Corruption: Let The Clean Up Begin
Strasbourg -- Thursday 15 September, 2011
It's time, as politicians, to get our own house in order - this was one of the messages I wanted to put across as I addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg today.
The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee has finally expressed its concerns about the problem posed by corruption in Europe, but I think it was worth re-iterating that we have our own troubles as an institution.
MEPs represent their constituents. We are representatives of the people, and we often embody the best and, sadly, worst of them.
Whilst there is unremitting pressure to be whiter than white, it's obvious that with such a role comes the responsibility to lead by example. We must do as we say, and vice versa.
But I also took the opportunity to raise what I think is a central point in the debate about corruption, and one that is often overlooked: the use of EU-distributed funds.
For a long time now the EU (i.e. the institutions) have been blamed for the mis-use of these funds. This is misleading.
I believe the focus should now turn to the Member States, some of whom routinely fail to certify the money they spend on behalf of the EU.
Certain Member States have quite appalling records when it comes to doing this, and I believe that corruption has a major part to play in explaining why simple accounting and auditing procedures are ignored.
My speech in full:
Mr President, one of the words so often associated with the EU - rightly or wrongly - is that it is corrupt. In this chamber we all know that this is a sweeping generalisation yet we can always do more to deal with corrupt abuses of our own EU monies.
Mr President, I welcome action by the Commission to attempt to identify a new series of measures that will tackle corruption both in the public and private sphere. However, before we pass legislation affecting our citizens, we also need to begin by getting our own house in order and securing - finally - a positive statement of assurance on the EU's accounts.
We all recall the debate surrounding the inter-institutional agreement attached to the last multiannual financial framework. In the IIA the Council gave a commitment that Member States would self-certify the money that they spend on behalf of the EU - something like 80% of the EU budget. Yet still, as we near the end of this MFF, we have yet to see that fully implemented across the EU. Therefore, I ask the Council and Commission for a firm commitment today that they will now step up their demands on Member States to provide self-certification of EU monies, which would hopefully go a long way towards alleving the auditors' concerns. We also need to see more naming and shaming of countries that fail to stamp out corrupt practices.
Of course, it was the involvement of this Parliament which forced the inclusion of self-certification into the IIA. And I hope that this institution will have a role to play in ensuring that the anti-corruption package has teeth.
If our economy were a body then corruption would be like a disease. We should control the disease at all times but particularly when the economic body is weak, so that it cannot be allowed to spread and cause further damage.
