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   EU must take better care of our money, says MP free web page hit counter  

A new report finds that the number
 of financial irregularities in EU
 budgets increased by 12 percent
between 2003 and 2004

SOUTH NORFOLK MP Richard Bacon has called on the European Union (EU) to take greater care of taxpayers’ money, as a new report confirms that the European Union’s accounts have failed to be signed off for the eleventh year in a row.

The National Audit Office (NAO) published its report on the financial management of the European Union.


In 2004, around 9,400 cases of irregularity and suspected fraud with a value of £663 million were reported to the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog.  Compared with 2003, the number of irregularities, including possible fraud, increased by 12 per cent and their value increased by five per cent.

Mr Bacon, a member of both the Commons public accounts committee and the European scrutiny committee, said today:

“If the accounts of Marks & Spencer or Tesco had a qualified opinion from the auditors for even one year, their directors would probably resign.  Yet for the eleventh consecutive year the accounts of the European Union have had a black mark against them. British taxpayers have a right to expect high standards of financial management and probity, whether their money is spent in the UK or in Europe.

“EU member states cannot even find the will to agree on ways of measuring fraud and irregularity.  If the EU cannot safeguard the monies entrusted to it by the taxpayers of this country, it is at least open to question whether they should have them at all”.

 

29 March 2006

See also:
NAO REPORT: Financial Management in the European Union
PARLIAMENT: MP questions safety of UK cash in EU hands
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© Richard Bacon 2008