EU accounts fail 13th successive test

European Court of Auditors refuses to sign off the European Commission's books for the 13th year in a row, citing a 'lack of supervision' and 'irregularities' in its accounts

Written by David Jetuah

Accountancy Age, 13 Nov 2007

The European Court of Auditors has failed to give a statement of assurance on much of the European Commission's spending - for the 13th time.

The auditors' report, covering the 2006 budget, cites spending 'irregularities' and a lack of supervision by the European Commission as reasons for its decision. The issues are mostly with agricultural and redistibutional spending.

According to the ECA, the Commission has not managed to maintain effective supervision of expenditure on major infrastructure projects, as nearly 80% of the EU's 106bn euro (£75bn) budget failed the auditors' test.

This news comes despite hopes expressed by Brian Gray, the EC’s accounting officer, in an interview with Accountancy Age that his books would be given a clean bill of health.

The ECA's criticisms come in the wake of EC mandarins slating member states for audit shortcomings.

The EC has the remit for the handling of the budget, but member states are responsible for distributing the bulk of EU spending, mostly in grants and subsidies.