European Commission accounting officer Brian Gray has insisted the
commission’s money is managed correctly and that it is well accounted for.
Answering a stream of criticisms from Ashley Mote MEP, Gray told the European
parliament committee on budgetary control: ‘I believe we do manage the money
well and we certainly account for it well.’
Gray was speaking after Mote had unveiled a 25,000-word report into EU
accounting, detailing issues with the poor treatment of whistleblowers, issues
with opening and closing balances and so-called ‘pre-financing’ issues (where
intial payments are made from EU funds).
Mote had insisted that there was something ‘rotten’ in EU accounting. Gray
said: ‘some of the assertions made in this report to reduce the credibility of
the accounts are completely wrong.’