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Joint declaration signed by the Netherlands, Sweden and the United
Kingdom

With reference to:

The European Court of Auditors’ annual report on implementation of the
2009 EU Budget;

Discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation
of the budget for the financial year 2009;

Draft Council recommendation 5891/11 FIN 47 PE-L14+ ADD1 + ADD 2;

The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom are concerned that:

For the 16th year in succession, the European Court of Auditors has been
unable to grant a positive unqualified Statement of Assurance on the EU
Budget as a whole;

The slow pace of reforms to the financial management of EU funds is
detrimental to the credibility of the EU budget as a whole.

The Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom highlight that independent
EU-level audit is a crucial function and we therefore strongly support
the work of the European Court of Auditors;  

The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom agree with the European
Court of Auditors that improving the quality of spending should be a
high priority in order to attain significantly better results in the
annual report on the 2010 budget. 

The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom want to see concrete
steps towards achieving the following specific objectives before the
Council debates Discharge of the 2010 Budget: 

Member States are responsible for implementing the majority of funds
from the EU Budget in cooperation with the Commission. Member States are
responsible for conducting checks and for putting in place an effective
and efficient control system. As part of a closer dialogue with Member
States, the Commission is invited to make proposals and to strengthen
Member State responsibility. Member States should account for the
administration of EU funds at national level, including the proper
functioning of internal control systems;

For reasons of transparency and in order to incentivise sound financial
management, Member States’ annual summaries should be made publicly
available. At the same time, Member States should be obliged to provide
analysis of financial management data as an integral part of the annual
summaries; 

In support of a risk-based approach to auditing, a more structured
dialogue between the Court of Auditors, the Commission and Member States
is necessary. The Commission should bring forward proposals to enable a
stronger focus on the audit of larger projects and institutions which
have a proven track record of risk.

The forthcoming negotiations of the Financial Regulation provide an
opportunity to take forward these proposals. 

Room document		15.02.11