Translate the following English sentence to French:
"- At the outset, I would like to place on the record my thanks and appreciation to the rapporteur Mr Lehne on the way he had dealt with this difficult brief."
Je voudrais tout d'abord exprimer mes remerciements à M. Lehne, le rapporteur, et mon appréciation de la manière dont il a abordé ce dossier difficile.