By Martin Banks - 7th October 2010
The college is supposed to assist with the fight against cross border crime
Marta Andreasen
MEPs were due to vote on Thursday on an amendment calling for the closure of the European police college (CEPOL).
The move comes after parliament's budgetary control committee last week refused to sign off accounts for the UK-based college amid a growing scandal over the "private use of public funds".
Committee members said they were concerned that possible misuse of funding could be "higher" than previously thought at the EU agency, which has been hosted in the UK since 2005.
OLAF, the EU anti-fraud office, was called in after the college admitted last year to using funding to buy staff furniture, mobile phones and to pay for a free car service.
In the latest development last week, the budgetary control committee blocked discharge of CEPOL's accounts until officials provide detailed accounts.
MEPs condemned what they called the college's continued failure to provide full information on college expenditure or to put proper accounting standards into place. According to information given to MEPs, EU funds were wrongly paid out for staff use of cars, transport services, mobile phones and furniture.
At parliament's mini-plenary on Thursday, deputies will be asked to vote on an amendment from UKIP deputy Marta Andreasen calling for the college to be shut in the wake of the latest revelations.
Ahead of the vote, she told this website, "Nearly two years ago the college was given a final warning on getting their own house in order. They haven't done so. Now we must cut off their funding for good."
"The college is supposed to assist with the fight against cross border crime. Instead all it seems to be able to teach is cross border fraud or incompetence" she said.
"I just wish the budgetary control committee would show the same zeal when deciding on discharge for other EU institutions that have not shown improvement for years".
"(The parliament) is not prepared to accept the submission by the college of incomplete information, in particular as it does not even cover the whole year or the amounts relating to the sale of the pool cars and the furniture," said the MEPs.
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