Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-22-Speech-4-026-000"
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"en.20121122.7.4-026-000"2
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"Madam President, President Caldeira, Mr rapporteur, honourable Members of the Parliament and of the Court of Auditors, the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors is published at a time when the legislative and budgetary authorities are about to finalise the design and the resources for the next multiannual financial framework.
Fifthly, the error rate for internal policies increased, up to 3 %. The Commission is looking into the cases in order to prevent the occurrence of similar problems in the short term. In the longer term, Horizon 2020 will lead to further simplification and fewer errors.
Finally, in cohesion policy the error rate significantly decreased from 7.7 % in 2010 to 5.1 % in 2011. The report of the Court is a clear signal that more has to be done. The Commission will focus its supervision and assistance on the riskiest areas and partners, and it will pursue a strict management and control policy for the programmes under its direct responsibility. But the Member States have to step up their efforts as well.
According to the Court, more than 60 % of those errors identified for the Regional Fund and 76 % for the European Social Fund should have been detected by the national authorities before they sent their claims to the Commission. The room for improvement there is very clear indeed. There will be no let-up in the efforts of the Commission’s services to reduce further the risk of errors. I believe, nonetheless, that it is appropriate to put the estimated error rate into perspective, bearing in mind the main financial responsibility of the Commission: to defend the EU’s financial interests.
It is essential to stress that the weaknesses identified by the Court do not lead to massive loss of money or fraud. This becomes clearer when taking into consideration the multiannual dimension of the spending programmes and their preventive and corrective mechanisms.
The Commission has recovered or corrected EUR 1.84 billion in incorrect payments in 2011. Even if those amounts also relate to payments made in previous years, in financial terms these financial corrections and recoveries represent 1.4 % of the payments made in 2011. This figure does not yet include amounts recovered or corrected by Member States in the area of cohesion following their own audits and controls.
The Commission will endeavour to get more reliable data from the Member States in order to be able to present next year a more complete picture of the corrective measures implemented at EU and national levels.
Following past discharge recommendations of this House, the Commission has taken major steps in order to prevent further errors. In cohesion, the Commission decided in 2011 to initiate 13 suspension procedures and to interrupt the deadlines for 105 payments amounting to a total of EUR 2.75 billion. These instruments will also be strictly applied in the future. From 2014, they will hopefully be complemented by the net correction mechanism proposed for all programmes under shared management.
Honourable Members of Parliament and of the Court of Auditors, the Commission takes its responsibility seriously and will continue its work to achieve better results in the future for the benefit of EU citizens and taxpayers. It will take all necessary measures to address the weaknesses observed by the Court and intensify its cooperation with the discharge authority to bring about the anticipated improvements. The role of the Member States is essential in this respect, as is their commitment to assuming their responsibility and obligations under shared management. As I have said, I count on the current and next Presidencies to contribute actively to this goal in the Council.
Drawing lessons from previous budgetary discharge procedures, new management and control mechanisms were proposed for the future programmes. The new Financial Regulation introduces considerable reforms, focusing strongly on European added value and simplification. The Commission proposals for the next programming period aim also at strengthening the accountability of all financial actors. Finally, cost-effective control mechanisms were proposed throughout all EU programmes. These measures are likely to address effectively the weaknesses and errors which are currently observed.
At the presentation of the Court’s Annual Report in the Budgetary Control Committee earlier this month, Members of this House asked themselves what they could do to improve further the situation. I would like to stress that you – this Parliament – have already substantially contributed to that goal.
Firstly, getting the error rate from 7.3 % in 2006 to 3.9 % in 2011 can be explained largely by the follow-up given by the Commission to your recommendations. It serves to demonstrate the usefulness and added value of a constructive dialogue between the Commission and the discharge authority.
Secondly, the substantial improvements in the new Financial Regulation would have been impossible to achieve without the very strong cooperation between our two institutions. Thirdly, we still have to get the other proposals adopted by the co-legislators, including programmes under shared management. The Parliament, as discharge authority and co-legislator, has a crucial role to play in promoting sound financial management principles in this context.
The Council shares with the Parliament the responsibility of putting in place a solid legal framework for the next financial period which will guarantee that the sound financial principles are respected. But the Council will also issue a recommendation to the Parliament on the discharge. This is a unique opportunity to look at what the Member States can do specifically, with the Commission, to improve the performance of the programmes under shared management. Therefore, I call on the current and future Presidencies to organise extensive discussions with the Member States on these important issues.
Let me now pass to a few points regarding the Court of Auditors report on the financial year 2011.
Firstly, for the fifth consecutive time, the Court of Auditors has issued an unqualified positive opinion on the annual accounts of the EU. Secondly, the overall error rate for all payments made in 2011 remains stable compared with 2010, even though the risk profile of the transactions increased in 2011.
Thirdly, commitments and revenues for the entire budget are free from material errors. So, moreover, are the payments for external aid, development, enlargement and administrative expenditure. Fourthly, following the increased error rate for rural development, a thorough action plan is being implemented to identify, in collaboration with the Member States, the root causes of these errors and to address the weaknesses under the current and future programming period."@en1
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