Court of Auditors: appointment of a Belgian member

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Indrek Tarand (Greens/EFA, EE) on the proposed nomination of Annemie Turtelboom (BE) as a member of the Court of Auditors.

The committee evaluated the credentials of the nominee, in particular in view of the requirements laid down in Article 286(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). At its meeting of 20 February 2018, the committee heard the Council’s nominee for membership of the Court of Auditors.

Members called on the European Parliament to deliver a favourable opinion on the nomination of Annemie Turtelboom as a Member of the Court of Auditors.

Annemie Turtelboom is currently a Member of the Belgian Federal Parliament, having held four different ministerial posts, in the following order: (1) Minister of Migration and Asylum Policy, (2) Minister of Home Affairs, (3) Minister of Justice, and (4) Deputy First Minister, Minister for Budget, Finance and Energy, Government of Flanders.

During the hearing, the candidate stressed that public finances have always played a vital role in her work throughout her political career. As a Minister of the Belgian Government, having been responsible for security departments, asylum and migration, home and justice affairs, the candidate drafted the budget proposals for each department, as well as coordinating their control.

The candidate stated that the overall reform of the Ministry of Justice, which she supervised, is one of the greatest achievements in her professional career. The main objective of this reform is the decentralisation of financial powers, which gives more autonomy to magistrates, and a shift towards a performance-oriented culture, in which management agreements would be used and audited by the Belgian Supreme Audit Institution to increase efficiency and assess effectiveness.

In order to guarantee her full independence, the candidate stated that she would resign from her political mandates and that she would not engage in any activity that could compromise her independence in the future. She showed willingness to communicate all financial interests and other commitments to the President of the Court of Auditors, and to make them public.

Lastly, the candidate stipulated that the establishment of a close dialogue and regular contact between the Court of Auditors and the European Parliament was essential. She seeks to understand the European Parliament’s information needs in terms of audit approach and deliverables and supports the ECA’s annual work programme integrating more audits focussing on the EP’s priorities for the EU citizens.