Tuesday, 13 November 2007

For the 13th year in a row, the EU Court of Auditors has failed to approve the EU budget. In 80% of the payment areas, including agriculture, structural funds, internal polices and external action, the money simply cannot be traced.

The UK Independence Party Treasurer and former Chief Accountant of the EU, Marta Andreasen, says: "Billions of pounds of taxpayers' money continues to be out of control and exposed to abuse. And it all stems from the failure to implement the proper control system from the European Commission, to whom the funds are entrusted.

"Right from the start, the Court emphasises that it is the European Commission that bears ultimate responsibility for the legality and regularity of underlying transactions to the EU accounts.

"The problem therefore lies essentially with the Commission, which refuses to accept its responsibility. And as long as the European Parliament remains toothless and does not hold the Commission to account, we will be hearing the same for the years to come."

UKIP MEP Jeffrey Titford, who sits on the Budgetary Control Committee, said that this was "becoming as regular as Christmas".

He added: "If the EU were a British company, the fraud squad would have been all over it years ago and people would be in prison.

"The European Commission's efforts to combat the problem have turned incompetence into an art form.  It is time to admit that we are flogging a dead horse, apologise to the British taxpayer and pull out of the EU once and for all".