By Martin Banks - 26th February 2008
MEPs fear that a report by parliament’s internal auditor on the alleged misuse of expenses by deputies is likely to be kept secret despite growing calls for it to be made public.
The internal audit is said to expose money-making scams without naming individuals and shows “embezzlement and fraud on a massive scale”, according to Chris Davies, the UK Liberal MEP who revealed its existence.
But on Tuesday, parliament's budgetary control committee refused to make the report public.
Nor were most of the committee members able to question parliament’s secretary general and internal auditor on the issue.
Both only attended a ‘private’ session of the committee, comprising the chairman, vice chairmen and group coordinators, and left before it was thrown open to other members of the committee, the public and press.
A parliamentary insider said senior figures were afraid of setting a precedent on publishing confidential auditors’ documents.
But the move sparked a huge protest and Davies was among those who lambasted the decision, saying, “This whole affair is shrouded in secrecy and this only serves to fuel the fires of suspicion.
“The report has not been seen by the cast majority MEPs, let alone the public and we are simply saying that it should be placed in the public domain”.
He said the row will be an embarrassment for Hans-Gert Pöttering, president of the parliament, who begins a two-day official visit to Britain today with a meeting with the Queen.
“I have been criticised but we will keep up the pressure for it to be made public because the poachers are in charge of the game park," said Davies.
Members of the the budget control committee have been able to view the report only on condition that they go into a sealed room, do not take notes and do not reveal its contents.
The two biggest groups in parliament — the Socialist group and EPP - both opposed the report being made public.
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