Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this evening we are holding the joint debate about the three reports produced. Looking around, we all know already what everyone is going to say, and we have said it all before. Even the Commissioner has listened to us more than once, so let us just say it one more time for the record. The Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget is a completely non-contentious issue in the Committee. The most important points are, firstly, funding for 27 new posts for RTD projects; secondly, the OLAF establishment plan and the necessary funds in the budget line for the recruitment of new staff; and, thirdly, an increase in the Commission’s payment appropriations required for the EU assistance in the Balkans. In other words, we want an additional 100 million plus. This was all agreed unanimously in the Committee on Budgets with the support of all our colleagues. At this point, I would like to thank Herbert Bösch very warmly once again for the solution to the OLAF issue. He worked very hard to ensure that we reached this compromise. The fact that the balance from the 2000 budget gives rise to a surplus of EUR 11.6 billion is one reason for this House to underline yet again that the budget management is very frugal, and for the Council it is a cause for rejoicing. However, what is the report concerning the European Union’s own resources about, and why has it been drawn up? We – Parliament – have taken the initiative and called on the Council to discuss with us, prior to every budget procedure and before the Commission produces its draft budget, the situation concerning the European Union’s own resources. Please note that I said ‘discuss’, not ‘codecision’. We thought this was a very cheap option, but far from it, the Council is resisting, and that is what it is doing this evening too. It is simply not listening! It refuses even to discuss the European Union’s revenue with us. As a result, we looked at the EU’s own resources without having discussed them with the Council. What we noted for the 2001 budget year is no different from the trends observed in previous years. Traditional own resources and VAT resources are becoming less and less significant. The transfers from the Member States as a GNP resource share have increased steadily. In total, own resources constitute 98.3% of revenue for the 2001 EU budget. This is equivalent to 1.06% of their GNP, which is far less than the own resources ceiling percentage of 1.27% laid down in the financial perspective. This shift towards the GNP resource can undoubtedly be viewed with mixed feelings. It could lead to a fairer division of burdens between the Member States, as GNP is probably the best indicator to measure the relative wealth of the Member States’ economies; indeed, if we look more closely, some Member States already cover 22, 29 or even 33% of their contributions to the European budget from traditional own resources – in other words, from money which has already belonged to the European Union for some time. Secondly, it changes the nature of the European Union’s own resources, transforming them from real own resources into a form of Member States’ contribution. Thirdly, it simply does not create a visible link between the European Union and its citizens. When the Belgian President of the EU, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, spoke this morning, it warmed my heart. He too is questioning this indirect financing of the European Union. He too is calling for more transparency. He too wants citizens to become more familiar with the European Union, and this includes more transparent financial arrangements. We want financial autonomy at European level, and we want to work towards this now. We want this financial autonomy to be shared jointly and on an equal basis with the Council, and we want to have co-decision rights in this area. We want equal rights in all areas; we want to be one of the two arms of the budgetary authority, in respect of all expenditure and all revenue. We want complete budgetary autonomy. A European tax may still be a long way off, but the Belgian presidency, the Belgian President of the European Union himself, has called for this. The Belgian Finance Minister supports this demand, and even the German Finance Minister no longer rejects it outright. A European tax may still be 'future music', as the Germans say, but if we do not start playing it now, we will not be dancing to it in future. (Applause)

Political group: PSE