26/10/06 - EU Auditors Refuse To Give EU Accounts A Clean Bill Of Health (Again!)

EU auditors refuse to give EU accounts a clean bill of health - for the 12th year running!

Conservative MEP calls for a "name and shame" system for governments accused of mismanaging EU funds

Strasbourg, 25th October 2006 – The European Union's auditors have refused to give the EU's accounts a clean bill of health for the twelfth year in a row, Neil Parish, local Conservative MEP, said today. 

In their annual report, the EU's Court of Auditors said the EU’s auditing systems have improved, but that it is still difficult to account for the eighty percent of EU money that is spent by national departments and agencies. Mr Parish said the auditors were at pains to stress that this does not necessarily mean there is fraud in the member states, just that there was a significant level of error.

Conservative MEPs pushed for an agreement that was reached between the European Parliament and national governments in April, which will require all EU countries to start producing an annual assessment of how EU spending is controlled at a national level. However, the Court of Auditors still made it clear at the meeting on Monday night that, “the buck stops with the Commission”, meaning that the Commission still must take ultimate responsibility for ensuring EU funds are spent correctly.

Neil Parish, South-West Conservative MEP said:

“We all have a great feeling of déjà vu.

“Clearly some improvements have been made by the European Commission but we will never achieve a satisfactory statement of assurance until national governments take responsibility for the vast proportion of the EU budget they spend.

“The EU should introduce a ‘name and shame’ system to put pressure on those EU governments that are mismanaging funds. This is public money being spent and we are entitled to know who is misspending it.

“The Commission has been cleaning up its act but national governments seem happy to keep passing the buck for deficiencies that exist at home. If Gordon Brown were to have shown some leadership last year when a proposal for reform was on the table, we may have come much closer to getting a clean bill of health this year.

"The inability of the EU to account for its spending is one of the key concerns of the British people. If national governments want people to take the EU more seriously, they should endeavour to ensure that this annual charade never happens again."

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, North Swindon Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, "It is no wonder the blindly pro-European Labour & Lib Dem politicians get wiped out in the European elections, hard working local residents can't afford for our money to be mismanaged.  It is unacceptable that the Government has failed to take a lead and sort this shambles out."