Treasury whistleblower is sacked after leaked letter

Date: 30/05/02

By David Cronin

MEPS are to demand a full explanation into why a senior official who highlighted serious weaknesses in the European Commission's accounting system has been dismissed.

Budget chief Michaele Schreyer this week wrote to Marta Andreasen, informing her that she is being removed from her post as the Commission's accounting officer.

The move came after European Voice published details of letters sent by the 47-year-old Spanish official to Commission President Romano Prodi and the EU Court of Auditors, highlighting her concerns that the Commission's computer-based accounting system is vulnerable to fraud.

Andreasen alleged the Commission's treasury had not been audited for a decade and that the long-serving head of the budget directorate-general, Jean-Paul Mingasson, had 'indefinitely postponed' the introduction of a much-needed new software system to address flaws in the existing set-up.

The European Parliament's budget control committee is now being urged to investigate the issues she raised at its next meeting on 10 June.

Committee member Michiel van Hulten, a Dutch Socialist, also wants it to invite Jules Muis, head of the Commission's internal audit service, to 'shed light on the case'.

'A controversy such as this doesn't do confidence in the Commission's handling of budgetary matters any good,' said the MEP.

Commission insiders say Andreasen's removal was preceded by a dispute with Mingasson over new rules which require heads of the Commission's departments to sign off their annual accounts.

Andreasen believed the system was unsatisfactory and, earlier this month, she refused to approve accounts drawn up under the new regulations.

It is understood she had particular reservations about the figures provided by DG Agriculture and the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).

One Commission source said she was extremely worried about the flaws in the Commission's Sincom computer system, on which its accounts are kept.

'There is no security control to guarantee no manual intervention on the system,' the source added. 'This means a payment can go to another beneficiary or that a payment might go out, without the necessary authorisation.'

Andreasen, a certified accountant since 1978, had only joined the Commission in January.

Insiders say her desire to introduce swift reforms clashed with the more conservative approach of Mingasson, who has held his current job for 11 years. They say she felt the Frenchman did not respect the 'functional independence' which she had been promised.

Despite being stripped of her post, she will keep her salary and is expected to be assigned a different job within the Commission.

Its internal reform spokesman Eric Mamer attributed her dismissal to a 'breakdown in the confidence which she needs to enjoy from the hierarchy and from Mrs Schreyer'.

Mingasson is due to move to DG Enterprise in July, as part of the Commission's scheme for rotating senior officials every five years.

In a letter sent to several MEPs last weekend, Andreasen urged a Parliamentary probe into why the Commission's treasury service has not been audited for a decade.

She complained that the same man, Basil Holder, has been the institution's treasurer throughout that time.

A senior official who highlighted serious weaknesses in the European Commission's accounting system has been dismissed.