MEPs say EU accounts 'should not' be given discharge
By Martin Banks - 2nd March 2012
http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/meps-say-eu-accounts-should-not-be-given-discharge/
The commission is simply wringing its hands
Philip Bradbourn
Some MEPs have refused to approve the latest set of EU accounts because of 'continued waste, misspending and potential fraud'.
The EU Court of Auditors' report on the EU's 2010 accounts found "material errors" worth some €4bn-plus, the 17th failed audit in a row.
MEPs on parliament's budgetary control committee this week began debating whether to sign off the auditors' report and many voiced 'frustration' over the commission's apparent inability to tackle failings.
Philip Bradbourn, UK Conservative spokesman on the committee, said, "There seems to be a consensus across political groupings and nationalities that the commission simply isn't doing enough to get to grips with what amounts to misspending and lack of financial control on an industrial scale.
"It isn't just the amount of waste that is a disgrace; it's that things are getting worse instead of better.
"Conservative MEPs and others are saying the accounts should not be given a discharge."
Last week Britain, along with Sweden and the Netherlands, took the unprecedented step of voting against signing off the 2010 accounts.
Previously the UK government had signalled its displeasure over the EU's budgetary failures only by abstaining, but this year it pointed to an increasing error rate - up to 3.7 per cent from 3.2 per cent - in calling for "important and urgent improvements to the quality of EU financial management".
In total the auditors found that over €4bn had been spent against EU rules, with failures including breaches of public-procurement rules, ineligible or incorrect calculation of costs claimed, and over-declaration of land by farmers.
As in previous years, problems arose chiefly in the budgets for cohesion policy and agriculture and rural development.
Bradbourn added, "The commission is simply wringing its hands when it should be adopting a culture of zero tolerance to such a lack of rigour.
"We believe there needs to be a far more systematic approach to monitoring and channelling the spending of EU funds - including genuinely independent assessors to evaluate funding programmes.
"It is all very well for the commission to point to member states and say that 90 per cent of errors were identified at national level. Suggesting that someone else is to blame is a gross abdication of its responsibility to manage its finances effectively.
"It should be taking far more draconian sanctions against those who habitually fail to account for taxpayers' money.
"Instead of deflecting blame, the commission itself must ensure proper arrangements are in place to check the effectiveness, efficiency and probity of the schemes it funds - so it keeps track of every single euro of the taxpayer billions it dishes out."
The EU Court of Auditors' report on the EU's 2010 accounts found "material errors" worth some €4bn-plus, the 17th failed audit in a row.
MEPs on parliament's budgetary control committee this week began debating whether to sign off the auditors' report and many voiced 'frustration' over the commission's apparent inability to tackle failings.
Philip Bradbourn, UK Conservative spokesman on the committee, said, "There seems to be a consensus across political groupings and nationalities that the commission simply isn't doing enough to get to grips with what amounts to misspending and lack of financial control on an industrial scale.
"It isn't just the amount of waste that is a disgrace; it's that things are getting worse instead of better.
"Conservative MEPs and others are saying the accounts should not be given a discharge."
Last week Britain, along with Sweden and the Netherlands, took the unprecedented step of voting against signing off the 2010 accounts.
Previously the UK government had signalled its displeasure over the EU's budgetary failures only by abstaining, but this year it pointed to an increasing error rate - up to 3.7 per cent from 3.2 per cent - in calling for "important and urgent improvements to the quality of EU financial management".
In total the auditors found that over €4bn had been spent against EU rules, with failures including breaches of public-procurement rules, ineligible or incorrect calculation of costs claimed, and over-declaration of land by farmers.
As in previous years, problems arose chiefly in the budgets for cohesion policy and agriculture and rural development.
Bradbourn added, "The commission is simply wringing its hands when it should be adopting a culture of zero tolerance to such a lack of rigour.
"We believe there needs to be a far more systematic approach to monitoring and channelling the spending of EU funds - including genuinely independent assessors to evaluate funding programmes.
"It is all very well for the commission to point to member states and say that 90 per cent of errors were identified at national level. Suggesting that someone else is to blame is a gross abdication of its responsibility to manage its finances effectively.
"It should be taking far more draconian sanctions against those who habitually fail to account for taxpayers' money.
"Instead of deflecting blame, the commission itself must ensure proper arrangements are in place to check the effectiveness, efficiency and probity of the schemes it funds - so it keeps track of every single euro of the taxpayer billions it dishes out."
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento