towards reform of the eu budget...
TRANSCRIPT
Towards reform of the EU Budget _________________________________________________________________________________
Accountability,Accountability,the aching tooth ?the aching tooth ?
European Parliament Budgetary Control Committee – 6 May 2008
Gabriele CIPRIANI, Director, European Court of [email protected]
A point of view on_________________________________________________________________________________
The assurance system for structural policies.
Threats to full accountability.
A chance for improvement: reform of the EU Budget.
Background_________________________________________________________________________________
The EU budget and national budgets.
‘Policy eligibility’ checks.
‘Shared’ management, one final responsibility.
Audit opinion at closure
Commission audits
Annual opinion basedon national audits
Certification of expenditure+ first level verification
Compliance assessment ofmanagement and control systems
Guarantees in programme negotiations
Ex ante
Ex post
During
implementation
Source: European Commission - DG Regio
How assurance will be built up
_________________________________________________________________________________
2007-13 Programmes_________________________________________________________________________________
Source: European Commission - DG Regio – stand 5.2.2008
Community Amount
344,4 billion Euro
National Public Amount
143,6 billion Euro
However..._________________________________________________________________________________
The ECA continues to record an high 'error' rate (at least 12 % in 2006).
This shows that : control systems in the member states are
generally ineffective, or only moderately effective, and
the Commission exercises only moderately effective supervision to prevent reimbursement of overstated or ineligible expenditure.
Many serious ‘errors’ are a breach of national rules and are originated by inadequate ex-ante systems.
Where the problem lies
_________________________________________________________________________________
Source: European Court of Auditors – Annual Report 2006
Red (Unsatisfactory) Red (Unsatisfactory) 25 Cells25 Cells
Green (Satisfactory) Green (Satisfactory) 23 Cells23 Cells
Yellow (Partially Satisfactory) Yellow (Partially Satisfactory) 28 Cells28 Cells
The ‘Contract of confidence’
_________________________________________________________________________________
the Commission having reasonable assurance that the financial management and control systems comply with the requirements.
national authorities having drawn up a satisfactory audit strategy covering all audit activity for the whole period.
Member states undertaking to submit reports providing an adequate basis for assessing the effective implementation of the audit strategy and setting out conclusions with regard to the functioning of the management and control systems.
A ‘triple-A’ rating, subject to :
Threats to full accountability
_________________________________________________________________________________
No assurance, no full accountability.
‘Shared’ management, ‘shared’ interests ?
‘Preventive’ actions, the key issue.
Are more rules needed ?
Financial corrections, a short-cut ?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Dissuasive ?
Exhaustive ?
A ‘cure-all’ ?
Summing up_________________________________________________________________________________
Reputation risk.
Legality of spending, a key condition for effectiveness.
‘Value for money’ concerns.
However, we have a chance...
The EU Budget reform_________________________________________________________________________________
One EU Budget, one final responsibility.
Objectives in line with the resources.
Prevention is better than cure.
A dynamic of rewards.
‘Who fails pays’ principle.
‘Policy eligibility’ checks.
Thank you for your attention.
Cipriani, G. (2007), Rethinking the EU Budget : Three Unavoidable Reforms, CEPS paperbacks, CEPS, Brussels, November. http://shop.ceps.eu/BookDetail.php?item_id=1563
Cipriani, G. (2006), The Responsibility for Implementing the Community Budget, CEPS Working Document No. 247, CEPS, Brussels, June. http://shop.ceps.eu/BookDetail.php?item_id=1353