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

2. A complex EU accountability landscape Forum for accountability Actor AUDIT SCRUTINY Page 2 ECA SAIs, national, regional auditors Audit Boards and Committees Private External Auditors Internal Auditors incl. Cion 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

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

4. Questions addressed? Page 4 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? EUExecutiveParliament 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 Intergovernmental activities involve EU institutions, but rely on fragmented scrutiny Europe 2020, European Semester, TSCG, ESM Different groups of MS participating in different policy areas require complex governance and scrutiny structures Audit limited to stage where funds paid over. Scrutiny depends on quality of partners own governance and accountability systems Institutions, bodies and agencies have inconsistent and disproportionate levels of audit and parliamentary scrutiny Particularly for expenditure under shared management frontline governance and scrutiny remains weak at MS level Strategies, laws and regulations require a comprehensive form of assessment of impact, outcomes and results Euro and Eurozone, Schengen area UN, World Bank, PPPs, 3rd Countries Institutions, Agencies, JUs, ECB, EIB Shared Management in MS Ex-post assessments, Laws, Regulations, etc

6. Banking Union Financial support mechanisms Economic and Monetary Union (Fiscal Union?) Europe 2020 growth strategy Political response Banking crisis Sovereign debt crisis Euro crisis Economic crisis Crisis of confidence EU response to financial 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 Page 8 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. 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. Page 10 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. Page 11 Citizens trust is restored when… A NEW ACCOUNTABILITY EQUILIBRIUM