The Netherlands will refuse to approve the European Union’s 2006 accounts in an attempt to force national governments to take more responsibility for the European money they spend, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The paper says finance minister Wouter Bos is set to be ‘heavily outvoted’ at a meeting of finance ministers tomorrow to pass the 2006 budget. Auditors found ‘huge errors’ in the €107bn budget last year, the paper says.
Bos is backed by the European Commission and members of the European Parliament, the FT says.
‘An improvement needs to be made in accounting for EU money, and much more work needs to be done by member states,’ a finance ministry spokesman told the paper. ‘This is an issue for member states more than the Commission.’