Posted 24 Feb. 2023 at 11:33Updated 24 Feb. 2023 at 11:39
Set up in September 2022 for “whistleblowers”, the dedicated platform of the Court of Auditors collected nearly 500 reports in its first four months of existence, according to an initial report sent Thursday evening to AFP .
“As of December 31, 2022, 451 reports had been filed on the platform, 39% of which anonymously”, details the financial jurisdiction. A little less than half of them (25%) were also sent “to other authorities (judicial authority, Defender of Rights, French Anti-Corruption Agency, prefecture, etc.)”, specifies the Court.
Conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds
Nearly one report in five (19%) relates, according to the applicant, to “conflicts of interest”, 13% are linked to “misuse of public funds”, 11% to “breach of the rules of public order”, and 29% to other types of suspected offences.
Finally, one in four reports (25%) were considered unusable or not falling within the jurisdiction of the financial courts (a term which includes the Court and the Regional Chambers of Accounts). The number of reports having given rise to a control of the financial magistrates “can only validly be apprehended at the end of 2023”, estimates the institution of rue Cambon.
An institution more open to citizen contributions
The launch of the platform is part of the “Financial Jurisdictions 2025” plan, driven by Pierre Moscovici, current first President of the Court and former European Commissioner for Taxation, which aims to open them up more to the general public.
When the platform was created, the senior official had affirmed his ambition to “open up more” the institution “to whistleblowers, to all those who can turn to us to report undue situations” within organizations public entities falling within the scope of control of the financial magistrates.
In the spring of 2022, the Court had thus launched a first platform allowing citizens to suggest public policies which, in their opinion, deserved to be controlled by it. Six work themes (in particular the use by the State of consulting firms or tax evasion by individuals) have been selected by the financial magistrates, who aim to publish the six corresponding reports during the year 2023.
With AFP