Latvia: irregular accounting

The European Commission (EC) is temporarily withholding European Union structural fund payments to Latvia due to what it described as "lax monitoring" of the country's budget processes.

The Commission justified its decision to hold back €259 million earmarked for development projects in Latvia as a warning that the government must improve its monitoring of how EU money is spent.

Stefan Zotti, a member of the EC’s Cabinet for Regional Policy, highlighted "uncertainties about the effectiveness of… control systems in Latvia"

He added that the EC is working closely with the Latvian government to implement reform measures by the end of April, and will resume payments if the reform is successful.