FOR Councillor Derek Boden to suggest that "We have a lot to be grateful for to the European Parliament" (Yours Truly, Sept 19) makes we wonder if he is having a laugh?

Coun Boden may have forgotten only three years ago, in an unprecedented scandal, the entire EU Commission was forced to resign after fraud and mismanagement on a massive scale was uncovered.

In one memorable episode, a lucrative health research contract was handed to a man with no qualifications for the job other than the fact he was the "live-in-dentist" of the French Commissioner, Edith Cresson.

The former Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, was one of the few who did not have his hand in the till and he was given his job back. It was then decided, to expressions of sheer belief on this side of the Channel, that he was just the man to reform the EU's chaotic accounting system and root out sleaze.

I suppose the bureaucrats thought that, as Mr Kinnock had done very little to counter the swindling before the scandal broke, he could be relied on to do nothing in his new job when the dust had settled. They were absolutely right. Mr Kinnock, in keeping with the rest of his career, has achieved nothing of worth.

One thing he has managed though is to make an absolute misery of the lives of those officials brave enough to blow the whistle on fraud. The Commission's chief accountant, Marta Andreasen, who found the EU's budget was out of control, was removed from her post and disciplined.

She alleges that there is no reliable computer system and that basic accounting methods, such as double-entry bookkeeping, are ignored. As a result, accounts could be altered without leaving any traces. In other words, an organisation with a budget in excess of £62bn has fewer financial controls that your average school PTA.

The implications of this are horrendous. The EU has no idea how much taxpayers' money is lost through corruption, because there are no effective checks.

Coun Boden may fall for the boundless web of spin from the European Parliament, but while people like Neil Kinnock are in charge, he can bet his last euro that nothing will be done about it.

JEAN ALLISON (Mrs)