Approving most of EU’s accounts, EP requests new measures to protect EU spending

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. European Parliament granted discharge to the Commission and most other EU institutions, but called for the fight against conflict of interest to be strengthened. The Parliament, voting on Wednesday by 499 votes in favour, 136 against and 56 abstentions, granted discharge of the Commission’s […]

Budgetary Control Committee asks for stronger measures to protect EU spending

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Wednesday, the Budgetary Control Committee signed off on the Commission’s 2018 budget, but rules to fight fraud and conflict of interest must be strengthened. The Budgetary Control Committee recommends granting discharge of the Commission’s accounts for 2018 (corresponding to 97% of the whole […]

MEPs approve EU’s spending in 2017

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs gave their thumbs up to the management of the EU’s 2017 budget, in a series of more than 50 votes on Tuesday. They welcomed the fact that the error rate for payments – as estimated by the European Court of Auditors – had […]

Court of Auditors: EU spending infested with errors well above the materiality threshold of 2%

Last Thursday 13 October, the European Court of Auditors, the institution which carries out the audit of European Union finances, published its report on the implementation of the 2015 EU budget. In the chapter of revenue transactions the ECA found no errors. As expected though, the picture changed drastically when the Court audited the expenditure […]

Resisting EU budget cuts

The Irish Presidency, with its self-congratulating and artificially sweetened style, announced once more ‘a major breakthrough’ in the EU budget negotiations with the European Parliament, without the slightest reference to the other side’s position. This obvious neglect of basic reporting rules which goes as far as sidestepping of democratic principles, has become standard in Irish […]