodies and delegations.
Overall, error rates appear to be decreasing but legal frameworks continue to be complex and problems remain in some control systems. Reducing the level of irregular payments further will therefore require the continuing improvement of supervisory and control systems and, where appropriate, the simplification of rules and regulations.
The third key message of the Annual Report is that the Court’s recommendations from previous years on improving supervisory and control systems continue to be valid because the relevant measures are part of an ongoing process where it will take time before they can be deemed to be effective.
The priority remains to address the specific weaknesses the Court has found in the areas where the most problems have been detected, many of which I have just outlined.
Particular attention should also continue to be paid to improving the financial correction and recovery mechanisms in anticipation of the closure of the 2000-2006 programming period.
In addition, the Commission should continue to monitor the effectiveness of systems and identify where more could be achieved from existing expenditure controls, or where it would be appropriate to consider revising the programmes or schemes involved.
We have four key messages in this year’s annual report.
In the context of such revisions, the legislative authorities and the Commission should consider trying to set a level of residual risk of irregularity to be achieved by the system, that is, the tolerable risk of error, rather than specifying the number of checks to be undertaken, as is the case now.
But there is a limit to the reduction of the level of irregularity that can be achieved by improving the effectiveness of supervisory and control systems.
This brings me to the fourth and last key message of this Annual Report. Simplification remains a priority if further significant and sustainable reductions in the level of irregular payments are to be achieved. The areas where the Court finds too high levels of errors are those where there are complicated and unclear legal requirements, such as eligibility rules. An example of where serious efforts have already been made to simplify the expenditure schemes is agriculture, the main area of improvement found by the Court.
The Court also maintains the view that well-designed rules and regulations which are clear to interpret and simple to apply not only decrease the risk of error but can also reduce the costs of controls.
However, simplification needs to be applied with caution in order to find the right balance between simplification and establishment of policy objectives, avoiding unintended side-effects such as less focused expenditure.
In addition, as the Court has also emphasised, simplification should be applied alongside the principles of clarity of objectives, realism, transparency and accountability when revising or reforming the arrangements for European Union spending. The intended proposals for a revision of the financial regulation, a new financial framework and a reformed budget will provide opportunities for doing so during the mandate of the new Commission.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty will also bring changes to the management of European Union funds and the scrutiny of their use, strengthening the role of this Parliament. These changes will have important implications for the Court’s work and should serve to reinforce accountability and transparency, thereby contributing to building the confidence and trust of the citizens in the European Union institutions.
Mr President, honourable Members, this is an important moment of renewal for the European Union, and the intended reforms provide a great opportunity for further improving the financial management of the European Union. At times of renewal and reform, it is also important, however, to remember the lessons of the past. I believe the Court plays a vital role in such circumstances by providing reports and opinions that not only identify existing problems but also make recommendations for the future. The Court therefore looks forward to continuing to work together with its partner institutions to make the most of the current opportunities for further improving the European Union’s financial management.
First, the Court gives an unqualified opinion on the accounts for the second year running. It concludes that the accounts present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position, results and cash-flows of the European Union at the year’s end. In other words, the final accounts for 2008 present a true and fair view, although due attention should be paid to addressing weaknesses in the systems of a number of directorates-general of the Commission.
As regards the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, the second key message is that there has been an overall decrease in the level of irregularity in recent years. But the level of irregularity remains too high in some areas.
As in previous years, for 2008, the Court gives an unqualified opinion on Revenue and on commitments. The picture for payments, however, continues to be mixed.
For Administrative and other expenditure, the Court gives an unqualified opinion as in previous years. The Court also gives an unqualified opinion on education and citizenship, estimating that the error rate has fallen below 2%. This result is mainly due to a high proportion of advance payments in 2008, which have a lower risk of error than interim and final payments. Systems in this area continue, however, to be assessed as only partially effective.
For Agriculture and natural resources, the Court concludes that, except for rural development, payments were, in all material respects, legal and regular. This is the first time the Court gives a qualified opinion and not an adverse one. The overall error rate for this policy group is under 2%, a decrease with respect to previous years. Deficiencies in supervisory and control systems related to rural development contributed significantly to the Court’s overall assessment of systems as only partially effective.
The Court also gives a qualified opinion to the policy group Economic and financial affairs due to errors found in transactions relating to the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.
For the policy groups Cohesion, Research, energy and transport and External aid, development and enlargement, the Court continues to give adverse opinions concluding that they are affected by material error, although to different levels."@en1
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