Mr President, each year I find the Court of Auditors’ reports as fascinating as ever. Irrespective of which programmes or areas are examined, 5% of the funds, that is to say SEK 40 billion, have disappeared from the system. I genuinely welcome these reports. In spite of the fact that you in the Court of Auditors have previously pointed out irregularities and given good advice to the Commission, we note once again this year, that is to say for 1998, that the Commission’s changes have not in any way made the system as a whole either any clearer or more comprehensive. We are talking here about exceeding budgets. Sometimes, there is a complete lack of information. It is public purchasing procedures which are lacking. Sometimes, straightforward doubts about how to proceed are also in evidence. SEK 40 billion is two years’ worth of funds contributed by Swedish tax-payers to the European Union. For SEK 40 billion, two million Swedish workers could go over to a 35-hour working week and still receive the same wages. Moreover, this is a trend I think we could look into and encourage when we consider how we use the structural funds, for this would be one way of making good use of these in terms of job-creation measures. In short, we can see that we could do a lot of good things for SEK 40 billion. The new Commission has said it wants to tighten up the system, but then it has also been saying as much every year. As far as I am concerned, it is quite obvious that the European Union has too much power and too many budgetary resources compared with the ability and qualifications it has to handle these. That, I believe, is why the Member States have a lack of interest in accepting due responsibility. Constantly patching up the system just seems to encourage various degrees of crookedness, most recently now in Sweden where the Commission’s own Stockholm office has just been suspected of having paid out wages to people who do not exist. That is amazing, to say the least. I should like to conclude with a question to the President of the Court of Auditors: why have you not obtained the right to examine the European Investment Fund? I hope that it is not for reasons of making future savings that the President of the Court of Auditors is not availing himself of the language of our common, untamed homeland, that is to say of Swedish. (Lights in the chamber were malfunctioning) Dell'Alba (TDI). – (FR) Mr President, President of the Court of Auditors, apparently your presentation is not well starred. Last month, your speech was cut off, and now you are suffering a power cut. I hope that in the end we shall be able to see our way clearly here. In any case, you should not worry too much, because we have just adopted an urgent motion since it seems that the President of the Nicaraguan Court of Auditors has been imprisoned. You see, all we did to you was to prevent you taking part in a sitting. I regret this just as much as Mr Staes. I hope that light will be shed both on European accounts and on this Chamber. Puns apart, I would like to congratulate you on your report, which is always significant for the European Union. You may gauge the extent to which this report and your comments have been significant for the European Union in the crisis which shook it last year. I think we must go ahead. (Lights in the chamber came on again) Well, there you are, this is the effect my words can have: fiat lux, let there be light! Mr President, I wished to tell you how significant your role was and how well the message has been received, I imagine, within the institutions of the Community, properly speaking, i.e. the Commission and Parliament. It has perhaps been less well received by the Member States who continue to be the parties chiefly involved in the deficits and frauds affecting the Union budget, simply due to the fact that they administer the majority of the funds. The wish I would express is that next year, which is a key year, since 1999 was the year when a number of Structural Fund programmes were concluded, your action should be more concerned with the Member States, in order to get the idea across to the public that the administration of Community funds is an important issue about which we feel very strongly, and one which is of concern also – I shall not say primarily, but also to our national administrations, our Member States. Next year, then, an even greater effort could be made on this chapter, in my opinion, in closer cooperation with the national audit authorities.

Political group: GUE-NGL