THE letter published on January 7 by Sir Leslie Fielding, director general for external relations, European Commission, does not reassure me about the democracy of the European Union and its Commission. 
The commission is not elected but appointed. 
Each year since 1994 the EU auditors have refused to sign off the accounts. 
In 1999 the entire EU Commission was brought down by bad accounting, bad management, nepotism and fraud. 
One of the commission's roles involves arranging trade agreements and it was in this area where fraud was occurring. A new commission was formed with a promise from Commissioner Neil Kinnock that reform was his top priority. 
In 2002 Marta Andreasen was hired as chief accountant, she was suspended after four months for claiming the system was open to fraud. 
She was accused of “whistleblowing” by flouting staff rules having reported her findings to MEPs instead of to her superiors first. It is reported she was sacked for refusing to sign accounts she believed to be unreliable. 
It is clear the necessary reforms have still not taken place. 
In an EU audit report for 2013 published in 2014 found that £109 billion out of a total of £117 billion spent by the EU was affected by errors and that more needed to be done to ensure money is spent according to the rules. 
The EU parliament is also not democratic because France has the ability to veto legislation, which they used following a vote in the EU parliament to end the farce of having two parliaments. 
To claim that we can’t survive without friends and allies and therefore must remain in the EU is ridiculous, we have 53 countries as friends in the Commonwealth, with our Queen at the head and 11 allies in NATO, of which we were a founding member and will remain so even if we leave the EU.
ALEC WALL 
(Sometime councillor, 26 years Birmingham City and West Midlands Police, 
Criminal Investigation Department, retired)
Oak Bridge Court 
Tenbury Wells