Eurofound Talks
Eurofound Talks
Podcast episode
Episode 39
19 January 2026

Making the EU accountable to its citizens

In an era where public trust is paramount, the latest episode of the Eurofound Talks looks at the mechanisms that keep the European Union transparent and fiscally responsible. Host Mary McCaughey sits down with Tony Murphy, President of the European Court of Auditors, to discuss the critical role of financial oversight in safeguarding the European project. They also discuss the importance of Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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Mary McCaughey

Head of Unit
Information and Communication

Mary McCaughey is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the College of Europe, Bruges, she started work in Brussels with Europolitics and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She worked with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) in South Africa during the country’s transition to democracy, and in 1998 she took up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, heading up its press and information department during the negotiation of the EU–South Africa free trade agreement. Following the end of the Kosovo War, she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Serbia. She took up the post of Editor-in-Chief in Eurofound in 2003.

Tony Murphy

President of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), a position he has held since October 2022. As an Irish national, he first became a Member of the Court in 2018 and was re-elected for a new term as President starting 1 October 2025.

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Mary McCaughey
Agnès Parent-Thirion
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European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies