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News Releases
Siim Kallas
No. 126/05
December 15, 2005
EXCHANGING BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND DEVELOPING A GLOBAL APPROACH TO FIGHTING FRAUD AMONG INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: COMMISSION VP KALLAS VISITS WORLD BANK, INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AND THE UNITED NATIONS
European Commission Vice President
Kallas has just finalised a two-day visit in
Washington, DC, and New York on 12-13 December to
discuss synergies and cooperation with major
international donor organisations. He met top officials
of World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
on issues related to the fight against fraud and
exchange of relevant information. In the United Nations
in New York, currently undergoing a major management
reform, Vice President Kallas discussed best practice
and experience gained from the Commission’s own radical
reform.
Vice President Siim Kallas declared: "The International
financial institutions and the European Commission
account for the great majority of international aid.
Promoting a global approach by international
organizations in the fight against corruption and fraud
linked to our activities is high on our agenda, as it
will be under the
Austrian Presidency. It is in our
common interest to strengthen our cooperation in order
to better protect EU funds, be they managed directly by
the EU or by the international financial institutions on
behalf of the EU. Resources available for control are
limited and we have to cooperate as closely as
possible."
The visit enabled Vice President Kallas to learn more
about the anti-fraud activities of the World Bank and
the IADB, as well as to explore the possibilities for
closer co-operation with these international bodies and
the UN in this field. The international financial
institutions like the World Bank and IADB have set worldwide
standards in their fight against fraud and corruption
and developed special tools of promoting transparency in
their daily work. The meetings in particular allowed a
discussion of their use of debarment (blacklisting) and
disclosure schemes as means to prevent fraud.
At the World Bank, Commissioner Kallas met European
Executive Directors and Senior Advisors, as well as Mr. Vincenzo La Via, World Bank Chief Financial Officer, and
Mrs. Suzanne Folsom, Acting Director of the Integrity
Office of the World Bank, to discuss audit and debarment.
The same subjects were discussed with Mr. Joao Sayad,
Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Mr. Ciro de Falco, Executive Vice President of the Inter-American Development Bank.
In New York Commissioner Kallas had an opportunity to
discuss best practice of management and administrative
reform both in the European Commission and the United
Nations organizations. The Commission has initiated its
administrative reform in 2000 and will adopt next week a
progress report on the reform, while the
United Nations has resolutely engaged the process of
reform. Mr. Kallas met the head of the UN’s internal
oversight office, Mrs. Inga-Britt Ahlenius, and Mr.
Christopher Burnham, Under-Secretary General for
Management, and had lunch with Deputy Secretary General Mrs. Louise Frechette. Subjects discussed included audit
and implementation of recommendations, ethics,
whistleblower provisions and human resources
management. Further exchanges between the Commission and
the UN on these topics and exchanges between OLAF and
the UN on investigations are envisaged.
For further information, please visit:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/kallas/responsibilities_en.htm.
Further Contact Information
Press and Media Relations
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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