Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-09-Speech-2-260"
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"en.20040309.10.2-260"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, new obligations under the Financial Regulation adopted in 2002 are the reason for our debate today. This new Financial Regulation now provides a clear legal framework for the subsidies we give to a large number of leading European organisations in the fields of culture, youth and education.
There will now have to be a legal base for all funding decisions. That is of course a step forward and I am pleased about it, while noting, as Mrs Pack has said, that there are some perverse effects and I very much hope we shall find solutions in talks with the budgetary services of this House.
The changes that have been made led the Commission to present proposals for a new legal base in spring 2003. Those proposals concerned in particular the fields of culture, youth and education. They sought to ensure a smooth transition between the old system and the new, and we have tried to ensure the necessary continuity while being irreproachable in terms of the proper use of public funds.
Today I am grateful to the European Parliament and to Mr Rocard and his committee in particular for recognising the urgency of the matter and allowing the Commission’s proposals to be examined quickly. It seems to me that the most important matters have now been settled and I am therefore pleased that we are moving towards a compromise, which shows the European institutions’ determination to find a solution as quickly as possible when that is necessary.
For want of a legal base, we have in fact been in a legal vacuum since 1 January 2004 with regard to organisations whose know-how and creativeness are well known, organisations which the citizens need if they are really to be able to operate in a European way. The part played by those bodies is irreplaceable: they help to make Europe loved and to give Europe a soul, as some Members have so rightly said.
We have therefore all shown common sense in finding solutions that will enable us to put an end to uncertainty. I believe everything is now in place to close this file and I would like to point out that the Presidency has sent three letters to the chairman of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport informing him that the Council is open to reaching an agreement at second reading on the basis of the common positions so amended.
The Commission’s position on the amendments contained in the various recommendations is as follows: so far as the proposal in the field of education and training is concerned, the Commission is able to agree to the three amendments voted by the Committee on Culture at second reading because they bring major improvements to the way the programme is implemented. So far as culture is concerned, the five amendments seeking to make the text compatible with the Financial Regulation and to take account of budget conciliation also meet with the Commission’s agreement. So far as youth is concerned, the proposed amendment introducing a transitional clause into the legal base in order to extend the period of eligibility to 1 January 2004 to take account of expenditure made during the period of legal vacuum also has the Commission’s agreement.
The Commission therefore fully approves Parliament’s amendments, Mr President. As you see, there is no more ambiguity and I will therefore end by thanking the rapporteurs, Mrs Iivari, Mrs Pack and Mrs Prets, for the quality of their work and above all for the spirit in which they undertook it. Thanks to you, ladies, we will be able to continue our very important work with European organisations that bring the Europe of citizenship to life."@en1
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