mr president allow me to thank the committee on budgetary control and in particular the rapporteur mr liberadzki and his fellow rapporteurs on the reports they have produced and for the recommendations to grant the discharge to the commission for the two thousand and eight financial year
i would also like to thank mrs ayala sender for her report on the implementation of the european development fund and mrs mathieu for her comprehensive analysis of recurrent issues for agencies
the two thousand and eight discharge procedure is now reaching its end
it was an intensive period but most importantly the start of a new constructive dialogue between our institutions
achieving an unqualified statement of assurance from the court of auditors remains the commission's collegial objective
i believe this has been clearly demonstrated in our recent efforts
progress is already under way with simplifications introduced and better management and control systems under the two thousand and seven thirteen programming period and the various action plans gradually showing their positive impact on the error rates
a substantial step change will be possible with a new generation of programmes for the next financial period currently under preparation these should aim at better balancing targeted eligibility criteria cost of control and quality of spending
however with my fellow commissioners i share the wish expressed in your discharge resolution we want to see soon a measurable acceleration of the progress made over the last years in improving the financial management of the european budget including the reinforcement of the main stakeholders responsibility and accountability
close and intense cooperation between the commission and the european parliament is instrumental in this respect
however we all know that it will not be sufficient to accelerate concrete and sustainable progress on the spot
in order to succeed we need a new partnership with all stakeholders not least the active involvement of the member states and the european court of auditors
the commission will not wait until the amendments to the financial regulation enter into force to invite the member states authorities to fully resume their responsibilities as reinforced under the lisbon treaty anticipating measures which are essential to improving financial management
i also consider that the court of auditors has a crucial role in expressing its independent assurance statement on the commission's financial management
any change in the splitting of the das by area would change the share of the budget associated with the different colour areas
the commission would very much welcome it if in the near future the court of auditors were to consider a distinction between areas where the risk of error is different and informs us about the actual added value of the management and control systems introduced in the two thousand and seven thirteen legislation
i hope as well that when the colegislator has agreed on a tolerable risk of error the court of auditors will consider this new concept in the way it finds appropriate
as requested the commission will prepare and send to the parliament a new agenda for twenty ten onwards
the commission will do its utmost together with the other actors involved to accelerate the reduction of error rates so as to ensure that a further twenty of the budget can be given a green classification by the european court of auditors in twenty fourteen
the involvement of all stakeholders in the common objective of improving financial management and protecting the union's financial interests will be at the heart of this new agenda which i will share with you already next month
your considerations expressed in the two thousand and eight discharge resolution will be duly taken into account
i am looking forward to constructive discussions
