European Union - Fiftieth Report
Here you can browse the report which was ordered by the House of Lords to be printed 7 November 2006.
CONTENTS
Terms of Reference
ForewordWhat this report is about
Chapter 1: Backgroundthe budget of
the European Communities and its audit
Putting the lack of a positive Statement
of Assurance in context
Crises and developments in the Commission
The meaning of a qualified audit opinion
Our past involvement and this inquiry
Chapter 2: The Statement of Assurance: its
development and its weaknesses; proposals for reform
Box 1: Proposals from the European Court
of Auditors in 2004
Box 2: Proposals from the Commission in 2005
and 2006
Box 3: Reaction and proposals from the European
Council in 2005
Box 4: Proposals from the European Parliament
The Statement of Assurance
DAS Methodology
Transaction testing and the development of
the Court's methodology
The meaning of an irregularity
Dividing the Statement of Assurance into
categories
National management of European funds
Chapter 3: The quality of internal control
systems within the Commission
The Commission's accounting system
A commitment to improvement
Segregation of duties
Continuing criticism
Double entry bookkeeping and the Commission's
accounting software
Internal audit and control
Devolved management in the Commission
A system requiring Commission officials to
take responsibility
Risk assessment
Debt recovery
Chapter 4: Shared managementthe allocation
of financial management responsibilities between the Commission
and the Member States
Who is responsible for financial management
Is the legislation too complex?
The role of Member States in shared management
Delegation risk
A national DAS
Sufficient interest in the Council?
Responsibility in the Council
Responsibility in national parliaments
A single national account and auditing problems
in devolved or federal states
Sanctions for non-compliance
Chapter 5: External audit and the role of
the European Court of Auditors
The role of the Court and its workings
with national Supreme Audit Institutions
Value for money audit
Chapter 6: Developments in the fight against
fraud
Problems estimating the rate of fraud
OLAF's powers and activities
OLAF's independence
Chapter 7: Summary of Conclusions
BackgroundThe budget of the European
Communities and its audit
Crises and developments in the Commission
The meaning of a qualified audit opinion
The Statement of Assurance: its development
and its weaknesses; proposals for reform
DAS Methodology
Transaction testing and the development of
the Court's methodology
The meaning of an irregularity
Dividing the Statement of Assurance into
categories
National management of European funds
A commitment to improvement
Segregation of duties
Continuing critcism
Double entry bookkeeping and the Commission's
accounting software
Internal audit and control
Devolved management in the Commission
A system requiring Commission officials to
take responsibility
Risk assessment
Debt recovery
Who is responsible for financial management
Is the legislation too complex?
Delegation risk
Sufficient interest in the Council?
Responsibility in the Council
Responisibility in national parliaments
A single national account and auditing problems
in devolved or federal states
Sanctions for non-compliance
The role of the Court and its workings with
national Supreme Audit Institutions
Value for money audit
The rate of fraud
Problems estimating the rate of fraud
OLAF's powers and activities
OLAF's independence
Appendix 1: Sub-Committee A (Economic and
Financial Affairs, and International Trade)
Appendix 2: List of Witnesses
Appendix 3: Call for Evidence
Appendix 4: The 2005 Statement of Assurance
Appendix 5: Glossary
Appendix 6: Reports
NOTE: References in the text of the report are as
follows:
(Q) refers to a question in oral evidence
(p) refers to a page of written evidence
The Report of the Committee is published in Volume
I (HL Paper 270-I) and the Evidence is published in Volume II
(HL Paper 270-II)
ORAL AND WRITTEN EVIDENCE - HL270-II
Oral Evidence
2 May 2006
16 May 2006
6 June 2006
13 June 2006
27 June 2006
11 July 2006
18 July 2006
25 July 2006
17 October 2006
24 October 2006
Written Evidence
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