Court of Auditors to play bigger 'advisory' role

The president of the European Court of Auditors, Victor Caldeira, is convinced the role of the institution will evolve with the economic crisis.

Mr Caldeira called for additional reforms to respond to the current economic crisis which "will certainly lead to new challenges for public auditors in the Union".

He was speaking on the occasion of the swearing-in of seven new members of the Court of Auditors, including former minister Louis Galea, before the EU Court of Justice.

Besides its "warning" role, the ECA would increasingly be called upon to play an independent advisory role to parliaments and executives, at national and European levels, Mr Caldeira said.

He said it would be advisable to focus in particular on the quality of expenditure and the critical and objective evaluation of the effectiveness of various public policy programmes.

He added that everything must be seen in the context of the current reform of the EU's budget and future negotiations on financial perspectives for the 2014-2020 period.

Mr Caldeira said he was certain the ECA would be an important player in promoting transparency and accountability.

Apart from Dr Galea, who replaced Prof. Josef Bonnici at the ECA in Luxembourg, the seven new members of the court are: Eoin O'Shea (Ireland), Szabolcs Fazakas (Hungary), Ladislav Balko (Slovakia), Augustyn Kubik (Poland), Milan Martin Cvikl (Slovenia) and Rasa Budbergyte (Lithuania).

Dr Galea's term of office will come to an end in May 2016. He has appointed his former collaborator and CEO of the Maltese Higher Education Commission, Jacques Sciberras, as his head of staff in Luxembourg.