Proposition 51K1556

Projet de loi modifiant les lois coordonnées sur la comptabilité de l'Etat afin d'assurer le respect des délais de dépôt des notes de politique générale auprès de la Chambre des représentants.

General information ¶

Author

CD&V Paul Tant

Submission date

Jan. 14, 2005

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

budget public accounting public finance national budget

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR

Abstained from voting

FN VB

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Discussion ¶

March 24, 2005 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

I refer to the written report.

I am referring to my written report.

Mr Vautmans, you have the word in the general discussion.

( ... ...

Do you also intervene?

( ... ...

Are you impressed? You not alone.

I am impressed by the transformation.

The color has apparently attracted you somewhat, if I can say so.

Absolutely absolute .

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, the beginning of the parliamentary year has been on us for a while, but everyone knows that this is always a little hectic. In a very short period of time, the Prime Minister will submit his policy statement, the Government will submit a budget with the associated program law and policy notes, and we should speak about all this.

I counted it again for you. In 2004, the 2005 budget documents included more than 5,000 pages. The corresponding program law, together with all corresponding documents, amounted to about 3,000 pages. The policy notes totaled 836 pages. A whole bunch, dear colleagues, which we had to examine and discuss and vote on, both in the committees and in the plenary sessions, and this, of course, before 31 December, before the beginning of the year to which the budget covers.

Dear colleagues, with the vote on the present bill of Mr. Tant and the proposal to amend Mr. Tant’s Rules of Procedure, a pain point in parliamentary control over the government is hopefully removed. The date for submitting the policy notes is left from 10 October to 31 October.

The beginning of a parliamentary year is generally chaotic. Declaration de politique générale, budgets, loisprogramme et notes de politique se suivent de très près à l'ordre du jour. Dès lors, les parlementaires doivent examiner des documents totalisant bien vite plus les 9000 pages, à approuver avant le 31 décembre. La proposition de loi a donc pour mais le reporter le dépôt des notes de politique générale du 10 au 31 octobre, de sorte que celles-ci puissent être déposées et discutées en même temps que les budgets. These notes of general policy are essential for the evaluation of the budget. We can no longer tolerate that the notes of general policy be deposited while the months of December are already well advanced. October is much more realistic. Eight thousand pages of budget documents and program laws make up a few kilograms of figures. Without an explanation of the Government’s objectives, however, these figures do not speak, and the Chamber cannot make a well-thoughtful value judgment on the budget. Therefore, from now on, the various ministers will submit their policy note at the same time as the budget submitted, and this at the latest on 31 October. These policy notes, which are the political guidelines for the policies that the relevant ministers will conduct in their domain in the coming year, are essential for the usefulness of the discussion of the budget in the House. Often we, colleagues — and I think we all know it — can wait for weeks after receiving the budget for the corresponding policy notes. I therefore use this opportunity to congratulate Secretary of State Els Van Weert on her accuracy. She was the first to submit her policy note on 12 October. Unfortunately, the other members of the government did not follow this good example and most policy notes were submitted only in November. The last policy note, Mr. Speaker — and I think you know who it is — was only submitted to the House on 17 December. Their

Furthermore, with the proposal hopefully adopted today, the House will have more time to discuss the whole, namely until 5 December, and the various rapporteurs of the various committees will no longer have to deliver oral reports in the Committee on Finance and Budget, unless a written report is available. I think, colleagues, that with the approval of this bill and this proposed Rules of Procedure, we can better carry out our supervisory task on the government. Their

At school, everyone learns that Parliament has two main functions, a chairman, a legislative and a control function. Their

A very important element in Parliament’s control of the government belongs only to the House, namely the control of the financial resources that the government will have at its disposal the following year and the control of how they will be used. In order to properly exercise this control power, we must have sufficient time and resources. Mr. Speaker, it is a good fact that this opinion is shared by the members of the Chamber of Majority and Opposition and that majority and opposition can also work together constructively.

The proposal of Mr. Tant was unanimously approved by the members of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure, following an abstinence. I hope that the Chamber will do the same as soon. However, my colleagues, it must be clear to me that we need more than a stronger and faster government to make parliamentary work more smooth at the beginning of the parliamentary year. We also need a stronger and faster House and Senate. Here is the shoe.

On 11 December 2003, colleagues, have we ervoor gekozen om het Parlement de tweede dinsdag van september bijeen te roepen, in place van de tweede dinsdag van oktober. Toen zei ik al dat dit een eerste stap was om het Parlement opnieuw op dezelfde lijn te The period for discussion of general policy notes in committees is extended until December 5 and the rapporteurs will no longer have to submit an oral report in the Committee on Finance and Budget, unless there is a written report. This will enable the Chamber to exercise its control mission more effectively.

The majority and the opposition agree that the House must have sufficient time and resources to properly fulfill its control mission. The Bill of Mr. This was approved unanimously in the committee.

To accelerate parliamentary work, we need greater punctuality on the part of the government and greater speed on the part of the House and the Senate. On 11 December 2003, the House approved its convocation on the second Tuesday of September, instead of the second Tuesday of October. The Senate, however, left the proposal to sleep in a drawer and I see with regret that some have pledged for a return back when discussing this bill.

We need to improve the functioning of the Parliament and adapt it to the needs of modern society by resuming our work on the second Tuesday of September. I invite the Senators to vote on the bill in this regard. This will be a great service to democracy. bring them to society. Ondertussen, colleagues, slaapt het voorstel in de Senat, waar vele senatoren hun best doen om het naar de vergeetput te sturen.

I also found it sad that during the discussion of the good bill proposed by colleague Tant and of the proposed Rules of Procedure, some members of this Chamber were urged to return to the old system and to grant us again a month longer leave. Apparently, some have still not understood it. It is and remains my conviction, as a young member of Parliament, that we must improve this institution and its functioning and adapt it to the needs of our modern society. The European Parliament must again become a reference institution. Delaying the official opening of Parliament from October to September was a first step. In this way, the work of the Parliament was harmonised with the reality.

Mr. Speaker, I know that this is unusual, but I would like to make a call to our colleagues in the Senate from this speaker. I ask each of you to call on our colleagues senators to approve the bill for the early convocation of the Chambers as soon as possible. We are doing a service to democracy.

Mr. President, Mrs. Deputy Prime Minister, colleagues, our group, of course, fully agrees with Mr. Tant’s goal: to give the Government the necessary time to prepare the policy notes and, more importantly, to enable the policy notes to be discussed in an efficient way in the various committees. This means that a thorough investigation is possible, that not everything should be chased by the committees on a single drop, and that we no longer experience conditions like those during the last discussion of the policy notes. A discussion of an opinion was still underway, while at the same time the Finance Committee gave its fiat to the budget.

We exchanged opinions on this in the committee. We continue to wonder whether we will solve this problem with this bill. After all, isn’t there the danger that the problem will be shifted to a later date? In fact, it only includes a provision that policy notes should be submitted no later than 31 October instead of 10 October of the year preceding the financial year.

The argument that the policy notes cannot be completed earlier because the budget objectives need to be known is, in our view, not entirely correct. In principle, the Prime Minister will come to this House on the third Tuesday of September with his policy statement. Mrs. Vautmans, for us this may be much earlier. It was, by the way, our group chairman, Mr. Annemans, who submitted this in this Chamber at a time when you were not yet part of this Chamber. We are therefore fully in favour of this. Their

By the way, mid-September is also the time when the budget is prepared during nightly negotiations. It should therefore be possible to draw up these policy notes against

The Vlaams Belang fully endorses the objectives of the bill. We have debated it extensively in committees: the government will have more time to write the general policy notes and the parliament will be able to deepen the discussion. However, it remains to be seen whether the problem will be resolved by postponing the deadline for the filing of general policy notes. Changing the dates may only shift the problem.

The Prime Minister will present his government statement on the third Tuesday of September — we don’t even see any inconvenience in making it sooner. It should be possible to submit general policy notes for 10 October. Budget forecasts are already available. We therefore assume that the most difficult thing will not be to change the regulation but to change mentalities. For this reason, Vlaams Belang will abstain during the vote. 10 October . De budgetaire ramingen zijn immers toch gekend bij de verschillende departementen naar aanleiding van de bespreking in de regering. by

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, it is more of a mental change that is pressing. This cannot always be translated into a regulatory change. We therefore fear that leaving the time will mean that the policy notes will be submitted at a later time. Mrs. Vautmans, I hope I am mistaken. That is why we will abstain. We agree with the objectives of this proposal.

Mr. Speaker, I will not announce that I will be short, because whenever I do, I note the opposite. Their

First and foremost, I would like to thank the colleagues for having had a courageous exchange of views here, both on the bill and on the amendment of the Rules of Procedure. I think we could have done this in an unrestricted atmosphere. I would like to thank the rapporteur in particular, not only for preparing the report, but I would also like to thank her for transcending the boundaries of majority and minority for a moment. Their

Last but not least, I think it’s nice that a young member of the Chamber — you’re at least like that — has the courage to dive into a boring subject like the Rules. I think it is good that indeed there is still a certain concern for the rules of the game that should govern the operation of this House.

For the rest, I have not much to add. You all know that we want to put an end to the somewhat unpleasant experience of recent years and especially to the experience of December in which policy notes were submitted after they had already been voted in committees. This is of course meaningless. Their

On the contrary, it should be intended that the policy lines can also be discussed during the discussion of the budget. For instance, Mrs. Vautmans, can I give you a small correction? You say that the two tasks of Parliament are legislation and supervision of the government. There is a third and, by the way, the oldest task, which is essential in this, namely the approval of the budget, which provides the government with the necessary financial resources.

Colleague Mortelmans, from a real concern, we want to set deadlines that are realistic. If you shift deadlines too far ahead of you, you increase the risk that you do not respect them. Given that the Senate no longer plays a role in the adoption of the budget, it seemed to me logical to take this into account when determining the deadline for the submission not only of the budget, but also of the policy notes.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasize that this is the intention of the applicant and I also think of all colleagues, to demand from the government, if I can express myself so,

The discussions in the framework of the bill and the proposed amendment to the Rules were positive. I would like to thank the rapporteur in particular for the excellent quality of his report. I look forward to the overcoming of the divisions between majority and opposition and that a young parliamentarian plunges into a matter as boring as the Rules. Democracy requires the rules to be respected. We want to avoid in the future repeating the sad experience of the political notes filed in December. These should be discussed at the same time as the budget. Approval of the budget is an essential task of the House. The Senate does not decide on the budget, nor on the political notes.

The aim is to be able to require the government to make the general policy note available before we begin the budget discussion. This provision will not only appear in the Regulation, but will also be inserted in the Law on the State Accounting. It is also an important tool for members of the majority.

Thank the President and the members of the Commission for their collaboration. Before we discuss a budget, the policy note is also on the table. This will not only be in the Rules of Procedure. It is also stated in the National Accounting Act from now on, if you want to approve it. I think that is an important tool, not only for the colleagues of the opposition but also for colleagues of the majority. I know from experience very well in what situation one is sometimes in when one belongs to the majority. Sometimes one can hardly afford a correction proposal because of the time pressure that prevails above everything and more. I think this is a step in the right direction for all colleagues.

I do not want to exaggerate, but I think the probability that we have somewhat more opportunities on the occasion of the submission of the budget and in advance of its vote to properly evaluate and review the plans that the government has in this regard.

I would like to thank you, Chairman of the Committee and all the other colleagues, for your participation in this.