Mr President, I wish to begin by congratulating the Committee on Budgets and Mr Wynn who has carried out his negotiations with his customary flair and his customary charm.

The social area is a very important area, and if we do not have the proper funds and the proper financial resources in the social area then obviously we cannot carry out social policy. Whilst the Commission publishes White Papers on employment and White Papers on the future of the social policy, if there is no funding in the various budget lines, then obviously it just becomes a pious wish and it is not really serious.

I am particularly pleased that the Committee on Budgets has managed to reinsert two major items: first, the poverty programme, which the Council had reduced and which, indeed, the German Presidency has still not adopted; and second, the assistance to trade unions to set up works councils and social dialogue. I very much appreciate the efforts of the Committee on Budgets in this regard.

I am a bit disappointed at the Commission's administration of both these budget lines. Mr Flynn obviously has some explaining to do when he comes before the House tomorrow at Question Time. He is going to have to explain to us how they intend to administer these lines. Also, we wish to have some explanation as to why there is this massive underspending in the European Social Fund: over ECU 727 million. That is really not good enough for a Community that is serious about tackling unemployment and improving training.

I hope that we shall receive some answers from the Commission tomorrow about how it is going to implement these budget lines, and also the question of ADAPT and URBAN and the human resources initiatives. We need some answers there.