President of the European Court of Auditors: Lithuania opens a new chapter of prosperity

Press release, 7 June 2023

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

On 7 June 2023, Tony Murphy, President of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and Laima Andrikienė, ECA Member delegated by Lithuania, discussed the ECA’s priorities for action at a joint meeting between the Seimas Committees on Audit and on European Affairs. Coverage of the work of the ECA and the highlights of the special reports in the pipeline were followed by an exchange of views on the implementation of Lithuania’s national recovery and resilience plan ‘New Generation Lithuania’.

Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Chair of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs, and Zigmantas Balčytis, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Audit, congratulated Mr Murphy on his first visit to Lithuania.

The ECA President welcomed the opportunity to visit Lithuania together with Ms Andrikienė and emphasised the importance of the historical events associated with Lithuania’s independence, especially in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. ‘We strive for a united Europe that works together to defend freedom and independence. United as Europeans, we must continue to show strong financial, political and humanitarian support to Ukraine,’ he said.

In his speech, Mr Murphy stressed that the ECA’s mission was to increase public trust in EU policies. He also discussed the ECA’s work and audit reports in the area of the control system of checks for the RRF that stands at EUR 724 billion, as well as in the fields including but not limited to digital transformation, green transition, climate change, and energy independence. Mr Murphy highlighted the good practices of Lithuania observed by ECA auditors.

Ms Andrikienė presented the key information from the ECA reports to be published in the near future, the highlights associated with digitisation of EU funds management, the rule of law, the European Commission’s anti-fraud strategy activities, as well as the plans to conduct audits into the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

The Committee chairs and members took interest in environmental issues, pension funding schemes in the EU, media pluralism, and the fight against corruption, discussed further cooperation and thanked the hosts for the opportunity to take part in the discussion.

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

The status of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) equals that of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. This ensures their independence and might. As an independent external auditor of the EU, the ECA contributes to improving the financial management of the EU, promotes accountability and transparency, and acts as an independent guardian of the financial interests of the citizens of the Union. The ECA checks whether the European Union’s budget has been implemented correctly and ensures that EU funds have been committed and used lawfully in accordance with the principles of sound financial management. The ECA reports to European citizens on how EU funds are spent.

Eglė Jonevičienė, Adviser, Office of the Committee on Audit, tel. +370 5 239 6324