The fight against EU fraud is a total failure

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) was originally set up to monitor the use of the EU budget and fight fraud and corruption. In recent years, however, it has become an empty political body, devoted solely to lecturing and preaching to individual Member States and democratically elected governments. Today’s report again accuses Hungary, while the original text does not mention the corruption case in Brussels that has emerged in the Socialist group. We are convinced that the EP and the responsible committee, in their utterly discredited state of disrepute due to corruption in Brussels, should focus on getting their own house in order.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is the body responsible for monitoring the use of the EU budget and ensuring that the EU institutions function properly and fight fraud and corruption.

But in recent years, the Committee has been busy lecturing and preaching only to individual Member States and democratically elected governments, and has become an empty political body. In its complete misapprehension of its role, it failed to realise that corruption had permeated the institution to the highest levels. In its countless reports, year after year, it attacked Member States instead of looking in the corridors of Parliament, in their own backyard. In fact, in the parliamentary reports, including the report put to the vote today, there was no sign that the Committee had any objection to the EP’s transparency rules nor to the conduct of the MEPs. In their view, everything was going on as normal here until the bribes were found.

The report discussed yesterday also says that the conditions imposed on Hungary are not sufficient, while the original text does not mention the corruption case in Brussels that broke out within the Socialist group. This report embodies the complete failure of the EU’s fight against corruption and the dead end to which the European Parliament’s politicians have led the institution for political gain.

The Fidesz delegation to the European Parliament is convinced that the European Parliament and the Committee on Budgetary Control are facing a very serious crisis of credibility due to the corruption scandal and recommends that the EU bodies take a good look in the mirror, realize their own faults, and get their own house in order.