Governments pass budget buck to Brussels

12.42.53pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th Nov 2005

In its Annual Report published today the European Court of Auditors, for the 11th consecutive year since new procedures were introduced, refused to deliver a positive Declaration of Assurance concerning the legality and regularity of EU financial transactions.

Sharon Bowles MEP for the South East said "The finger of blame should be pointed towards Gordon Brown and his fellow finance ministers who have refused to accept responsibility for the money spent by their own administrations. (Most recently at the ECOFIN meeting last week - November 8)

"This report is very convenient for EU governments. It allows them to pass the buck to Brussels even though they are responsible for 80% of EU spending".

Sharon Bowles is calling for radical changes to be made to the accounting procedures of the European Union. The EU's budget amounted to €100bn in 2004, just under 1% of Europe's gross national income.

In their report on the 2004 accounts published today, the EU's Court of Auditors finds a continuing improvement in the European Commission's own money management, but an unacceptably high rate of error 'notably within the member states'. Thus they have refused to deliver a positive 'Declaration of Assurance' concerning the legality and regularity of EU financial transactions.

Sharon Bowles and her fellow MEPs from the European Liberal Democrats are calling for a thorough overhaul of the process of evaluating the annual spending, in particular, proper attention to the way national governments spend EU money within their own countries.

Mrs Bowles said "The public will again assume that fraud is widespread and the Brussels bureaucracy incompetent. But Europe's governments cannot be allowed to pass the buck since they are responsible for 80% of EU spending such as farm and regional funds."

"If Gordon Brown refuses to account for how the Treasury disburses EU money on the ground in the UK, it is no wonder that the European Commission cannot guarantee transparent financial control. The House of Commons should collaborate closely with MEPs to correct weaknesses in British management of EU money. "

"Neither Labour nor Conservative politicians in Britain can point the finger of blame, given that the accounts of our own Department for Work and Pensions have not been given a clean bill of health by auditors for the past 16 years!"

Ends

Notes to editors:

A copy of the latest Court of Auditors report can be found at:

http://www.eca.eu.int/audit_reports/annual_reports/docs/2004/en/ra04_en.pdf

A copy of the National Audit Office report on the Department of Work and Pensions Resource Account 2003-2004 can be found at http://www.nao.org.uk/pn/04-05/0405170.htm