Marta Andreasen
Encyclopedia
Marta Andreasen is an Argentine-born Spanish accountant, employed in January 2002 by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 as Chief Accountant, and notable for raising concerns about flaws in the commission's accounting system which she felt left the commission vulnerable to potential fraud. She was subsequently elected as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 for United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

 (UKIP) in 2009.

Professional career

She qualified in 1977 as a certified public accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...

 in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, then worked for five years as an auditor at Price Waterhouse. From 1982 on she worked as a finance and administration manager, then as a regional finance director at various companies, such as Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation is a global provider of industrial automation, power, control and information solutions. Brands in industrial automation include Allen-Bradley and Rockwell Software....

 and Lotus Development, mostly in Spain.

OECD

She joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1998, where she reported serious problems with its accounting system, raised her concerns with the management and suggested ways of reforms. After initial resistance, Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...

 were assigned for an outside analysis. In August 2000, their report described the OECD's internal accounting systems as outdated and inadequate. Andreasen, however, was suspended from her job for 15 months.

Accountancy Age
Accountancy Age
Accountancy Age is a trade magazine for accountants and financial staff in the United Kingdom. After running from 1969 to 2011 with a circulation of over 60,000 in print, it changed with effect from May 2011 to an online-only publication.-History:...

stated in October 2003 that Andreasen's spell at the OECD ended with "her bid to take the organisation to the European Court of Justice claiming her human rights had been violated as she had not been given a 'fair trial' following allegations of racism, and that she raised 'undue doubts' and unsupported 'alarmist allegations' in relation to OECD accounts."

The OECD never confirmed allegations of racism were part of the cause for her suspension. Andreasen had already dismissed those in Accountancy magazine in October 2000 ("Andreasen claims allegations against her emerged only after she had raised concerns about the accounts").

Brussels

In January 2002 she began her new job in Brussels as Chief Accountant ("budget execution director and accounting officer"), the first professional accountant hired.

Concerns over EC's accounting

Andreasen criticized the EU's accounting system for being open to fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

. She raised her criticisms and proposals for overdue improvements and changes internally, but made no progress with her superior. She then submitted her report to the Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....

 Michaele Schreyer
Michaele Schreyer
Michaele Schreyer was a commissioner of the European Commission from September 1999 to November 2004. She was in charge of the budget portfolio...

 and the Commission President Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...

. She again received no answers and so approached members of the EU Parliament’s Budget Control Committee.

She, consequently, refused to sign off the 2001 European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 accounts. With this, she is not alone – The EU's Court of Auditors can only fully validate 5% of the money spent and have criticized the system every year since 1994. In the discharge
Discharge
Discharge in the context to expel or to "let go" may refer to:* A military discharge, issued when a member of the armed forces is released from service* Termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer...

 procedure in 2003 the Commission promised comprehensive reform.

At this stage the media began to investigate and to report. Andreasen went public with her concerns on 1 August 2002.

Sacking

Andreasen was fully suspended from her job by the Commission in May 2002 (for "violating Articles 12 and 21 of staff regulations, failure to show sufficient loyalty and respect"). She is said to have been suspended from her job and ultimately fired because she refused to sign accounts she believed were unreliable.

Worldwide response

Since then Andreasen has given a number of interviews and speeches outlining her criticism and the measures to be taken. Among her first appearances were invitations by Fraud examiners in Las Vegas, the Institute of Internal Auditors
Institute of Internal Auditors
Established in 1941, The Institute of Internal Auditors is a guidance-setting body. Serving members in 165 countries, The IIA is the internal audit profession's global voice, chief advocate, recognized authority, and principal educator, with global headquarters in Altamonte Springs, Fla., United...

 in Ireland and Accountancy Age
Accountancy Age
Accountancy Age is a trade magazine for accountants and financial staff in the United Kingdom. After running from 1969 to 2011 with a circulation of over 60,000 in print, it changed with effect from May 2011 to an online-only publication.-History:...

 in Britain, which in 2003 awarded her with the reader-voted Accountancy Age Award as Personality of the Year. In 2004 she won the Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award for "choosing truth over self".

Political career

In 2007 it was announced that Andreasen had become the new Treasurer of the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

 (UKIP), which is committed to withdrawing the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 from the European Union. In September 2009, she resigned from this post, although continues to serve as a UKIP MEP

Andreasen was elected as a UKIP member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 for South East England
South East England (European Parliament constituency)
South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...

 in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...

.
She immediately joined the Parliament's influential Committee on Budgetary Control
Committee on Budgetary Control
-Responsibilities of the committee:As the name suggests, the CONT is the European Parliament committee charged with producing reports relating to the European Union's Budget.-Membership: Members of the Committee -External links:*...

, although the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

 group blocked her bid to become a vice-Chair.

In April 2010 she announced an intention to apply for the vacant position of Director-General of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF).

In November 2011, she told RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...

's Morning Ireland
Morning Ireland
Morning Ireland is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in Ireland and is noted as that country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 07.00 and 09.00 and is presented by Aine Lawlor, Cathal Mac Coille, Rachael English and Aoife Kavanagh...

that the Irish government's nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors
European Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union . It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg to audit the accounts of EU institutions...

 should be withdrawn.

Personal

Andreasen has two brothers, Carlos and Walter, who live in Argentina. She is married to Octavio Otano, an economist. They have two children.

Books on subject

  • Andreas Oldag, Hans-Martin Tillack
    Hans-Martin Tillack
    Hans-Martin Tillack is a German reporter. Born 1961 in Königs Wusterhausen near Berlin, he grew up in Stuttgart.He studied politology and sociology in Marburg and Berlin, worked for five years as reporter for taz before coming to Stern in 1993 – first in Bonn, from 1999 to 2004 in Brussels, today...

    : Raumschiff Brüssel – Wie die Demokratie in Europa scheitert (in German, Spaceship Brussels – How Democracy in Europe fails), Argon Verlag, 2003 (1st ed., hardcover), ISBN 3870245786, ISBN 978-3870245788/Fischer, Frankfurt 2004 (2nd ed.) ISBN 3596157463, ISBN 978-3596157464
  • Paul van Buitenen: Blowing the Whistle: Fraud in the European Commission, Politicos Pub, 2000, ISBN 1902301463, ISBN 978-1902301464
  • Paul van Buitenen: In de loopgraven van Brussel: de slag om een transparant Europa, Ten Have, 2004, pp. 128–153. ISBN 90-25954227.
  • Marta Andreasen: Brussels Laid Bare, St Edwards Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9554188-1-5.

See also

  • Paul van Buitenen
  • Whistleblower
    Whistleblower
    A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...

  • Accountability in the European Union
    Accountability in the European Union
    As with all public budgets, the EU's budget is also at risk of maladministration. Every year, the Court of Auditors reports on the management of the budget...

  • Resignation of the Santer Commission
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