The EU’s Accounts: ‘A Fairytale’

Mr Titford continued: "The repeated failure of the Commission to have its accounts successfully audited amply demonstrates the scope for fraud within the Commission. It is an endemic problem for which no one at the Commission is willing to take responsibility. Despite repeated promises of improvement, the accounting system remains as watertight as a colander, with the Court of Auditors suggesting that 90 per cent of the £68 billion EU budget is open to fraud. The Commission and Members of the European Parliament should feel a much stronger obligation to taxpayers in the EU member states, because it is they who are footing the bill for this catalogue of skulduggery".

The European Court of Auditors issued its Annual Financial Report on the European Union’s 2004 accounts on 14th November, and was highly critical. The Court reported "structural weaknesses" in accounting procedures and said that internal policies "do not provide sufficient assurance as regards the legality and regularity of payments."

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) came in for particular criticism; the Court found that it was "still materially affected by errors", despite the fact that the CAP does not need to comply with IACS (the internal accounting system).