31 March 2006
Under the UK's presidency of the European Union, the commission made good progress on tightening up its financial controls, auditor general Sir John Bourn said this week.
Presenting his annual report on the financial management of the EU to Parliament on March 29, Bourn also summarised the main findings of the European Court of Auditors — which qualified the commission's accounts for the eleventh successive year.
The court's report, published last November, concluded that the 2005 EU accounts noted improvements on the previous year and said accounts were reliable in most areas except in relation to some debtors.
Bourn's report also noted that, during 2004, member states notified the European anti-fraud office of some 9,400 cases of irregularity and suspected fraud worth a total of £663m — a 12% increase in the number of cases compared with the previous year.
Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh said it was not possible to say how much of the £663m represented actual fraud against the European taxpayer.
But he added: 'British taxpayers, as net contributors to the EU, have a right to expect the same high standards of financial management and probity, wherever their money is spent.'
PFmar2006
