I am forced to refer to today's announcement by the Audit Office in relation to the European Commission's response to the Audit Office's complaint about the direct award of two contracts by the Treasury, to highlight the improper and deliberate effort orchestrated against the Legal Service, its legal officers and its heads, through manipulation, misrepresentation and misdirection of public opinion away from objective and accurate information.
In response to the highly misleading statement by the Audit Service, I note that. The Court of Auditors' communication unacceptably misrepresents the reply which it received from the European Commission and which the Commission itself communicated to the Legal Service.
2. Nowhere in the European Commission's reply is there any conclusion, or even an assessment in principle, that the approval given by the Minister for Finance, on the recommendation of the Director-General of his Department for the direct award of the two contracts, was unlawful, as the Legal Service claims in paragraph 2 of its communication.
3. Nowhere in its reply does the European Commission state that the relevant opinion of the Attorney General of the Republic was legally incorrect. On the contrary, the content of the Commission's reply fully confirms the correctness of the legal basis, principles and case-law on which the opinion of the Advocate General of the Republic is based.
4. The European Commission does not conclude that there has been any infringement by the Republic of Cyprus. Nor does it even consider it appropriate to initiate any further investigation into the matter.
5. At no point in the European Commission's letter does the European Commission appear to endorse the positions of the Auditor General as set out in the Court of Auditors' communication.
6. The European Commission acknowledges that the current harmonisation legislative framework in Cyprus provides an appropriate basis for assessing possible infringements and does not identify a general practice and/or systemic failure of the Republic to comply with EU law.
7. The European Commission's reply clearly demonstrates the unfounded and unnecessary nature of the Court's complaint to European Union institutions against the Republic of Cyprus.
The Court of Auditors' statement misrepresents the European Commission's reply, withholds information and distorts the facts to the detriment of citizens' information.
In conclusion, I regard this incident as yet another unacceptable diversion of the role and powers of the Auditor General, who, once again, by alleging unsubstantiated and alleged illegalities, has denounced our country to the European institutions.
(BL)
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