mr president i voted against amendment one which stresses the need for zero tolerance for error
i think it is extremely important to distinguish between fraud and error
yes there should be zero tolerance for fraud and indeed criminal prosecution but in many cases the error is inadvertent
while we need to uncover all errors and ensure the recovery of such monies i cannot agree with zero tolerance for one very simple reason
this is that i have worked with many community groups voluntary groups leader companies and partnership companies and seen the level of sheer and utter frustration at the myriad of rules the revision of the rules half-way or three-quarters of the way through the programme and the different interpretation of rules at local at regional at national and at european level with any infringement considered an error
therefore while we do need to remain vigilant about fraud we also need to simply simplify and simplify again the rules
