Amendment to the Financial Regulation: separation of the internal audit from the ex ante control

The committee adopted by a large majority the report (consultation procedure) by Michiel van HULTEN (PES, NL) amending the Commission proposal to amend Article 24 of the Financial Regulation in order to separate the internal audit function from that of 'ex ante' financial control. The committee proposed changes to the Commission proposal to make it more precise and complete. It wanted it to be stated that during the transition period and until the review of the Financial Regulation had been approved, the financial control service should continue to perform 'ex ante' control functions and that its independence should not be hampered by the gradual establishment of the internal audit service. Other amendments sought to clarify the distribution of responsibilities between financial control and internal audit. The committee said that, apart from the Commission, Parliament and Council, it was up to the other institutions to decide, according to their needs, whether to appoint an internal auditor (independent of the financial controller). Lastly, the institutions should, by publishing annual internal audit reports, be able to benefit from each other's experience so as to improve the efficiency of their management and control systems. �