Brussels, 21/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commissioner for Development policy, Poul Nielson, and the Secretary General for the liaison committee for development non-governmental organisations to the EU (CLONG), James Mackie, met on Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the draft final audit report on the management of CLONG handed by the consultancy office (see EUROPE of 20 December, p.15). This report will be passed on to CLONG, which will have thirty days to react.
During this meeting, Poul Nielson reiterated that the criticisms formulated only concern financial and technical issues. There exists regulations for procedures and proper financial management that should be respected, he underlined, while recalling that the Commission maintains excellent relations with many NGOs for which it appreciates and respects their role and work. According to him, CLONG benefits from the same treatment as all the other Commission contractors. The Commission assured James Mackie that the dialogue would continue between the Commission and CLONG as soon as it has reacted to the report.
On the eve of this meeting, the development NGO liaison committee had organised a press conference to denounce "the defective audit process", which has "dragged on" since mid-1999, rejected "the crocodile tears from the Commission" and warned that "Commissioner Nielson is jeopardising the European Development NGO network". Joachim Lindau, President of the Liaison Committee, brandished the risk of its disappearance, which "should shut down in a few months if the Commission implements its threat to suspend payments". The Committee assures that "all the Community funds handled over the last five years and which have been examined by the audit (totalling some EUR 10 million) have been properly spent in the aim that was given to them and in accordance with the rules of the Commission enforced at the time. Thus the Commission is unfounded in claiming them". The Committee accuses the Commission of changing the rules of the game, and denounces the Commissioner's attitude, accused of systematically denigrating the NGOs.
The Commission is, on its side, criticising "many half truths and a little bad faith" in the statements by the NGOs. "It concerns an independent audit", recalls the Commission over the contested report, and assures not having changed the rule of the game along the way". The Commissioner Nielson, it is not an attack against the NGOs, but the Liaison Committee "as with all other beneficiaries of Community aid, must apply the principals of proper financial management".
The problem seems mainly linked to the subsidies paid by the Liaison Committee to national platforms. The absence of receipts especially cover the fund aimed at platforms that regroup NGOs in each Member States, or around EUR 800,000 in a total, it seems, of one million in unjustified costs. The Liaison Committee's budget is of around EUR 2 million per year, 95% financed by the European Commission. The Commission "suspects that the remaining 15%, financed by the national platforms, are done so indirectly by the Commission, money paid by the Liaison Committee to the national committees would in part be returned to the Liaison Committee". In the future the Commission would clearly like a more balanced co-financing between it and the national platforms, "even if this will not happen over night".
The Liaison Committee gathers together some 900 NGOs regrouped in 15 national platforms, one per Member State. It has a lobby, aid and coordination role.