1991 discharge: EAGGF accounts

The committee approved by a very large majority the report by Mrs Eva KJER HANSEN (ELDR, DK) on granting the Commission discharge in respect of the EAGGF clearance of accounts for the 1991 financial year. The Committee on Budgetary Control recommended discharge subject to certain reservations; the amendments presented by Mrs Edith MULLER (V, D) and adopted by the committee reinforced these reservations, which related mainly to the following: - whilst the use of flat-rate financial corrections was a legitimate means of responding to irregularities and recovering funds from the Member States, it did not reflect actual loss to the budget; - the CONT deplored the practice of treating the amount of financial corrections as negotiable between the Commission and the Member States and observed that the most extreme example of a negotiable financial correction was provided by the case of the corrections made under the 1991 procedure relating to the application of milk quotas in certain Member States, which led to a massive loss to the Community budget; - the CONT recognized that the staff available to the Commission for clearance of accounts work was insufficient and called upon it to undertake a redeployment or come forward to the budgetary authority with an appropriate proposal.�