Nieuwe leden voor de Europese Rekenkamer (en)
ECA/06/02
Luxembourg, 1 March 2006
New Members for the European Court of Auditors
In accordance with the Treaty, after having consulted the European Parliament, on 23 January 2006 the Council of the European Union appointed five new Members of the European Court of Auditors for a term of six years, starting from 1 March 2006:
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-Mr Massimo VARI (Italy),
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-Mr Juan RAMALLO MASSANET (Spain),
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-Mr Olavi ALA-NISSILÄ (Finland), Mr Lars HEIKENSTEN (Sweden) and
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-Mr Karel PINXTEN (Belgium).
They will replace Mr Clemente, Mr Salmi, Mr Reynders, Mr Fabra Vallés and Mr Tobisson at the expiry of their terms of office. I
In addition, the mandates of the following current Members of the Court were renewed by the Council: Mrs Máire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN (Ireland), Mr Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA (Portugal), and Mr Morten Louis LEVYSOHN (Denmark), until 29 February 2012. The Members of the Court are independent in their functions, representing solely the interests of the European Community.
The five new Members of the Court will be formally sworn in at the Court of Justice of the European Communities on Friday 17 March 2006:
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-Mr Massimo VARI was a Judge at the Italian Court of Auditors from 1972 to 1993, assigned successively to various duties including audit, the Public Attorney's Office (1973-1980), Local Authorities Section, and also various Jurisdictional Sections (1980-1993). He was elected a Judge at the Italian Constitutional Court from 1993 to 2000, before being appointed Vice-President of the Constitutional Court from 2001 to 2002. In 2002 he was appointed Section President responsible for coordinating the regional audit sections at the Italian Court of Auditors.
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-Mr Juan RAMALLO MASSANET was a Deputy Magistrate at the Higher Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands between 1979 and 1981. He was a Member of the Spanish Parliament during Parliaments II and III (1982-1989). During this period he was Chairman of the Committee on the Economy, Trade and Finance (1983-1989) and a member of several parliamentary committees. From 1990 until 1995, he was appointed advisor to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, attached to the Spanish Ministry of Finance. He was professor of Financial and Tax Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid from 1989 to 2005.
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-Mr Olavi ALA-NISSILÄ has been a Member of the Finnish Parliament since 1991. His most recent positions, from 2003, have been as Chairman of the State Budget and Budgetary Control Committee, a member of the Tax Section and the Transport Section, and a member of the Speaker's Council. In 2003, he was elected Chairman of Parliament's Bank Board for the Bank of Finland and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the State Finance Audit Office.
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-Mr Lars HEIKENSTEN was a researcher and teacher in economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1972 until 1984. In 1985 he joined the Swedish Ministry of Finance as Assistant Under-Secretary and in 1990 became Under-Secretary for economic affairs. He was Chief economist at one of the largest commercial banks in the Nordic region from 1992 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2002 he was Deputy Governor of the Swedish Central Bank before being appointed Governor from 2003 to 2005. Mr Heikensten has been the Swedish Governor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a Member of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and a Governor in the General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB).
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-Mr Karel PINXTEN was a Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1991, and a member of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Between 1991 and 1994 he was a Member of the Belgian Federal Parliament, and a member of the Finance Committee. He was Minister of Defence from 1994 to 1995 and Minister of Agriculture and SMUs from 1995 to 1999. He was a Member of the Belgian Federal Parliament from 1999 to 2005. Since 1983, he has been Mayor of Overpelt.
The Court's new organisation chart will shortly be made available at www.eca.eu.int, together with some photographs. Europe by Satellite will broadcast a News Item on 9 March on the first meeting of the Court in its new composition http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/avservices/ebs/schedule.cfm.
The Treaty requires the European Court of Auditors to audit the collection and spending of European Union funds independently and thereby to assess the way in which the EU institutions discharge these functions. The Court aims to contribute to improving the financial management of European Union funds at all levels, so as to ensure maximum value for money for the citizens of the Union.