Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-14-Speech-2-322"
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"en.20000314.15.2-322"2
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"Mr President, there is no disagreement on the fact that we want to comply with this piece of legislation. I was surprised to see you quoted in my press as threatening to cut off European funding. I consider that to be a disproportionate action for what we are trying to achieve. You will know that in the case of the UK, at a moderation seminar, the Commission agreed a timetable to allow for review and inclusion of additional sites. In Paris a timetable was set to allow for a revised list to be presented in July with another moderation in October 2000. We are determined, after years of foot-dragging by the previous Conservative Government – Mrs Jackson's party – to meet our requirements in the UK, in good faith, to follow the proper legal and proper consultation to ensure this directive is complied with. This process is ongoing and I have no reason to believe that any plans submitted for regional funding breached the EU habitats and wild bird directives at this stage.
Therefore, I fail to understand or accept the linkage that is trying to be established through this resolution. But let us be clear. Any refusal by the Commission to approve the programme – for example, in Merseyside – thus undermining £2 billion worth of investment, or any other Objective I area, including Cornwall, involving 5 million people in the UK, would actually breach – you said this Commissioner – the well-established Commission principle of proportionality, namely the obligation to pursue the least restrictive way of ensuring compliance with EU legislation – in this case the habitats and wild bird directive. We therefore need to have a balanced relationship between means and ends. In the final analysis any breach of EU legislation must actually go the European Court of Justice. I cannot accept that such a balance means the cutting off of vital lifelines of EU funds to the poorest and neediest regions.
Commissioner Barnier probably said to you today, Commissioner Wallström, that all European programmes should be able to start without undue delay because it can be extremely difficult to make up for lost time later on.
I therefore ask the Commissioner to take collective responsibility for ensuring that Structural Fund programmes are implemented in time. That is your responsibility as a member of the college."@en1
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