ΛΟΓΟΔΟΣΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗ ΕΝΩΣΗ

In all European Countries, as well as on the European Union level, transparency and accountability are key for the stability of markets, in particular financial markets, and trust of citizens in government. Our democratic institutions and the safeguards connected to the rule of law form the most significant operators for transparency and accountability. In our modern democratic systems, political debate and deci- sion-making deliver the framework for fiscal policy and establish the rules to com- ply with public management. The legality and regularity of all our administrations’ actions is a fundamental presumption of good governance and the basis of dem- ocratic control. Transparency and accountability can be considered as values of modern states as such; however, the effect of such values goes much deeper. Citizens’ Trust in so- ciety is a result of the application of these fundamental values in the daily prac- tice of public administration. Again, this is quintessential on the level of states, re- gions, and cities, but equally the European Union. It is, nevertheless, not with the same intensity that transparency and accountability can flourish on the EU level in comparison with the state level. The large scale of the EU-cooperation with almost 450 million citizens, the complexity of the EU legal framework, and the differences in culture and language imply that it is not an easy task to comprehend what hap- pens within the EU. For many people, the EU, with all its crucial functions – for citizens and member states alike -, can be compared to a black box. Citizens are sense makers : they have a willingness to understand their society and for that reason, they need adequate information. Whilst all EU information is accessible, this does not imply that all cit- izens can also understand all information, let alone figure out how the EU works and whether citizens get value for their money. For the majority of citizens, value for money is the best argument to justify the effectiveness of government to citi- zens, also on the EU level. Generally speaking, it is then on this ground that EU co- operation is criticized andwhy citizens have a tendency to distrust this cooperation. With his Accountability and the European Union - The Financial Dimension , Nikolaos Milionis offers the reader a well-structured and comprehensive discussion on ‘ac- countability’and its related concepts, a comprehensive overviewof the institution- al issues and checks and balances, a knowledgeable interpretation of the audit prin- ciples in connection with the legal framework. He offers an in-depth analysis of the financial framework of European cooperation and the safeguards for sound finan- cial management. He highlights that in the EU, the spending of citizens’money is ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ