Toespraak Eurocommissaris Hübner over begrotingscontrole (en)

SPEECH/08/100

Danuta HÜBNER

European Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy

"We are serious about improving control of Structural expenditure"

Opening remarks at Budgetary Control Committee meeting on 2006 budget discharge, European Parliament

Brussels, 25 February 2008

Mr Chairman, honourable members,

I am grateful to have this second opportunity as in December we did not provide you with all the answers you needed. One thing is clear : we all share a common objective - to make sure that EU structural expenditure is controlled properly.

There are four points I want to make.

The first point is this: We do not contest the methodology behind the Court's estimate of the error rate. We do not contest the figure of 12%. There is an unacceptably high risk of error. This is the starting point for additional actions.

Second point: We know the type of errors causing the 12%. And we know where to focus the required corrective measures.

For ERDF and Cohesion Fund, over a third of the errors are linked to public procurement. We were already aware of this risk area, and, for example, in Greece, Portugal and Spain we have applied, or are in the process of applying financial corrections. For the European Social Fund, over half the errors are linked to problems with the audit trail and overheads, which have also been a focus for audit work by Commission services.

We can also see where the errors are concentrated amongst the programmes and projects audited by the Court, namely in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Commission audits found the same problems, and again action has been or is being taken. I have sent the Committee detailed information on the remedial actions underway for these Member States and others for which we have identified similar risks, so I will not list them now.

My third point is about the need to do more: We must do more to prevent high errors from happening. And we must act more vigorously to recover and correct errors that escaped preventive measures. Clearly, the first aim is to respond to the risks for 2006. But equally important is to see that errors are reduced in the years to come.

Last week, the Commission adopted an Action Plan to achieve precisely these objectives. It shows that the entire College recognises the problem and the urgent need to address it. We have the political will to take difficult decisions.

The Action Plan is a very concrete document:

It targets the audit work of the Commission on the most risky areas explicitly identified in the Plan;

It gives tight deadlines for the Commission to reach decisions on suspension and correction procedures, applying faster procedures;

It aims at improving reporting on recoveries, and I am pleased we have agreed with the Court on how to do this in a consistent and reliable manner from now on.

Commissioner Spidla i will elaborate on these points.

Mr Chairman, honourable members,

The Action Plan is, in fact, a very demanding accountability instrument that you can monitor. The actions will all be concluded before the end of this year, with 19 before the summer, and another 18 by the end of the year. In fact, the first 6 actions are due in only 5 weeks (31 March). We will send you quarterly reports on implementation of the plan. We will also prepare a final report for you and update the Action Plan for 2009.

So you see we are serious about improving control of Structural expenditure.

And my final point. The Parliament and the Commission have been united in trying to convince Member states to take greater responsibility for shared management. As Mr Kallas i said earlier, there are encouraging signs in the Council discharge recommendation that our message is being heard.

We are pleased that most Annual Summaries from Member States have arrived on time. I have already given the Committee a first written assessment.

In short, we have received annual summaries from 25 Member States. Austria and Germany have yet to send theirs. And four Member states - the Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg - have not yet provided any information on the 2000-2006 programme period. I've heard from the Greek government that this information is being prepared.

Perhaps the average quality of this first set of summaries leaves room for improvement. We will follow this up. But I do believe an important principle has been established, and I would like to finish with the commitment that the Commission will do what it takes to ensure that the Financial Regulation is respected on this important point. In this, we count on your support.

Mr Chairman, honourable members, thank you very much for your attention.