EU fails to win approval of its accounts

The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden withheld approval of the European Union’s 2009 accounts in February 2011 over concerns about a lack of transparency on how EU funds are spent.

Diplomats from the three countries said they were trying to press the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and their fellow member states to improve accountability around the bloc’s €140bn annual budget.

In a joint declaration, the trio blamed insufficient progress in combating fraud, noting that the EU’s own auditors had failed to give an unqualified sign-off to the bloc’s accounts for 16 consecutive years.

Netherlands Court of Audit / De Algemene Rekenkamer: EU budget accountability http://www.eu-accountability.nl/

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