Statement of the Republic of Slovenia on behalf of the European Union by mr. Bojan Bertoncelj, Chargé d`Affaires for Multilateral Affairs, Permanent Mission of Slovenia
Mr. Chairman,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, as well as The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, associate themselves with this statement.
2. We would like to thank the Deputy Director General for Management, Mr. David Waller, for his introductory remarks, and the Secretariat for preparing the document on “Policy on the Application of Programme Support Costs”, in response to Member States’ requests for further information. We would also like to thank the Secretariat for the helpful briefing they organised on 20 May.
Mr. Chairman,
3. The EU continues to have some concerns relating to the precise modalities of how this charge will be applied. We are grateful for the responses to some of the questions from EU Member States, but not all our queries have yet been answered to our complete satisfaction. For this reason, and given the importance, and impact, of this proposal, the EU would like to urge the Secretariat to delay the proposed implementation of the levy from 1 July 2008 to 1 January 2009, at the earliest. This would, helpfully, give all Member States further time for consideration.
Mr Chairman,
4. The EU would like to stress again the importance it attaches to full transparency in the handling of this issue, including on the aspect relating to how Member States would be kept informed of the possible savings resulting from implementation of the mechanism. Finally, as a matter of principle, the EU believes that any such levy can only be applied in a fair and equal manner. The EU would not be able to accept any proposal that involved a selective and/or discriminatory approach.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman
