CD&V wants the Chamber to have its accounts checked permanently by the Court of Audit, as is already the case for the Flemish Parliament. Group leader Servais Verherstraeten is submitting a proposal for this, in the aftermath of the fuss about pension extras for former presidents of parliament and senior civil servants.
“It is clear that the control procedure is inadequate today. There is a need for an independent and external audit of the accounts,” says Verherstraeten. He wants to enshrine the role of the Court of Audit in law as well as to include it in parliamentary regulations.
Today, the Accounts Committee of the Chamber adopts the budget, on the proposal of the Management Committee. The plenary House then approves that proposal. In addition, the Accountability Committee must also check the accounts of the Chamber’s funds.
Extra info
According to Verherstraeten, the audit by the Court of Audit must from now on ensure that the members of the Accountability Committee have additional information. In his proposal, this control would relate to the regularity and legality of the Court’s revenue and expenditure.
Control would take place a posteriori. The Chamber’s financial service must send a draft of the accounts for the previous year to the Court of Audit before 30 April each year. After that, that institution will have one month to carry out the check.
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