EU financial watchdog ‘systemically sabotaged fraud investigations’
The EU’s financial watchdog has systemically “sabotaged” investigations and caved into intimidation from countries including France and Italy to cover up fraud, according to a senior official.
9:00PM GMT 11 Jan 2011
Maarten Engwirda, a former Dutch member of European Court of Auditors for 15 years, who retired 10 days ago, has alleged that abuse of EU funds was swept under the carpet by an auditing body that was supposed to expose wrongdoing.
“There was a practice of watering down if not completely removing criticism,” he told the Dutch Volkskrant newspaper yesterday. Slim Kallas, the European Commission’s vice-president, who was responsible for anti-fraud measures from 2004 to 2010 and who is now the EU transport chief, is accused of putting “heavy pressure” on investigators to tone down findings of abuse. Mr Kallas also clashed with the Court of Auditors over its use of strict accounting standards which meant that the EU’s annual accounts have embarrassingly never been given a clean bill of health. Mr Engwirda, 67, also described an endemic “cover-up culture” within the court and wider EU institutions that had prevented the true extent of fraud from being disclosed. “All these abuses never came out into the open because of the Kremlin-style information we provided. But it didn’t enhance our reputation one bit,” he said.
E os chineses.. no meio desta confusão toda? Esses atacam em toda a frente!