The principle of subsidiarity devolves authority unneeded at higher levels to the lowest feasible level throughout the hierarchy.

Management has generally been responsive to the issues raised by OIOS and, following implementation of the audit recommendation to transfer the unneeded equipment to other missions, the programme s accounts were credited for the savings, which amounted to 229,000.

European fixed income markets rallied strongly as a result, only to reverse course days later when Trichet and his colleagues made it clear that the markets had misread him. So there was unwelcome and unneeded market volatility because Trichet couldn t get the message out straight.