Brussels, 17/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of Auditors has “noted” comments made by its former Dutch member Maarten Engwirda, in an interview with the De Volkskrant on 11 January, and considers his views “unfounded”. The Court says in press release published on Thursday 13 January that it performs its activities “in accordance with the highest international standards of professionalism, independence and impartiality”. It is a “collegial body; all its members are free to express their opinions, and are then bound by the final decisions taken,” the Court states. In an interview with Left-leaning Dutch daily De Volkskrant, Engwirda, who left office at the Court on 1 January, claimed there was a “culture of cover-ups” in the Court, the EU's financial watchdog. He reproached a number of his former colleagues (particularly, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian) of seeking to “water down” criticism by the Court of their states. He also accused Siim Kallas, who was the European commissioner responsible for the EU's anti-fraud policy from 2004 and is currently Commission vice-president with responsibility for transport, of bringing “strong pressure” to bear on the Court to relax its auditing standards. Without making any direct reference to Kallas, the Court says in its press release that all members “exercise their duties with independence in accordance with the Treaty”. In the course of last week, the spokeswoman for Kallas rejected the criticism levelled by Engwirda and the commissioner is considering legal action. (A.By./transl.rt)