Mr President, a successful budgetary policy for the EU requires not only decisions on figures and budget items, for the EU has serious problems when it comes to implementing the budget. An important part of Parliament’s budget policy must therefore be about follow-up and evaluation and keeping track of the implementation of the budget. It is therefore very important that we give due weight to the annual report, which we are debating today, on the implementation of the budget. There are a number of matters of particular concern to us this year, for example, outstanding commitments. After four months of 2003, total outstanding commitments – known as RAL – had increased to EUR 126 billion, compared with EUR 110 billion at the same time last year. Even though we do not have all the facts concerning the causes of this and concerning what are in actual fact abnormal outstanding commitments, the trend is clearly worrying. We are also concerned about the 2002 surplus of EUR 7.4 billion, even though it is an advance, given that, last year, it was more than double this at EUR 15 billion. We nonetheless still have underutilisation to the tune of EUR 9 billion, which is an unacceptable figure. In the case of the 2003 implementation, the beginning of the year even shows a lower level than during the same period of 2002; in particular, category 3 and 4 commitments entered into in April were lower than at the same time last year. There are a whole lot of different problems. The recent visit of our delegation to Bosnia, like a host of other contacts, also makes us worry that a lack of information about the new budgetary arrangements may have caused problems, for example for the external delegations. It can have negative effects upon the benefits, in terms of efficiency, of the reform process and of decentralisation. We also saw a number of problems within the common foreign and security policy in connection, for example, with the EU’s police mission in Bosnia where tenders, contracts etc were concerned. On this subject, we believe that the Commission should investigate whether separate rules might not be needed to adapt our measures within the common foreign and security policy. Within the separate expenditure categories, we are still critical of the way in which export subsidies for the transport of live animals are dealt with. We regret that the Council did not accept our proposal concerning the account plan, which would have made the system significantly more open to inspection. We must therefore make a new attempt this year. Because I do not just want to be critical, we can also observe that, for example, rural policy in actual fact exceeds our expectations when it comes to implementation. What most concern us, however, are the structural measures. The proportion of implemented payments in this area has declined during the first months of the year in spite of the tough criticism in previous years. We are also anxious about the increase in outstanding commitments, which rose to almost EUR 94 billion as per 30 April 2003 – an incredible sum! Where this is concerned, something new needs to happen. Quite a few fellow MEPs have mentioned the N+2 rule, which we must arrange to be applied effectively. When it comes to the structural funds, we are delighted about the simplification process begun by the Commission. We nonetheless believe that it needs to become significantly more vigorous within the current arrangements but, above all, the preparations for a more thorough review prior to the new arrangements must be set in motion quickly. In category 3, we are a little concerned about research and development. We are, on the other hand, pleased that there is a positive trend, prior to enlargement, when it comes to the programmes for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for the pilot project concerning small and medium-sized businesses. We also welcome the fact that pilot projects and preparatory measures are now part of the implementation plan for 2003, on which we agreed last autumn. Where external measures were concerned, there was clearly less implementation in April of this year than for the same period of 2002, and this is something that concerns us. On the other hand, we are pleased about the prompt agreement to activate EUR 79 million from the disaster aid reserve for Iraq, as well as about the new proposals concerning southern Africa and Ethiopia. We only hope that the situation in Iraq and the Middle East does not give rise to such a degree of uncertainty in connection with the 2003 budget that it could entail problems for the other areas within external policy. That is not something we intend to accept. Finally, one of the basic problems we have when it comes to implementing the budget is that, overall, we have a rigid budgetary system that really needs to be modernised and altered. This is, however, basically a task for the Convention, which will shortly have concluded its work, and for the future constitution. Where this is concerned, I hope that we shall see a radical reform in the future.

Political group: PSE