Commission Czech audit to stay secret

Date: 31/05/01

By David Cronin

THE European Commission is refusing to publish details of an audit conducted into the activities of its delegation in the Czech Republic, prompting questions about whether serious irregularities may have occurred there.

Enlargement chief Günter Verheugen is adamant the findings will only be given to authorised individuals. Responding to a parliamentary question, he said that "internal audits carried out by the Commission areconfidential" and it could therefore not provide information about the Prague delegation's affairs to MEPs.

Informed sources have confirmed that suggestions of fraud and financial mismanagement were unearthed during the audit.

The issue is considered acutely sensitive in the Commission since last month's decision to freeze EU aid to neighbouring Slovakia. This followed the dismissal of the head of the Slovak foreign aid department, Roland Toth over allegations he embezzled h40 million of EU funds.

German conservative MEP Markus Ferber, who tabled the question to Verheugen, condemned the decision to keep the audit's findings under wraps.

The European Commission is refusing to publish details of an audit conducted into the activities of its delegation in the Czech Republic, prompting questions about whether serious irregularities may have occurred there.