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The European Union employs a variety of public accountability measures to review and reform budgets across government. [1] As the EU's budget is at risk of maladministration, every year the Court of Auditors reports on the management of the budget. European Union auditors have stated that as they implement more transparency and double-entry book-keeping systems, it is likely to improve budget management. [2]
In order to strengthen the means of fraud prevention, the commission established the European Anti-Fraud Office, also known as OLAF, on 28 April 1999, under the European Commission Decision 1999/352. [3] [4] The Office was given responsibility for conducting administrative anti-fraud investigations by having conferred on it a special independent status.
The Court of Auditors checks that all the Union's revenue has been received and all its expenditure incurred in a lawful and regular manner and that the EU budget has been managed soundly. The Court was established on 22 July 1975 by the Budgetary Treaty of 1975. The Court started operating as an external Community audit body in October 1977.
The meetings of the Council of Ministers (the relevant Minister from each member state) are mostly public. A webcast on the sessions can also be seen on the website of the council. [5]
Also, the standard of plenary sittings of the European Parliament is to stream the debates over the Internet. [6] In addition, the public can observe sittings directly from a separate gallery. Also, nearly all sittings of Parliamentary Committees are observable by the public, [7] except for certain matters such as requests for removal of the parliamentary immunity of a Member of the European Parliament.
In addition, the activities of the European Commission are subject to transparency. The monitoring of the commission has to be performed by a body that is independent of the commission, such as "European Anti-Fraud Office" (OLAF) that reports to the European Parliament. [8]
European Parliament adopted binding rules on lobby transparency in 2019, where MEPs involved in drafting and negotiating legislation must publish their meetings with lobbyists. [9] The amendment says that "rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs or committee chairs shall, for each report, publish online all scheduled meetings with interest representatives falling under the scope of the Transparency Register"-database of the EU. [10]
European Parliament officials have been alleged of corruption and money laundering due to inference by the governments of Qatar, Morocco, Mauritania, [11] and Russia, also called Qatargate and Russiagate. [12] [13] [14]
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a motion which states that "it regrets the fact that Members of the European Parliament have accepted and failed to declare trips to Azerbaijan, visits to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and luxury hotel stays that were organised and paid for by Azerbaijani officials." [15]
The European Commission (EC) is part of the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.
Paul van Buitenen is a retired Dutch politician of the Europe Transparent Party who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009.
The European Court of Auditors is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg and is one of the seven EU institutions. The Court comprises one member from each EU member state supported by approximately 800 civil servants.
The European Anti-Fraud Office is a body mandated by the European Union (EU) with protecting the Union's financial interests. It was founded on 28 April 1999, under the European Commission Decision 1999/352. Its tasks are threefold:
The Santer Commission was the European Commission in office between 23 January 1995 and 15 March 1999. The administration was led by Jacques Santer.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is an independent body of the European Union (EU) with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 23 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. The EPPO was established as a response to the need for a prosecutorial body to combat crimes affecting the financial interests of the European Union (EU). The idea of establishing the EPPO gained momentum with a legislative proposal put forth by the European Commission in 2013. After lengthy negotiations and discussions within the European Council, the European Parliament and Member States, Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 was adopted on October 12, 2017, formalizing the creation of the EPPO. The EPPO Regulation is the EPPO's legal basis, as it outlines the objectives, structure, jurisdiction, and operational procedures. Directive (EU) 2017/1371, also known as the PIF Directive, specifies the criminal offenses affecting the EU's financial interest falling under the EPPO's jurisdiction. The EPPO's primary mandate is to investigate and prosecute offenses such as fraud, corruption, and money laundering that harm the financial interests of the EU, as defined by the PIF Directive. The EPPO represents a significant step towards a more integrated and effective approach to combating transnational crimes within the EU, fostering collaboration and coordination among member states to protect the Union's financial resources. As an independent EU body, the EPPO plays a crucial role in ensuring the rule of law and safeguarding the integrity of the EU's financial system. The EPPO is based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City alongside the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesirable developments within EU institutions and other bodies and then to elaborate constructive suggestions for improvement.
The budget of the European Union is used to finance EU funding programmes and other expenditure at the European level.
Friends of Clean Accounts is a group of European politicians advocating and working towards "clean accounts" of the EU. By this they mean ordinary accounting and controlling, leading to efficient use of funds throughout the EU. An important part of this endeavor is transparent information and free access to it.
Marta Andreasen is an Argentine-born Spanish accountant. She was employed in January 2002 by the European Commission as Chief Accountant, and raised concerns about flaws in the commission's accounting system which she felt left it vulnerable to potential fraud. Elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 election, she defected to the Conservative Party in February 2013. She lost her seat in the 2014 European Parliamentary election.
Franz-Hermann Brüner was a German public official who served as the director-general of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). He was first appointed to the post in 2000, and was reappointed to the post in 2006 over the European Parliament’s preferred candidate.
Giovanni Kessler is an Italian prosecutor. He was until 2017 the Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). OLAF is a department of the European Commission, but it is independent in its investigative function. Based in Brussels, OLAF is tasked with protecting the financial interests of the European Union by investigating fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities. It also investigates serious matters relating to the discharge of professional duties by members and staff of the EU institutions and it supports the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, in the development and implementation of anti-fraud legislation and policies.
The political status of Nagorno-Karabakh remained unresolved from its declaration of independence on 10 December 1991 to its September 2023 collapse. During Soviet times, it had been an ethnic Armenian autonomous oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a conflict arose between local Armenians who sought to have Nagorno-Karabakh join Armenia and local Azerbaijanis who opposed this.
Anti-Armenian sentiment or Armenophobia is widespread in Azerbaijan, mainly due to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Armenians are "the most vulnerable group in Azerbaijan in the field of racism and racial discrimination." A 2012 opinion poll found that 91% of Azerbaijanis perceive Armenia as "the biggest enemy of Azerbaijan." The word "Armenian" (erməni) is widely used as an insult in Azerbaijan. Stereotypical opinions circulating in the mass media have their deep roots in the public consciousness.
Jens Geier is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Party of European Socialists.
Corruption in Lithuania describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Lithuania.
Corruption in Azerbaijan is considered high and occurs at all levels of government. Corruption during the Soviet era was rife and persists into the present.
Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive gifts presented as "a tribute to the Eastern tradition."
Armenia has been a member of the Council of Europe, an international organization that focuses on strengthening democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across Europe, since 2001.