Auditors refuse to sign off EU accounts

[emad]

Simon Jeffery and agencies
Tuesday November 15, 2005


The body that audits the EU budget today refused to sign off the accounts for the 11th consecutive year, saying processes were not in place that would it to check how the money was being spent.

A report from the Court of Auditors said there had been some progress on previous years, but EU money allocated to such areas as the common agricultural policy was still being insufficiently monitored.

Hubert Weber, the chief auditor, told the European parliament it was because of "inherently risky transactions, and supervisory and control systems that are ineffective" that the body was again unable to issue a formal statement of assurance for the 2004 accounts

The biggest gap in the records was created by regional and national authorities in the 25 member states, which are responsible for 80% of the EU's €105bn (£70.7bn) spending budget, rather than the smaller-spending Brussels-based commission.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,1643177,00.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I love the excuses put forward by the politicans

"Ministers insist the auditors' failure to endorse the budget was because of the technical rules governing a signing off rather than being the result of widespread fraud."

But what it means is that we can't be sure that widespread fraud hasn't taken place, either. It's still a crappy system - and it will get worse with enlargement, unless there's real reform.