The European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) today voted on the nomination of CDU politician Daniel Caspary as a Member of the European Court of Auditors. Caspary is currently chairman of the CDU/CSU group within the EPP and has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004. Members of the European Court of Auditors are proposed by their respective national governments – in Caspary’s case on the basis of a decision of the German federal cabinet – and, under the EU Treaties, must be “beyond any doubt” as to their suitability. Following the secret vote in CONT, the next step is a secret ballot in the plenary of the European Parliament.
Alexander Jungbluth, ESN MEP and substitute member of the CONT committee, commented:
“By appointing Daniel Caspary, an active party politician and faction heavyweight, to a post that demands absolute independence, Brussels is once again providing a textbook example of how the establishment confuses scrutiny with politics.
A member of the European Court of Auditors should be free from party-political ties and loyalties. Yet Caspary has until now been a central figure in the EPP, consistently pushing for deeper EU integration and global free trade agreements – a political agenda that is fundamentally at odds with the Court’s neutral watchdog role.
His advocacy for trade deals such as TTIP, his lack of regard for national sovereignty and his disparaging remarks about EU-critical citizens show that he is not the person who will strengthen the independence and credibility of this institution.
Anyone who, like Caspary, has spent years helping to shape the laws cannot credibly claim, the very next day, to be their impartial auditor. This is not a fresh start for the Court of Auditors, but the continuation of a system in which political loyalty counts for more than expertise and independence.”
