Unfortunately, the current Czech government has done nothing to intensify the fight against fraud and corruption.

Real problems in the fight against fraud and corruption, such as the overdue reform of the disciplinary procedure, are not being tackled.

The conventions and protocols on the fight against fraud and corruption have, for instance, been awaiting ratification for more than two years.

The fight against fraud and corruption is a key issue for the Danish Social Democrats in the European Parliament.

With a new OLAF we will have a tool in place that will strengthen our fight against fraud and corruption considerably.

In this context, it liaises with the Union's Anti-Fraud Office OLAF to strengthen the fight against fraud and corruption.

It is therefore necessary to step up the fight against fraud and corruption in every Member State, as common legislation at EU level alone is not a panacea for this phenomenon.

I fully support the work done by the Commission, and I would point out that the fight against fraud and corruption is an important duty of the European institutions and all Member States.

The Commission also shares the view that, although measures have been taken by the Member States to make control systems in the fight against fraud and corruption more efficient, there is still room for further improvement.

However, we would stress that the fight against fraud and corruption should be carried out at a level that is as close as possible to where these phenomena take place, for various reasons, particularly reasons of effectiveness.

However, we would like to stress that, more importantly than having common legislation at EU level for combating corruption and fraud, each Member State needs to put the fight against fraud and corruption into practice.

Furthermore, as stated in the document that the Commission sent you on 18 November 1997, on improving the fight against fraud and corruption, UCLAF will make the necessary contact with the national legal authorities in case of suspicion of fraud or corruption.

The fight against fraud and corruption should be made a condition for allocating debt relief and development aid - not my words, Mr President, but the words of President Obasanjo of Nigeria in Abuja at the opening of the 13th session of the ACP-EU Assembly.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I wished to speak today, during the debate on the Bösch report, because this raises questions which are very important to the Commission. I wanted to do this so that there could be a calm and constructive debate on reinforcing the fight against fraud and corruption.

However, I would like to point out - and that is also mentioned in the report - that although some progress has been made in five areas, they have a long way to go yet. This applies to the closure of accounts, improving institutional management and control problems, the technical assistance offices and the fight against fraud and corruption.