I know that Louis Galea is Malta’s new member in the court of auditors. But what does this post really entail?

Louis Galea is taking up another new role in the political spectrum. He will be moving in as Malta’s second member of the European court of auditors. Louis Galea will be replacing Josef Bonnici, after six years at the job.

First and foremost, we must thank Josef Bonnici, who was Economic Affairs Minister here in Malta, and has done a great job during his six-year tenure at the European Court of Auditors. His meticulous approach and work ethic was evident when he was Minister, and surely enough this continued during his time at the Court. He was the first Maltese person to hold this post – and he made us proud.

An intelligent person full of charisma, Galea had a leading role in the transformation and development of the Nationalist Party with Fenech Adami as leader. After 33 years as a Member of Parliament and various posts as Minister, Galea will now be moving to Luxembourg. In my response to a question a few weeks ago, I explained how the different entities are split between Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. This was the person that was one of the masterminds in setting up the educational system we have today, an excellent base that is enabling Maltese students to fulfil their potential.

Before the European Parliament’s budgetary committee, there was one Socialist MEP that asked some questions without any basis. Galea rightly explained how there was not even one bit of evidence to back up what she was saying, and he was voted for the post with an overwhelming majority thereafter. On a side note, she sounded very much like some local journalists, who try to undermine a person with baseless assertions. It would be interesting to understand how she got hold of this information.

Let us move from misinformation to information. The European Court of Auditors was established by the Treaty of Brussels in 1975, essentially giving the Court the role of an EU Institution that carries out the audit of EU finances. The main aim is to improve EU financial management, seeing as it acts as an external auditor. We can really say that the financial interests of the citizens of the European Union are safeguarded thanks to this highly respected body.

Here we are talking about an institution widely recognised for its integrity, impartiality as well as the sheer quality of its audits and opinions. It is devoted to act as an efficient and highly effective organisation in line with developments in public audit and administration. This institution is spoken of so highly because of the great responsibility it holds. We are all aware of the billions of Euros that the EU collects and eventually spends. Now just imagine that all that is checked thoroughly by this team.

The massive and complex budgets that are endorsed by the European Parliament and the Council are supervised by the Court, hinged by accountability and transparency in overseeing that the budget would have been properly implemented. All these mechanisms and measures together with the reports it produces bolster the EU’s financial management by a large degree.

We are facing a number of challenges. Apart from the obvious pressures the recession has brought upon all member states, there are ancillary issues that are at the forefront that are in need of being addressed. Climate change, energy efficiency, and sustainable development are among the most important. These challenges are putting added pressure on public finances all around the European Union, and to overcome them we need to spend our resources consciously and astutely. In this respect, the European Court of Auditors is tasked with greater importance, in order to certify that public funds are properly managed on behalf of all European taxpayers.

The European Court of Auditors plays an extremely important role. It ensures that the finances are managed resourcefully, to their full potential. Essentially it also brings the European Union closer to European citizens. And judging by how close Louis Galea was to the people, I think we have just made a perfect match.