The EU and how it works

The UK is the most unequal country in the EU.

i100.independent.co.uk/article/the-uk-is-the-most-unequal-country-in-the-eu--l1It2nHEZb?utm_source=indy&utm_medium=top5&utm_campaign=i100

Bump

OK Just thought I would add some more information as really I should have done it before but forgot about this subject and it is to do with the

EU'S ANNUAL ACCOUNTS AND THE SUGGESTION THAT THE AUDITORS IN LUXEMBOURG HAVE REFUSED TO SIGN THEM OFF.

The EU financial year runs from Jan to Dec. out of interest

Now - in various media reports there has been the usual shouty headlines declaring that the Independent Auditors in Luxembourg have refused to sign off the end of year accounts, so I thought it would be useful to look at the truth behind these noisy headlines.

Annual Accounts. - The Commissioners Accounting Officer, must produce the annual accounts for the EU and the Commission.
They compose - just like a company accounts of
1.Financial Statement with accompanying notes
2.The consolidated reports on the implementation of the budget including account for the European Institutions and it's Agencies - which we know about.

Since 1994, the Auditors have been required to produce a Declaration of Assurance that the entire annual budget can be accounted for.

Just like any other set of annual accounts - there will be what is called "material error" - this allows for a certain level of inaccuracy where not everything has necessarily been verified by the auditors.The percentage of material error will vary from company to company and in this case from Nation to Nation. So this is where the headlines have pinpointed a problem, as even relatively minor omissions are reported.

The EU auditors have indeed criticized the EU expenditure for having between 4 - 7% of errors, however these were largely due to administrative error and not especially fraud. Never the less this compares reasonably well if we look at the material error in other member nations accounts. The error also largely occurs at member nations at government level for EU expenditure.

The media therefore seems incorrect when stating that the auditors have refused to sign off the EU annual accounts. in fact the accounts have been signed off every year since 2007 by independent auditors as free of "material error"

The EU has balanced it's accounts every year and has no debt or borrowings.

Just out of interest an annual statement is prepared for the UK parliament giving details of the EU budget.

Thank you for all this info, very interesting and much appreciated.