Major digitalisation push for EU audits  

The European Court of Auditors’ annual meeting got underway in Paphos on Monday as Cyprus hosted the event, with top officials praising the challenges which have been overcome.

Attendees heard that the world is becoming greener, more digital and more efficient ways of carrying out checks on EU spending are being studied, according to Franck Sebert, audit director at the European Commission.

The 160 delegates at the 29th such meeting also heard that Cyprus has excellent results – meaning that there have been almost zero cuts from the amount earmarked for the island, with a 100 per cent absorption rate.

Since acceding to the EU in 2004, Cyprus has contributed €3.3 billion to the bloc, while receiving €3.79bn – making the island a net recipient of €460m.

Sebert added that a key point of discussion was updating the methods and ways of carrying out the audit checks – with the major digitalisation push underway greatly boosting these efforts.

House president Annita Demetriou addressed the conference via videolink where she praised the integral role of such checks in a democracy.

Demetriou welcomed every effort to strengthen and improve the current institutional framework of accountability, at all levels, to protect the interests of taxpayers.

For the current programme period – 2021 to 2027 – the island is eligible for a total of €2.9bn, including the €1.2bn associated with its national recovery and resilience plan.