HOW WELL DOES THE EU MANAGE YOUR MONEY?

eurofacts@junepress.com

VOL 14 NO 9

13th February ,2009.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Ian Pearson:

'Regrettably, today we are faced with the inability of the

EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS

to give a positive statement of assurance on the EU's ACCOUNTS

for the 14th consecutive year. I want to be clear from the outset that the

GOVERNMENT

consider the situation

ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE.

IT IS SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH

that the majority of the

EU BUDGET

suffers from a material level of error; errors affect more than 2% of expenditure in most policy areas.  On expenditure in the structural and cohesion funds, the COURT estimated an error of

11%

or approximately

£4,000,000,000

That is a particular concern, as is the COURT'S opinion that the member states' and the EU COMMISSION'S supervisory systems are [since Treaty of Rome in 1957 ] only partially effective in ensuring the legality and regularity of transactions in that significant area of EU BUDGET expenditure.

It is disappointing that the COURT was unable to give a positive opinion on agricultural expenditure; last year, it anticipated that it would be able to do so.  In that area, it estimates that the material level of error still lies between

2-5%

which is between

1,000,000,000 euros

AND

2,700,000,000

EUROPEAN TAXPAYERS DESERVE BETTER.'

[WELL THAT WE CAN AT LEAST AGREE WITH!]

[Font Altered-Bolding & underlining used -Comments in Brackets]

Source:  House of Commons Hansard 20th January 2009,

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FEBRUARY-2009