Brussels, 12/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption, in Brussels on Thursday 11 October, of the report by Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (ALDE, Germany) on the transparency and budgetary execution of agricultural expenditure, the European Parliament has lent its support to the provisions proposed by the European Commission.
The Parliament rallies behind the position of the Commission, which is that the publication of data on beneficiaries of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be carried out at member state level, because it would bring about a great multiplication of bureaucracy if the Commission was to publish data collected and managed by the member states. In order to increase the transparency of the publication system, the amendments adopted aim to make it obligatory to publish on the internet national lists of beneficiaries of direct European aid, and to include links to the web pages of the Commission and those of the paying agencies of the member states. At the time of going to press, 13 member states have already created registers, which are accessible to the public, via the Europa website, for example.
In the view of the MEPs, data on payments under the rural development fund (EAFRD) should be broken down in such a way as to identify the type of action benefiting from payments. Other minimum criteria should be brought in, in order to make the various data published by the member states easier to compare. The member states should be free to carry out a higher level of breakdown, depending on their priorities and national legislation, and they would only be “encouraged” to publish details concerning additional payments from purely national funds.
Taking the view that transparency is a fundamental factor in improving budgetary control, the MEPs feel that the procedures to be brought in, in case of failure to adhere to the publication rules, should be clarified. They feel that payments which go to the paying body should be reduced by a fixed rate of 2% in case of “serious deficiencies”.
At the same time, the EP stresses the need to include in the Council regulation - and not only in its execution details - provisions on data protection. These will include prior notification to the individuals concerned before their data are published and the registration of people who use or consult this information. (lc)