§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to persuade the French Government to include the issue of the eradication of fraud in their objectives for their EU presidency.
§ The Prime MinisterAt the Essen European Council, I made a number of proposals on the subject of fraud, waste and mismanagement which were agreed by the Council. I refer the hon. Member to my statement to the House on 12 December,Official Report, columns 613–30.
The French presidency has made clear that it intends to pursue these measures vigorously. This was endorsed by the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers at its meeting on 16 January when the presidency work programme was discussed.
The reports from member states, commissioned at Essen, on the measures member states are implementing domestically to combat waste and the misuse of Community resources will be examined under the French presidency.
The French presidency fully shares our views on fraud, as the French Prime Minister made clear to me at our Chartres meeting last December.