BUDGET: MEPS CLEAR 2003 SPENDING BY OTHER INSTITUTIONS.

The report was approved by 560 MEPs with 56 votes against and ten abstensions. Speaking during the debate on the report, Stubb said that the aim of all the reports was to improve the control environment for all institutions and all the bodies covered by his report had opassed with flying colourso.

But he attacked what he called opolitically motivated attemptso to hijack his report, referring to a series of amendments tabled by the eurosceptic Independence and Democracy (ID) group strongly criticising the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and its handling of internal investigations into alleged wrongdoings by staff.

The ID group tabled three amendments, criticising the CoR for a range of issues. These included claims that the body had promoted certain officials who had been subject to an investigation by the EUs anti-fraud unit OLAF despite giving assurances to the EP that this had not occurred. The amendments also criticise the treatment of the CoRs former Internal Auditor by that body and say that the committee is failing to live up to its pledges to introduce administrative reform. Godfrey Bloom (ID, UK), said that the budgetary control committee had tried to obrush serious questions under the carpeto and said it obeggers beliefo that Stubb had not personally seen the CoRs former Internal Auditor. The Stubb report was orotten to...