Speech Kallas bij kwijting EU-budget voor 2004 (en)

dinsdag 14 maart 2006

SPEECH/06/167

Siim Kallas

Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud

1.

Council recommendations for the 2004 budget discharge

ECOFIN

Brussels, 14 March 2006

I thank the Council for its work on the Council recommendations for the 2004 discharge. I'm pleased that the Council recommends that Parliament grants the discharge for 2004.

The recommendations are helpful, and I will take forward those addressed to the Commission.

However, one question remains: what follow-up does the Council plan to give to the Commission's Action Plan towards the internal integrated control framework?

I recall our shared objective to reach a positive DAS. I note that the recommendations you're adopting today "urges all stakeholders to continue their work to improve financial management". This includes Member States.

The Action Plan is intended to attack the problem with the negative DAS. The 16 actions in the Action Plan are meant to be a definite "to-do" list, based on last year's discharge resolution and the guidance given by Council in November last year.

I must say I'm very satisfied with the collaboration with both Council and Parliament. I hope that together we'll be able to reach a pragmatic solution to the problems raised.

The Action Plan is the result of work started in June last year, involving Member States, Parliament and the Court of Auditors. It sets an agenda for urgent implementation.

I am therefore pleased that the Presidency is ready to discuss the Action Plan in further detail at the May ECOFIN.

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