Balanced books of a strong union
Published Date:
22 November 2008
I AM glad that the European Court of Auditors published a report on November 10 which gave for the first time a "clean bill of health" to the European Union's accounting books, while stressing that most of the remaining irregularities with EU funds lie in the responsibility of national governments.
Due to the "improvements that have taken place" in technical accounting terms, the reservations expressed in the previous reports "are no longer necessary", allowing the court for the first time in 14 years to provide a "clean opinion" on the EU's annual accounts for 2007, Vitor Caldeira, the president of the European Court of Auditors, told MEPs.
However there remains work to do as the report still finds a high number of irregularities in the actual spending of EU structural and agricultural funds, including here in the UK. Still it's a start.
Meanwhile I challenge those who support retaining an independent currency to cite one tangible benefit from staying outside of the euro, a currency that has now proved its worth and which will shortly be used throughout all of Europe.
Misguided loyalty to the memory of Queen Victoria should no longer prevent us from engaging fully in building a United Europe.
James Bovington, Church Grove, Horsforth, Leeds
The full article contains 214 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
22 November 2008 10:01 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Leeds
