1995 discharge: EDF

The European Parliament adopted the report by Mr Herbert BOSCH (PSE, D) on giving discharge to the Commission in respect of the financial management of the sixth and seventh European Development Funds (EDF) for the 1995 financial year. However, it called on the Commission in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision to present specific budget proposals for the EDF by the end of 1997 during forthcoming negotiations on the revision of the financial perspectives. It noted in this respect that the democratic scrutiny which it is required to exercise in this context is still invalidated by the legal framework of the EDF. However, it welcomes the statement of assurance issued by the Court of Auditors, which demonstrates that important progress has been made in the management of the EDF in comparison with 1994. As far as the budgetary implementation itself is concerned, it again calls upon the Commission to introduce provisions allowing appropriations for indicative national or regional programmes not yet used to be reallocated to non-programmable aid programmes. As far as structural adjustment is concerned, it called on the Commission to formulate clearer and more realistic conditions for granting aid so that there is less aid. Above all, it drew attention to the fact that aid for structural adjustment should be conditional upon respect for democracy in the beneficiary country and that Community action should aim first and foremost to mitigate the social fall out of structural reform. Efforts should also be made to give priority to the most disadvantaged categories in these countries. At the same time, the European Parliament called on the Commission not to confine itself to funding aid but also to supervise aid up to implementation.