EU auditors seek standard definitions
The European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund together are expected to provide some €350bn (£300bn) between 2014 and 2020, about one third of the EU budget.
The auditors examined whether the Commission had negotiated these agreements and operational programmes effectively, so as to better target EU funding towards the EU 2020 strategy priorities, and whether the setting of performance conditions had been adequate. They visited Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Denmark.
Ladislav Balko, the ECA member responsible for the report, said: ‘The Commission has been effective in adopting the partnership agreements and operational programmes and in concentrating EU funds on growth and jobs promoted by the Europe 2020 strategy. But achieving results will also require substantial contributions from national budgets as well as structural reforms. This shows that the Commission is making greater use of these funds to influence economic governance in the member states.’
However, the report is critical of some of the methodology used to assess investment, saying there is no common definition of ‘output’ and ‘result’ and no harmonised approach between funds on the use of common indicators.
Thousands of the specific performance indicators created by member states cannot be aggregated at the EU level, while the volume of data to be collected creates an additional administrative burden.
The ECA report makes a number of recommendations to the Commission and the member states. These include ensuring data relevant to establishing the effects of co-financed interventions is collected, defining a common terminology for ‘output’ and ‘result’ for inclusion in the financial regulation, and identifying indicators which are best suited to determining the impact of EU funding for 2014-2020.
Special Report No 2/2017: The Commission’s negotiation of 2014-2020 Partnership Agreements and programmes in Cohesion is here.
Source: CCH Daily
