Strasbourg, 24/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 April in Strasbourg, the European Parliament voted by 567 votes (62 against, with 43 abstentions) in favour of the European Commission's discharge on execution of the EU's budget for 2005. This means that the report by Salvador Garriga Polledo (EPP-ED, Spain) on the procedure has been adopted. Member states are being called on to assume their responsibilities in the good management of EU spending. The EP reiterates its demand that member state governments fill in a declaration certifying that the money has been spent correctly. During the debate, MEPs pointed out that some member states (Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden) had agreed to provided such national declarations, while others, like Germany, were refusing to do so.
In its resolution, the EP highlighted the need to suspend all or some of the payments while “member states were not respecting basic demands” relating to the problems encountered by Greece in the implementation of the integrated agricultural spending control system. The Commission is also being called on to put an end to former officials who leave the Commission working in pressure groups and lawyers' offices that represent, “for example, clients who have been subject to DG Competition investigations or who have opposed fines imposed on them”. The EP is pleased with the Commission's transparency initiative but expects member states to also be totally transparent in their use of Community funds.
Siim Kallas, the commissioner responsible for administration and fighting fraud, took note during the debate of the EP's intention to give the Commission a discharge for the 2005 budget, but according to Kallas, this discharge is “deserved”. The commissioner listed the initiatives already launched by the Commission: member states being compelled through the financial regulation to produce an annual summary “at the appropriate national level” of the audits and declarations available on the reliability of the accounts; the presentation, next week of a stages report on implementation of the internal integrated control framework; improvement in quality of information on recoveries and financial corrections made to irregular spending of funds.
In response to MEPs' recommendations, Kallas indicated that the Commission had already used its powers of suspending Community aid payments. He cited the example of the action plan Greece has to respect for correcting failures in the implementation of Agriculture's Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) in Greece. Greece has to hand in a report on 15 May. If deadlines are not respected, the Commission will suspend certain agricultural payments granted to Greece, as Mariann Fischer Boel said five months ago (EUROPE 9318). With regard to structural actions, the Commission decided on 4 April to interrupt ERDF payments in nine regions in England, as well as funding for a programme launched in a sixth region of this country. Kallas gave assurances that if the United Kingdom did not correct the failings that had been detected, it would lay itself open to a correction ranging from 5% to 10 % or 25 % of the amounts paid out for each programme. In the area of Community funds for research, the Commission is committed to increasing the budget for ex-post budgets. It is planning on 300 in 2007 (as opposed to just 45 in 2006).