Today, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has presented its annual report for 2018 in front of the European Parliament.

 

Although the ECA report demonstrates that the management of EU finances is constantly improving, the S&D Group, however, has voiced concerns about high-risk spending areas that still pose challenges. Euro MPs call for higher absorption rates and better performance on EU budget resources, in order to achieve better added value. More efforts and further simplification are also needed to reduce the risk of errors.

 

The EU Commission and individual member states must continue to work to achieve this. 

 

 

“We welcomed the European Court of Auditors’ annual report as a crucial tool to see where our Union and its bodies deliver and where there is still work to be done. 

 

“We welcome the Court’s conclusion that the EU accounts present a “true and fair view” of the EU’s financial position and that the financial transactions spread throughout the year are compliant with existing legislation.

 

“For the third time in a row, the Court issues a qualified opinion on payments which confirms the sustained improvement in the budget management.”

 

 

“It is positive that there is a drop in the error rate for the area of competitiveness for growth and jobs and that there is no increase in the error rate for natural resources. We must, however, pay attention to certain high-risk spending areas, such as cohesion and rural development. The complex rules governing these and the eligibility criteria often lead to errors in the management of funds. We ask and encourage the Commission and member states to work more intensively to overcome the existing problems. We also welcome the pilot project of ECA and the European Commission for enhanced cooperation between ECA and member states in auditing.

 

“One important part of the ECA annual report covers the administrative expenditure of EU institutions and bodies. For the future, we would recommend that the Court takes a closer look at transactions between institutions, which would be of great value for our discharge work.”