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19 Jan 2011
UKIP MEP and former European Commission chief accountant Marta Andreasen has called for the European Union (EU) to use external audits following claims from a former EU auditor that irregularities are swept under the carpet.
Further reading
Andreasen spoke to Accountancy Age in Strasbourg on the claims made by Maarten Engwirda, a Dutch auditor and former member of the EU Court of Auditors (ECA), that the ECA had been systematically intimidated and forced to water down critical findings about EU spending.
So, she said: “It was now the time to get a real external and independent auditor to audit the books of the EU and tell the taxpayers where the money is spent.”
Andreasen is no stranger to the position faced by Mr Engwirda. She was fired in 2005 for exposing malfunctions in the EU budget as a whistle-blowing insider. Now an MEP for UKIP (the UK Independence Party), she promised to use her position on the European Parliament’s budget committee to try and force the European Commission to accept an external independent auditor to examine the EU’s accounts. This week she publicly called on José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, to allow an external auditor to examine the books. But her request had been refused and she claimed she had been repeatedly told by Mr Barroso the ECA was sufficiently independent.
“I did not agree and I am now in a position to bring a lot of pressure because besides the budgetary control committee, which looks at the accounts, I am also on the (parliament’s) budget committee which agrees on the money we are going to ask from the member states,” she said.
“I can put pressure saying we should not give any more money to the Commission until these people accept an external auditor…engaged and paid for by the member states.”
Andreasen also plays a part in approving the EU’s medium term budget for 2013 to 2020 (‘financial perspectives’ in EU jargon). And she is also involved with the House of Lords select committee on the EU which has invited her to give evidence on EU financial controls.
“Of course I’ll say we cannot give any more money to these people unless they have a proper audit. I am in a position today, unlike a few years ago, to put a lot of pressure on,” she said. 
She said allegations that Mr Engwirda has made about the lack of independence of the auditors (already partially withdrawn) affected the level of transparency in the reporting of irregularities and “call into question the basis on which the [European] Parliament gives a discharge” of the EU’s annual accounts.
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Visitor comments Add your comment
Open Books
As these are public accounts I am suprised that they are unenthusiastic about agreeing to an external audit...corporate governance??
Posted by: Audit Partner, 19 Jan 2011 | 08:45
Public sector auditor
I was under the impression that this was the role of the European Court of Auditors. Is it being suggested that someone else (more external) is being asked to audit the auditors?
Posted by: roger atkin, 19 Jan 2011 | 11:17
National politics and effective audit don't mix
The ineffective audit of public expenditure around the world is first and foremost the fault of each nation. We're talking of £trillions at risk. So the shortcomings of EU audit simply reflect shortcomings further down the ladder. Perhaps each EU state could address its own faults, and then the EU arrangements could be changed. There's been no political will to do this at national level yet.
This may change. Earlier in the week the US president admitted that Washington's politics are responsible for protecting the public interest - but they got it wrong for example in the run-up to what turned out to be a global financial catastrophe.
Posted by: slightly optimistic, 20 Jan 2011 | 14:01
Brussels Laid Bare
Marta Andreasen's book on the subject: Brussels Laid Bare is required reading for anyone with an interest in this subject. It's a full expose of what's been going on.
Published by St Edwards Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9554188-1-5.
Posted by: Mark Lee, 26 Jan 2011 | 05:30