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European Court of AuditorsThe European Court of Auditors is one of Institutions of the European Union of the European Union. Its "mission is to audit independently the collection and spending of European Union funds and, through this, assess the way that the European institutions discharge these functions". == Overview == The Court of Auditors checks that all the Union's revenue has been received and all its expenditure incurred in a lawful and regular manner and that the EU budget has been managed soundly. The Court was established in 1977. The Court has one member from each EU country, appointed by the Council of the European Union for a renewable term of six years. Even after enlargement there will still be one member per EU country but, for the sake of efficiency, the Court can set up "chambers" (with only a few members each) to adopt certain types of report or opinion. In their countries of origin, the members of the Court have all worked for an auditing institution or are specifically qualified for that work. They are chosen for their competence and independence, and they work full-time for the Court. The members elect one of their number as President for a term of three years. == Function == The Court's main role is to check that the EU budget is correctly implemented — in other words, that EU income and expenditure is legal and above board and to ensure sound financial management. So its work helps guarantee that the EU system operates efficiently and openly. To carry out its tasks, the Court investigates the paperwork of any organisation handling EU income or expenditure. If need be, it carries out on-the-spot checks. Its findings are written up in reports which draw the attention of the Commission and the member states to any problems. To do its job effectively, the Court of Auditors must remain independent of the other institutions but at the same time stay in constant touch with them. One of its key functions is to help the budgetary authority (the European Parliament and the Council) by presenting them every year with a report on the previous financial year. The comments it makes in this annual report play a very important role in Parliament's decision whether or not to approve the Commission's handling of the budget. If satisfied, the Court of Auditors also sends the Council and Parliament a statement of assurance that European taxpayers' money has been properly used. Finally, the Court of Auditors gives an opinion before the EU's financial regulations are adopted. It can comment at any time on specific issues, or it can give an opinion at the request of one of the EU institutions. == Organization of work == The Court of Auditors works independently, and is free to decide how to schedule its auditing activities, how and when to present its observations, and what publicity to give to its reports and opinions. It has approximately 760 qualified staff, of whom about 250 are auditors. The auditors are divided into "audit groups". They prepare draft reports on which the Court takes decisions. The auditors frequently go on tours of inspection to the other EU institutions, the member states and any country that receives aid from the EU. Indeed, although the Court's work largely concerns money for which the Commission is responsible, in practice 90% of this income and expenditure is managed by the national authorities. The Court of Auditors has no legal powers of its own. If auditors discover fraud or irregularities they pass the information as quickly as possible to the EU bodies responsible, so they can take the appropriate action. ''Some paragraphs from [http://europa.eu.int/institutions/court-auditors/index_en.htm EUROPA — European Union institutions and other bodies — The European Court of Auditors]; the information on the EUROPA site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice. As a general rule and unless otherwise indicated, the information available on the site may be reproduced on condition that the source is acknowledged. [http://europa.eu.int/abouteuropa/faq/q05/index_en.htm]'' ''See also: Corruption in the EU'' == External links == *[http://www.eca.eu.int/ European Court of Auditors] — official site *[http://www.euabc.com/index.phtml?word_id=240 Article on EUABC] European Union European Union law International courts Political corruption European Court of AuditorsOne of 'five institutions' of the EU? I always thought there was 5. But in Wikipedia's list of EU Institutions, there are six, and it is this one, the European Court of Auditors, that is the sixth. The Europa website on the left-side lists seven institutions, adding an 'Ombudsman' and a 'Data Protection Supervisor'. These aren't properly 'institutions', in the same sense as the others. In the main 'The EU at a Glance' article, Europa says: "There are five EU institutions, each playing a specific role: * European Parliament (elected by the peoples of the Member States); * Council of the European Union (representing the governments of the Member States); * European Commission (driving force and executive body); * Court of Justice (ensuring compliance with the law); * Court of Auditors (controlling sound and lawful management of the EU budget)." - [http://europa.eu.int/abc/index_en.htm Europa website] Notably absent is the European Council. Can someone more knowledgable than me sort out what are the real institutions of the EU? I feel this is an important issue for Wikipedia to be clear about.. See other meanings of words starting from letter: EEA | EB | EC | ED | EF | EG | EH | EI | EJ | EK | EL | EM | EN | EO | EP | ER | ES | ET | EU | EW | EX | EY | EZ |Words begining with European_Court_of_Auditors: European_Court_of_Auditors European_Court_of_Auditors |
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YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007 |
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