1. Landscape review EU accountability and public audit arrangements
Mr. Kevin Cardiff
Reporting Member (ECA)
Mr. Jacques Sciberras
Project team leader
ECA Conference, Brussels
14th October 2014

2. A complex EU accountability landscape
ECA
SAIs, national, regional auditors
Audit Boards and Committees
Private External Auditors
Internal Auditors incl. Cion
AUDIT SCRUTINY
ECA
Actors
Commission
Parliament
Council
European Council
ECB
ECA
ECJ
Committees
> 40 agencies
EIB & EIF
Partnerships of many kinds
National, regional, local authorities
Beneficiaries – 8 million for CAP alone
Accountability to:
750+ MEPs
European Council and Council
(10 configurations)
9,500 national parliamentarians
Regional Governments & Parliaments
>500 million people
Forum for accountability
Actor

3. Situation EU accountability is a complex, enormous industry…
no surprise to hear that there are Gaps, Overlaps, or Deficits

4. Questions addressed? EU Executive Parliament Audit EU
What is in and what is out?
Who
is accountable and for what?
Accountable to who?
Parliament?
Who is the auditor?
Strong audit mandate?
Does auditor report to Parliament?
Audit

5. 6 areas facing challenges
Coordinated activities
EU institutional setup
Multi-speed arrangements
Management of the EU budget
Partnerships
Results of non-budgetary instruments
Institutions, bodies and agencies have inconsistent and disproportionate levels of audit and parliamentary scrutiny
Intergovernmental activities involve EU institutions, but rely on fragmented scrutiny
Europe 2020, European Semester, TSCG, ESM
Institutions, Agencies, JUs, ECB, EIB
Different groups of MS participating in different policy areas require complex governance and scrutiny structures
Particularly for expenditure under shared management frontline governance and scrutiny remains weak at MS level
Euro and Eurozone, Schengen area
Shared Management in MS
Audit limited to stage where funds paid over. Scrutiny depends on quality of partners own governance and accountability systems
Strategies, laws and regulations require a comprehensive form of assessment of impact, outcomes and results
UN, World Bank, PPPs, 3rd Countries
Ex-post assessments, Laws, Regulations, etc

6. EU response to financial crisis
Crisis of confidence
Economic crisis
Banking Union
Financial support mechanisms
Economic and Monetary Union (Fiscal Union?)
Europe 2020 growth strategy
Political response
Euro crisis
Sovereign debt crisis
Banking crisis

7. Impact of crisis response
More and new:
bodies and structures with different arrangements
uses of and demands on existing structures
sets of rules
mix of EU and non-EU instruments
Public perceptions of EU (and national) systems damaged

8. 5 tracks for reflection Collaborative scrutiny
More collaborative scrutiny between Parliaments and auditors for coordinated activities and intergovernmental instruments
Consistent and comprehensive arrangements
More consistent arrangements across EU policy areas, institutions/bodies, and instruments Ensure full scope to oversee and audit
Better MS level scrutiny
Improve frontline (MS) management, governance, scrutiny and audit
More focus on results
Especially for intergovernmental or non-budgetary EU policies
Less audit overlaps
Explore all opportunities to avoid duplication of audits and for auditors to rely on the work of one another

9. A Way forward No simple solutions
Engage actors at all levels: local, member state, regional, EU and more
Address existing problems
Build new initiatives with accountability in mind – use known models where possible

10. ALEU PCEU A loss of citizens trust occurs when…
Powers and Complexity of the EU
are out of balance with the
Accountability and Legitimacy of the EU

11. ACCOUNTABILITY EQUILIBRIUM
Citizens trust is restored when…
PCEU ALEU
A NEW
ACCOUNTABILITY EQUILIBRIUM