Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-20-Speech-4-011"
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"en.20081120.3.4-011"2
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"Mr President, the Commission welcomes the Court’s annual report. I would like to underline the very constructive cooperation we have enjoyed with the Court. There is one piece of really good news in the report: the Court has given the accounts a completely clean bill of health, what the auditors call an ‘unqualified opinion’. This is a remarkable achievement in only the third year of the new accounting system.
There is a second piece of very good news: the Court acknowledges that we are strengthening our supervisory systems. In 2007, for the first time, there is not a single chapter with a red card on control systems from the external auditor. Many efforts are ongoing in this field. I would like to highlight the annual summaries of existing audits in Structural Funds submitted by Member States for the first time last spring.
The Court recognises these efforts, even if results are not yet translated into significantly reduced error rates on the ground. The Commission is encouraged by this.
It is a fact that on individual transactions the picture remains mixed. For the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, the largest volume of agricultural expenditure, the Court recognises that this year again the error rate is below materiality level. The same is not true for the rest of the chapter on natural resources, where rural development is prone to a high level of errors. For cohesion funds too, the Court still finds far too many errors.
The Commission is giving the highest priority to reducing these error rates, and it is not shying away from taking a tough stance if needed. In 2008 we have already imposed financial corrections on the ERDF and ESF – the cohesion funds – for EUR 843 million and an estimated EUR 1.5 billion more is in the pipeline.
Allow me to recall that, as far as errors in the underlying payments are concerned, the bar is set very high. At least 98% must be error-free. Nevertheless, we are getting closer: the auditors now say that for all budget areas but one as much as 95% or more of the payments are free from serious financial error.
For external aid and internal policies, such as transport and energy, as well as education and citizenship, the Court does note improvements. Administration and economic and financial affairs fare even better. These areas are in direct management by the Commission, which may partly explain why efforts undertaken have a more immediate impact. So, to summarise: in the Commission’s view the Court of Auditors’ annual report for 2007 shows that there is steady, gradual progress.
We have come a long way over the last five years. Looking at the progress made, I can assert that the Commission has absolutely no regrets about having set itself the objective of achieving a positive declaration of assurance concerning the underlying transactions. We hope that the European Parliament will recognise the positive developments and continue to support efforts for simplification, better management, and more accountability from the Member States."@en1
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