EU president muzzles auditors who have refused to sign off the bureaucrats' accounts for last 18 years, telling them to tone down criticism as it 'erodes trust'

Herman Van Rompuy bid Europe's Court of Auditors for positive headlines

The watchdog has never signed off the EU budget since it began in 1994

It has consistently cited widespread irregularities, including fraud concerns



British MPs accuse Van Rompuy of whitewashing accounts to mislead public



Warning: Herman Van Rompuy told Europe's Court of Auditors that he wants their findings to generate positive headlines with regard to Europe's £110 billion yearly spend

The EU president has sent a shot across the bow of Europe's official spending watchdog warning it to rein in its criticism of Brussels and focus on promoting the union.

Herman Van Rompuy told Europe's Court of Auditors that he wants their findings to generate positive headlines with particular regard to Europe's £110 billion yearly spend.

The watchdog has been a thorn in the side of Brussels, publishing a series of critical reports on wasteful spending and refusing to sign off the EU’s budget for 18 consecutive years because of concerns about fraud.



'Your reports are not released into a void but into the rough and tumble of political life and media reporting,' he said on Thursday night. 'Every year, they generate headlines that ‘yet again the EU’s accounts have not been signed off’, with deceptive allegations of fraud and mismanagement. You and I know that such headlines can be misleading.

'Given this media handling of information, and its impact on public opinion in some countries, the court might want to give some further thought as to how it can encourage more nuanced reporting.



'It’s important that citizens can have the whole picture, with all its nuances.'

In June this year the watchdog was told it would have its funding slashed by 4.2 per cent.



'In the end we are all responsible for Europe and its image,' Van Rompuy went on. 'In times of crisis, it is more vital than ever to foster confidence. We should also be teaching, to convince Europeans and demonstrate clearly that Europe is not the source of problems, but the solution.'

His comments today angered British MPs who accused him of glossing over the EU's accounts to mislead the public.

Reduction: The financial watchdog that has refused to sign off the European Commission's budget for 18 consecutive years is to have its funding slashed by Brussels

Critics: Tory MP Douglas Carswell (left) said Van Rompuy was trying to 'get us to turn a blind eye to dodgy account keeping' while Ukip leader Nigel Farage (right) asked, 'in which other banana republic in the world would the president publicly call for less exposure of waste of taxpayers' money?'

Ukip leader Nigel Farage told the Daily Telegraph : 'The Court of Auditors which has not signed off the EU accounts for 18 years, is asked to go easy and provide good PR only for the EU,' he said. 'In which other banana republic in the world would the president publicly call for less exposure of waste of taxpayers’ money?.'

Tory MP Douglas Carswell added: 'Van Rompuy invokes euro idealism to try to get us to turn a blind eye to dodgy account keeping by his own Eurocrats.