Brussels, 08/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer is planning to demand that Poland repays pre-accession aid of around EUR 3 million from the EU granted in a pilot project to develop the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) to monitor the transfer of EU CAP and rural development aid in the future. The pilot project in question seems to be the subject of corruption, explained Michaele Schreyer to reporters during a two-day visit to Warsaw last week, obliging the Commission to demand the repayment of pre-accession aid for the first time.
Ms Schreyer said "the Commission has strong views on this: when there has been an irregularity, it is necessary to make a recovery". She highlighted that the Commission, and also the European Parliament, were demanding assurances that aid to help prepare for accession was appropriately used by the candidate countries. She said there had to be assurances about appropriate use of pre-accession aid, but also of the much bigger sums that would be paid after enlargement (from the Structural Funds, aid for farmers, etc, Ed).
Ms Schreyer stressed in Warsaw that the candidate countries would all be net beneficiaries and that none of them would be in a less favourable financial situation on joining the EU than at present, not in the first few years at least. She told reporters that the EU guaranteed this, if necessary making fixed transfers for some candidate countries. This might be needed since according to the European Commission proposal on the budgetary aspects of enlargement (published in January 2002), contribute to the EU budget from the very first year they join, although EU funding (regional aid, aid for farmers, etc) will not be fully available until after enlargement. All candidates, including Poland, will have to make additional efforts to increase their ability to absorb this EU funding, said Ms Schreyer.