EU report shows high percentage of budget “open to corruption”

9 Nov, 2010 23:54 / Updated 14 years ago

A new report shows a staggering 92 per cent of the European Union's budget is open to irregularities and corruption.

The paper also shows that the EU lost 1.3 billion euros in fraud and irregular payments last year.It is appalling that for the 16th year in a row, the Court of Auditors has failed to clear 92 per cent of the budget, says Marta Andreasen, an MEP who sits on the European Parliament's budgetary control committee.Andreasen has long criticized the EU's accounting system as fraudulent, and she suggests the proper solution for the complicated financial situation is for the European Commission to assume responsibility for the funds that are entrusted to the European Union and not to blame the member states for all the problems in those funds.However, she admits that it may be not that easy.“I frankly think it is difficult to get any sincere and honest improvements because the people who are handling the funds have been there for many years and have refused to put in place the proper controls,” Andreasen told RT.