Most welcome is the government’s initiative to follow up on the auditor’s annual report on the public accounts by reviewing recommendations made in it and seek to implement them. It then publishes a report on the follow up, with an explanation about why some recommendations have not been adopted. This is an excellent way by which to strengthen accountability and transparency in public affairs.
The auditor’s report should serve as important tool in the control of the administration of the state. It concentrates mostly on whether government action is being conducted in compliance with financial regulations. By itself, this is an important approach.
But it has limitations. For instance, it allows a substantial portion of the report to follow ritualistic formulae inherited from the past, when priorities were different. As a result, the report ends up discussing in depth sectors which today have less importance, while other more crucial ones almost get ignored.
Above all, the auditor’s report rarely questions whether this or that procedure is really effective and necessary; and whether it is itself giving rise to a waste of time and resources.
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Regarding Turkey
Recent though it is, the agreement on immigration between the EU and Turkey is already getting battered. The departure of Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu is hardly a good sign. European leaders got on well with him, which perhaps is why he had to resign.
They find it much more difficult to get on with Turkish President Erdogan. At the start of negotiations on the agreement, a meeting between him, European Commissioner President Juncker and European Council President Tusk ended in a disastrous war of words. The negotiations only continued when Davutoglu stepped in to hold discussions with the senior vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans.
However the problems are not arising only from the Turkish side. At the European Parliament, powerful voices have been raised against the agreement. When a vote is being taken about it, the final outcome could remain uncertain till the very end.
Turkey’s current leaders, with Erdogan upfront, attract a lot of antipathy in Europe. But the same is felt about the Europeans from the Turkish side.
Even so, both sides need each other, despite the suspicions and accusations which are keeping them apart.
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Leicester & Juventus
Though considering myself a ”distant” follower of football, I was also among those who were really happy that Leicester became English champions. When the ”weak” overcome the ”strong”, there’s always room for celebration.
More than that, the hope becomes stronger that, as Leicester made it to the top, so could others. For instance Wolverhampton Wanderers: when I was young, they were English champions and naturally I was a fan of theirs: since then, they’ve become a stodgy and mediocre outfit.
But if foxes have been successful, why can’t wolves?
Similarly, Juventus’ fifth consecutive capture of the Italian championship was good news.
What a pity it was though that due to a wrong tactical decision in one particular match, Juventus were pushed out of the European Champions Cup competition. This year they had a team that was good enough to have won it.