More trouble at CoR as senior auditor loses job

Date: 30/04/03

By Martin Banks

THE row over alleged fraudulent expenses and misuse of official cars among Committee of the Regions (CoR) members took a dramatic twist this week when it emerged that one of the CoR's senior internal audit staff is set to lose his job.

OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud office, is currently investigating concerns, first raised by the Committee's own Internal Auditor, Robert McCoy, about possible financial mismanagement. The inquiry was launched soon after the European Parliament decided to withhold discharging the CoR's 2001 accounts.

It has now emerged that the contract of McCoy's assistant, Nicholas Ravailhe, as well as McCoy's secretary, will not be renewed after next month's expiry date.

Dutch Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten says the decision is cause for "extreme concern".

He wrote to CoR President Sir Albert Bore asking for their contracts to be "immediately" renewed, at least for the duration of the OLAF inquiry.

Van Hulten said: "Vincenzo Falcone [CoR secretary-general] is actively seeking to weaken the role of the internal audit service within the institution.

"Nepotism and favouritism appear to be rife in addition to the allegations of fraud and corruption."

A CoR spokesman confirmed that some internal audit staff will not have their contracts renewed but denied there was any connection between this and the OLAF inquiry.

He added: "The president is aware of Mr van Hulten's letter and will be responding to it."

The row over alleged fraudulent expenses and misuse of official cars among Committee of the Regions (CoR) members took a dramatic twist this week when it emerged that one of the CoR's senior internal audit staff is set to lose his job.