The EU is yet to fully exploit the potential of its agencies, European Court of Auditors say
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The EU agencies are playing an increasingly important part in the Union, but their role in serving EU citizens effectively needs to be evaluated more carefully. This is the conclusion of a report presented by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) today. The ECA signed off the 2019 accounts of all but two EU agencies and confirmed the positive results it had reported in previous years. For the first time, the ECA also assessed how well the EU has enabled the agencies to deliver its policies for the public good. According to the auditors, there is a need for more networking and cooperation – as well as more flexibility in the set-up, functioning and possible winding-up of agencies.
“Like every year, we examined the financial management of all EU agencies and we found their accounts in sufficiently good shape,” said Alex Brenninkmeijer, the ECA member responsible for the reports. “For the first time we also looked at how the agencies contribute overall to EU policies and to cooperation in the interest of citizens. We suggest strengthening the cooperation of agencies in order to develop them as EU centres of expertise and networking.”
The EU agencies are characterised by diverse governance structures, mandates and tasks, and the EU has created a range of agencies over the years to meet different kinds of challenges. Most agencies are funded almost entirely from the EU budget, and their financial management is transparent: the ECA audits their annual accounts. However, it is more difficult to evaluate how well agencies discharge their respective mandates, as the ECA has highlighted in several past performance audits of individual agencies. Over the years, the auditors have repeatedly referred to the need for improved governance, accountability and reporting on performance.
This year, for the first time, the ECA has complemented its annual reports on the finances of EU agencies with an overall assessment of the conditions in which they serve the Union, the Member States and the general public.
