The number of errors in EU spending fell again in 2008, but the level of errors remains high in some areas, especially cohesion policy, according to a report published today by the European Court of Auditors. Vitor Caldeira, the court's president, told members of the European Parliament's budgetary control committee that the overall level of irregular payments "has decreased in recent years, due to the improvements in the management of the budget, but it is still too high in some areas". Siim Kallas, the European commissioner responsible for auditing, said that the auditors' report was the "the best report so far". He pointed out that the proportion of the EU budget that falls under areas where the level of error was over 5% has been halved since 2004, to around 30%. Caldeira stressed that the error rate was not the same as fraud. Where the court found cases of fraud, it referred them to the EU's anti-fraud unit OLAF, he said.
Vitor Caldeira, the court's president, told members of the European Parliament's budgetary control committee that the overall level of irregular payments "has decreased in recent years, due to the improvements in the management of the budget, but it is still too high in some areas".
Siim Kallas, the European commissioner responsible for auditing, said that the auditors' report was the "the best report so far". He pointed out that the proportion of the EU budget that falls under areas where the level of error was over 5% has been halved since 2004, to around 30%.
Caldeira stressed that the error rate was not the same as fraud. Where the court found cases of fraud, it referred them to the EU's anti-fraud unit OLAF, he said.
Spain, Italy and Portugal are responsible for the bulk of the financial errors detected by European auditors in the field of regional policy, where some €2.7 billion should not have been paid out in 2008. The European Court of Auditors on Tuesday was for the 15th year in a row unable to sign off the EU accounts, due to a high level of errors in the areas of regional and rural development aid, which account for over a third of the community budget. But the report notes improvements in the management of agriculture payments, which takes the lion's share of the EU budget (€55 billion). The sector has for the first time been given a green light, having an error rate of below two percent.
The European Court of Auditors on Tuesday was for the 15th year in a row unable to sign off the EU accounts, due to a high level of errors in the areas of regional and rural development aid, which account for over a third of the community budget.
But the report notes improvements in the management of agriculture payments, which takes the lion's share of the EU budget (€55 billion). The sector has for the first time been given a green light, having an error rate of below two percent.
