EU Auditors’ 2019 figures and findings - at a glance: checking how EU policies and spending deliver added value on the ground

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Rekenkamer i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 7 mei 2020.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is focusing increasingly on assessing the performance and added value of EU spending and regulatory action, according to its new activity report. In 2019, the EU’s external auditors published 67 reports, reviews and opinions addressing many of the challenges the Union is facing, such as cross-border healthcare, renewable energy, cybersecurity, migration and fiscal governance. With Member States now facing an unprecedented challenge to public health and the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all European institutions must build on past efforts to further improve the EU’s financial management and ensure the Union delivers, said ECA President Klaus-Heiner Lehne i.

The activity report gives a full account of the ECA’s audits and publications, checks in Member States and non-EU countries, and engagement with its main stakeholders in 2019. The auditors also provide key information on their staff, governance and finances, applying the same standards of transparency and accountability to themselves as they do to those they audit.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union and its Member States are facing unprecedented challenges. We are in the home straight of negotiations on the next long-term budget that will set out the EU’s funding firepower for next seven years,” said President Lehne. “It is more crucial than ever that the Union delivers, and in helping citizens to overcome this crisis demonstrates the added value of European cooperation and solidarity.”

Press release: EU Auditors’ 2019 figures and findings - at a glance: checking how EU policies and spending deliver added value on the ground