Latest documents

Summary : This briefing provides background information about Ukraine’s financing needs, options to finance the reconstruction process and the possible role of the EU budget, as well as the governance architecture and the involvement of the European Parliament.

Authors : Diana HAASE, András SCHWARCZ

Summary : This briefing gives an overview of the different kind of EU funding for Africa and Latin America. Short explanations of the different types of funding are given and tables are provided with the different amounts targeting Africa and Latin America. The main EU budget instrument for funding for Africa and Latin America is the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe (NDICI). Besides the NDICI there are other funds that address humanitarian aid and emergency responses. Funding is done through different means. For example, grants, loans, investments and budget support. All these different types of funding have their pros and cons and target different issues in the partner regions. For 2024, the European Commission is planning a midterm revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027. It is not yet clear if this will also have influence on the planning and implementation of the NDICI.

Authors : Alexandra Cynthia Jana POUWELS

Summary : The question of whether the 34 decentralised European Union (EU) Agencies and EPPO are adequately equipped with human and financial resources is a recurring discussion in the different budget and discharge procedures addressing the work of the Agencies. A common issue voiced is that extensions of an agency’s mandate are not matched by a corresponding increase in available funding and human resources. In a special report on the future of EU agencies from 2020, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) comes to a similar conclusion, stating that new tasks for the agencies rarely come with an adequate number of additional posts in the establishment plan. Further issues relevant in the context of EU agencies and their management are the increasingly important role of Contract Agents (CAs) as part of the Agencies’ structural workforce, problems with finding suitable staff in certain policy areas and in Member States with lower remuneration due to lower correction coefficients and the use of interim staff and “revolving doors”. By providing and discussing a variety of available statistics and data as regards the financial and human resources of decentralised agencies, this briefing aims to give a comprehensive overview regarding this issue. First, this briefing shows broader trends of staff developments in the EU decentralised Agencies. Then, it considers other issues related to personnel and staffing, before finally focusing on budgetary trends.

Authors : HENDRIK LARS BECKER

Summary : Most of the Member States have used corporate sponsorship during their Council presidency. Although the official meetings of the Council are financed by the EU budget, the rotating presidency usually organises unofficial meetings and events that are not covered, while other extra costs also incur due to the presidency tasks. Even the regular Council tasks may costs extra for the Member State holding the presidency as it may need to reinforce the permanent representation in Brussels, send more diplomats to be present at all the meetings in Brussels, and also take care of more officials or politicians visiting the country than usual. A Council presidency may also be a good opportunity for the country to promote its local businesses, tourist attractions or cultural heritage. Therefore, it is customary to organise political, business, social and cultural events connected to the presidency in the home country, in Brussels or other Member States. These meetings require venues, transport, security, travel and accommodations, catering, interpretation and translation, technical support and media logistics. All these extra costs are borne by the Member State, and many of them choose to involve sponsors in covering these. Sponsors mostly contribute in kind, most often with transport solutions, catering, IT or communications. In exchange, these sponsors may be presented with their names and logos alongside official Council Presidency logos.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ, FRANCISCO JAVIE PADILLA OLIVARES

Summary : The interest rate cost of EU borrowing for non-repayable support, which lies with the EU budget, could be twice as high as what was initially estimated at the start of the EU’s 2021-2027 budget cycle. This Bruegel paper finds that the European Commission’s issuance strategy can still be improved to reduce EU borrowing costs at the margin. It should also continue to work on building market infrastructures for EU bonds. Moreover if EU countries want to reap the full benefits of EU borrowing, some political progress will have to take place. Finally, the EU should quickly review how interest costs are accounted for in the EU budget and in the MFF.

Authors : Grégory Claeys, Conor McCaffrey, Lennard Welslau

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control has organised a public hearing with the aim of getting a better understanding of how investigative journalism can help to uncover cases of fraud and corruption within Member States, which is of particular concern to the CONT Committee due to potential cases of fraud within EU funds. The hearing was scheduled out of concern for declining levels of press freedom in Central Europe, in this context it is important to discuss the vital role that a free media fulfils in society. This briefing will provide a background on the role of investigative journalists before moving on to discuss the role that they play in uncovering fraud and corruption in Europe. It will then discuss the decline of press freedom in Central Europe before analysing different policies that could be used to protect investigative journalists.

Authors : ADAM JAMES NUGENT

Summary : This study examines the management of Contract Agents in seven decentralised Agencies of the European Union: ECHA, EEA, EIGE, ENISA, ESMA, Eurofound and Europol. It evaluates the evolution of Contract Agents as part of the workforce, and presents findings on processes related to personnel budgeting, recruitment and retention, salary and remuneration, and advancement prospects for contract staff. This document was prepared by the Policy Department at the request of the Committee on Budgetary Control.

Authors : Nathalie VANDAELE, Thierry VAN SCHOUBROECK, Dave DE VOEGHT, Thomas PENSAERT, Katarzyna REISENZEIN, Merel VANDERSEYPEN

Summary : The rule of law Conditionality Mechanism is a new instrument that entered into force in January 2021. It allows the European Union (EU) to take measures in cases when breaches of the rule of law principles affect or seriously risk affecting the EU budget or the EU’s financial interests. As this new mechanism has so far only been applied once, some questions are left open on its application and the possibilities offered by it. The full study discusses the potential scope of application of this new tool. In particular, it analyses how it can be used either as an alternative to, or in combination with, other tools and mechanisms aimed at protecting the EU’s financial interests.

Authors : Eulalia RUBIO, Tamás KISS-GÁLFALVI et al.

Summary : This briefing describes the treaty provisions and appointment procedure for ECA members at EU level. In addition, it provides information on the national nomination procedure for the ECA member in Hungary and the country's candidate.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ, Michaela FRANKE

Summary : The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) held a public hearing on 26 April 2023, with the objective to explore the short and long term reconstruction needs of Ukraine and financing thereof. This briefing provided background information about Ukraine’s financing needs, options to finance the reconstruction process and the possible role of the EU budget, as well as the governance architecture and the involvement of the European Parliament.

Authors : Diana HAASE, András SCHWARCZ

Summary : Statistical own resources could be devised to create more independence from the Gross National Income (GNI) contribution and address policy issues at the same time. Statistical own resources should practically be based on information already collected by Eurostat. Therefore, Member States do not have to provide new data. The base and call-rate of a policy-linked statistical contribution could be designed and fine-tuned to entail deliberate distributive implications among Member States. This could help to make a basket of new own resources politically acceptable and/or to make rebates and correction mechanisms superfluous.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ, Alexandra Cynthia Jana POUWELS

Summary : The rule of law Conditionality Mechanism is a new instrument that entered into force in January 2021. It allows the EU to take measures in cases of breaches of the rule of law principles that affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the EU budget or the EU’s financial interests in a sufficiently direct way. This study discusses the potential scope of application of this new mechanism. In particular, it analyses how it can be used either as an alternative to, or in combination with, other tools and mechanisms aimed at protecting the EU’s financial interests.

Authors : Eulalia RUBIO, Tamás KISS-GÁLFALVI, Thu NGUYEN, Tomás RUIZ DE LA OSSA, Francesco CORTI, Alba Forns GÓMEZ

Summary : This paper examines the evolving notion of crisis response, how it is currently addressed by the EU budget under heading 6 of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (amounts and instruments/programmes) and how it may continue to be addressed in the future.

Authors : Alix DELASNERIE

Summary : This briefing serves as background information for the CONT Committee meeting of 23 March 2023, featuring a discussion on preventing EU funds from ending up with individuals or companies tied to the EU-Russia sanctions list. It will give an overview of the EU-Russia sanctions framework, and discuss existing EU tools for protecting its financial interests, access to beneficial ownership data and EU initiatives to ensure sanctions enforcement.

Authors : Eleanor Remo JAMES

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This briefing describes the treaty provisions and appointment procedure for ECA members at EU level. In addition, it provides information on the national nomination procedure for the ECA member in Slovakia and the country's new candidate.

Summary : This joint workshop gave members of the BUDG and CONT Committees an overview of global efforts to finance the fight against climate change and of the EU’s role in this context. Key findings were:  The EU’s contribution, both regulatory and financial, is consid-erable and exceeds its ‘fair share’;  However, a significant gap remains between actual commit-ments globally and the agreed funding level of USD 100 bil-lion per year;  Even more funding will have to be mobilised, including from private donors, as this amount is merely the starting point for the next round of negotiations, which will also cover loss and damage. MEPs present agreed that both committees should continue to discuss these issues over the coming months..

Authors : STEFAN SCHULZ

Summary : The full study examines the evolving approach to tracking the effectiveness and impact of social expenditure from the EU budget. In the last decade, there has been a shift toward performance-based budgeting, putting the emphasis much more on the outputs and results of expenditure programmes. Despite these changes, ascertaining whether policies are achieving their underlying goals and contributing to the realisation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) remains difficult. This study analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the current system for monitoring and evaluating EU social spending and proposes improvements.

Authors : Iain BEGG, Francesco CORTI et al. (CEPS)

Summary : The EU tracks social expenditure for several reasons, ranging from ensuring financial control to assessing whether policies make the desired impact. This study:  examines the current state of social tracking in the Multiannual Financial Framework and the Recovery and Resilience Facility;  explores how it could be improved to enhance the scrutiny of EU social spending;  puts forward a proposal for a pilot study of a theory-based monitoring approach as a potential innovation in social tracking.

Authors : Iain BEGG, Francesco CORTI, Alessandro LISCAI, Tamás KISS-GÁLFALVI, Tommaso GROSSI, Laura RAYNER

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) held a public hearing on 23 January 2023, with the aim to analyse whether the delays with cohesion partnership agreements have affected the level of monitoring and controls of the spending in Member States. The topic of this public hearing was broad and encompassed concepts of two policy areas/instruments that are both unique and very complex in themselves. This briefing provided background information about key concepts and elements (including monitoring, reporting and control) that had been found to be relevant during the preparatory phase of the hearing, to facilitate the debate and help better understand both the similarities and the differences between these instruments.

Authors : Diana HAASE

Summary : The Committees on Budget (BUDG) and Budgetary Control (CONT) are holding a workshop on the role of the EU budget in international climate finance with invitation to Members of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). The workshop will cover a series of important questions regarding the financial instruments that are needed to reach the environmental goals that are set out in the Paris Agreement to which the European Union (EU) and all its Member States (MS) are signatories. More specifically, the question is raised how much has been committed so far financially and how much of this is the EU’s contribution. The key challenges in answering these questions are brought to light throughout the chapters. This briefing provides background information for Members of BUDG, CONT and ENVI about what is known to date about international climate finance and the role of the EU budget in this regard.

Authors : SOPHIE JHELISA EISENBERGER, MANUK SAHAKYAN

Summary : On 12 December 2022, the Council adopted the Hungarian recovery and resilience plan (RRP) based on the Commission’s positive evaluation. Compared to the original plan, a whole new component of measures has been added (Component 9: Governance and Public Administration) containing 38 measures with 111 milestones and targets. Of these, 27 milestones are referred to as ‘super milestones’ without which no payment under the RRF will be allowed. These ‘super milestones’ include some of the Key Implementation Steps of the 17 remedial measures proposed by Hungary under the rule of law conditionality mechanism, some measures concerning judicial independence included in the ongoing Article 7 procedure, recent country-specific recommendations (CSRs) and the Rule of Law Reports, and also audit and control-related measures. The Polish RRP was adopted by the Council on 17 June 2022. It only contained two ‘super milestones’ that need to be fulfilled before the first payment request is submitted, both related to the judiciary.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ

Summary : The implementation timetable for cohesion policy is defined largely by its legislative framework. In order to be able to plan parliamentary work and exercise systematic scrutiny of policy implementation and of the Commission’s work, it is essential to have an overview of the timing of different steps in policy implementation in the coming years. This type of briefing was first published (and subsequently updated) in 2014 covering the 2014-2020 programming period. This version includes the policy actions of the 2021-27 period, while still indicating the last steps of the 2014-20 period. It includes a detailed (but non-exhaustive) timetable of policy actions in 2023, together with an overview of major actions for the remainder of the programming period, from 2023. Given its contribution to cohesion in the European Union, policy actions under the Recovery and Resilience Facility are now included in the calendar. Policy actions related to budgetary and budgetary control aspects are coloured green (for the year 2023).

Authors : Diana HAASE

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This catalogue provides the list of publications and events prepared by Policy Department for Budgetary Affairs during the eighth legislative period (2019-2024) in the field of budgetary affairs. The first part gives an overview of the studies and briefings requested by BUDG and CONT sometimes in cooperation with the other committees. The second part lists the workshops held at the request of these committees. Short summaries describe the content of each document. The full-text versions of all documents are available online at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses.

Authors : NIELS FISCHER

Summary : This publication seeks to assist the Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) in their work related to the 2021 discharge procedure, scrutinising how the general budget of the European Union is spent. It is based on a sample comprising 17 special reports by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which have been presented during CONT committee meetings over the past 12 months (December 2021 to November 2022), and for which the committee secretariat prepared working documents. This analysis provides a general overview of the ECA's mandate and the emerging role of performance auditing. The main part of this study is a section of selected tables regarding each ECA special report. The tables seek to gather published information to provide a concise and useful summary.

Authors : Susanna TENHUNEN, ECKHARD BINDER

Summary : The Committees on Budgetary Control (CONT) and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) held a public hearing on 30 November 2022 that involved authorities of Member States hosting many Ukrainian refugees. This briefing provided background information for Members of CONT and LIBE about what is known to date about the implementation of measures taken by the European Union (EU) to support Member States’ authorities in their efforts and about the nature of challenges authorities are facing on the ground.

Authors : Diana HAASE, SOPHIE JHELISA EISENBERGER, MANUK SAHAKYAN

Summary : The original full study on the Commission's use of consultants in the preparation of legislation was carried out by the Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES) in 2022. It examines the European Commission's use of consultants over the past 10 years, its evolution and extent, and considers the budgetary, legal and political implications raised by the current practice.

Authors : Jack Malan et al. (Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services LLP)

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This study on the Commission’s use of consultants in preparing legislation was produced for the Policy Department for Budgetary Affairs in 2022. It examines the European Commission’s use of consultants, its evolution and extent, and considers the budgetary, legal and political implications. In terms of scope, the study looks back over the past 10 years, providing an analysis of both the amounts spent on consultants and other issues including the types of activity that were contracted out, how many and which contractors were used, and which Commission DGs and avail themselves of the practice of using consultants. It also reviews the legal, ethical and political issues raised by current practices, including potential conflicts of interest, geographical diversity, and possible competition effects of procurement rules.

Authors : A team from the Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services LLP led by Jack Malan.

Summary : The EP’s budget is drawn up during the year n-1, with the preparations in its Directorates General already starting in the last quarter of the year n-2. The budgetary procedure - first inside the EP for the institution’s own budget, then for the budget of the EU as a whole in the interinstitutional part of the procedure - lasts throughout the year n-1, with an agreement usually reached during the last quarter of year n-1. For example, the preparations for the 2020 budget in the Directorates General started towards the end of 2018, with the main budgetary process taking place in 2019.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This briefing analyses C and P transfers in the EP’s budget during 2021. It differentiates between transfers linked directly and indirectly to the EP’s response to the COVID-19 crisis on the one hand and those that dealt with other, unrelated, needs on the other, including the EP’s building policy. A comparison between the main tendencies observed in 2020 and 2021 sheds light on the impact the COVID-19 crisis had on the EP’s budget in both years.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : This note provides a general assessment of the aggregate economic impact of inflation on the EU budget, both retroactively and prospectively (on a scenario-based approach). Against such backdrop, we will briefly underscore that available flexibilities and margins under the current MFF framework are very far from providing for a meaningful room of manoeuvre and tools to tackle adequately such challenge, before concluding with some follow-up remarks.

Authors : FRANCISCO JAVIE PADILLA OLIVARES

Summary : This briefing describes the treaty provisions and appointment procedure for ECA members at EU level. In addition, it provides information on the national nomination procedure for the ECA member in Estonia and the country's new candidate.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : This briefing aims to give an overview of gender balance in the college of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which has a reputation of being a historically male-dominated institution. It first sets out the nomination procedure and the challenges it presents for the achievement of gender balance in the college of ECA members. Then, the actual number of female and male ECA members over time is analysed.

Authors : Michaela Franke, Sophie Eisenberger, Manuk Sahakyan

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control has organised a public hearing with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the technical support provided to Member States, particularly in the areas of better administration, digitalisation and EU fund implementation. This briefing provides background information on the tools available to Member States and their managing authorities in the fight against fraud and the broader protection of the Union’s financial interests. Although the fight against fraud involves a multitude of tools in many policy areas, the tool under examination in this paper is, for the moment, used only for projects implemented with the support of the European Structural and Investment Funds. However, the recent Commission proposal for a recast of the Financial Regulation extends its use to the implementation of all EU funds. This briefing note will provide background information on the ARACHNE tool and insight into how it is used. It will also provide an overview of the benefits of using ARACHNE, as well as some of the objections to its use.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ, ADAM JAMES NUGENT

Summary : The Lithuanian national audit office, the Valstybes Kontrole, performs three different functions: (1) it audits the state and all public institutions as the country’s supereme audit institution as well as (2) all use of European funds as its audit authority. In addition, (3) it monitors the soundness of the Lithuianian budget from a fiscal point of view, including the country’s compliance with the EU’s Maastricht criteria (independent fiscal institution).

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : This document is a compilation of briefings that track the commitments made by the Vice-Presidents and Commissioners to the European Parliament – in their written answers to Parliament’s questions, at their hearings, and, in some cases, in subsequent appearances before Parliament’s committees. The document provides an overview of the state-of-play at the mid-term of the von der Leyen Commission. Since many of these commitments were made, major international crises have shifted some political priorities. The Vice-Presidents’ and Commissioners’ progress on their commitments should be considered in this context.

Summary : This briefing follows up the commitments made by the commissioner since 2019.

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) held a workshop with the aim to get a better understanding about customs control practices in Member States and their possible improvements. This publication includes the full documentation of the workshop: programme, summary of the debate, background briefing, profiles of speakers and their presentations.

Authors : Diana HAASE

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) decided to organise a workshop with the aim to get a better understanding about customs control practices in Member States and their possible improvements. This briefing provides background information to this event that took place the 15th June 2022.

Authors : Diana HAASE

Summary : This study examines the problem of Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) Fraud, the nature and scale of its impact on the EU’s finances, and potential solutions. The solutions that are assessed are: Split Payment Methods, Electronic Clearance Procedure (a digital solution), Real-Time Reporting (and TX++), VAT Coin, and the Definitive VAT system (and proposed amendments). Recommendations are made regarding the most appropriate solution.

Authors : Jack MALAN and Ivan BOSCH CHEN, Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES). Two external experts assisted the CSES team: Professor Marie LAMENSCH Professor (UCLouvain and Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Stefano PAVESI (Ernst & Young).

Summary : A workshop was organised for the Budgets committee (BUDG) on "The EU borrowing strategy for NGEU: design, challenges and opportunities" on 27 October 2021. This document consists of an In-depth analysis by Bruegel entitled "Next Generation EU borrowing: a first assessment", a policy paper by Sebastian Mack entitled "Don't change horses in midstream: how to make NGEU bonds the euro area's safe asset", biographies of the speakers and the Power Point slides of the Bruegel presentation.

Authors : Alix DELASNERIE, GOSSE ZIER BUURMA

Summary : In order to provide the Members of the Budgetary Control Committee with reliable information and data on the COVID-19 response of the EU public administration, the study analyses the EU institutions’ response, their business continuity measures and their impact on the budget from 2020 onwards and staff of the respective institution. Furthermore, the study provides an overview of practices and challenges around the new working modalities EU institutions are adopting for the post-pandemic future, as well as recommendations for the way forward.

Authors : Alessandro VALENZA, Dea HRELJA, Pietro CELOTTI, Caterina CASAMASSIMA, Michele ALESSANDRINI, Roland BLOMEYER, Nicolò FRANCESCHELLI

Summary : At national level, the Dutch supreme audit institution, the Netherlands Court of Audit (Algemene Rekenkamer), is headed by three board members, who are appointed for life. However, board members can either end their term on their own initiative. They have to retire when they reach the age of 70. The Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) can also decide to end their mandate following misconduct, based on the compatibility law.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE, Alexandra Cynthia Jana POUWELS, FRANCOIS JULIEN PATRICK JOUENNE--PEYRAT

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) organised a public hearing with the aim to get a better understanding about technical support and related challenges, especially concerning the areas of better administration, digitalisation and EU funds implementation. This briefing provided background information to this debate that took place 21 April 2022. It examines technical support as well as relevant technical assistance activities and provides a short insight into links between such support and administrative capacity building. The theme of this hearing is technical support; the instruments set up for this purpose are relatively new and, as it will be explained later, the availability of coherent and all encompassing lessons drawn from their experience is still limited. There are however possible overlaps, or rather synergies and complementarities with technical assistance activities in different policy areas. The author chose cohesion policy where technical assistance activities have been pursued for decades, and co-financing of projects aiminig at administrative capacity building has been prominent for several programming periods. Lessons learnt in the cohesion area can also feed the debate, as it is also obvious from the strong interservice cooperation among the different Commission services involved in technical support or assistance and administrative capacity building.

Authors : Diana HAASE

Summary : This study reviews and updates the previous study ‘Documenting climate mainstreaming in the EU budget - Making the system more transparent, stringent and comprehensive’, published in July 2020. It provides an overview of the methods used by the European Commission to track expenditure on climate protection and biodiversity, with a critical assessment of the methodological strengths and weaknesses. It examines the legislative framework for the 2021-2027 programming period and the Commission’s approach to ensuring that the target for climate expenditure is reached. The study also suggests objectives and recommendations for the implementation of the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA).

Authors : François LEVARLET et al.

Summary : The study on ‘Practices on the Side-Earnings of EU Public Office Holders and Functionaries’ was carried out for the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee in 2022. The study highlights significant differences in the rules being applied in the various EU Institutions and Member States. It highlights a number of good practices and the possible implications for the proposed EU ethics body.

Authors : Jack MALAN, Marta DIMAURO, Giorgio CACCIAGUERRA RANGHIERI

Summary : This study aims to analyse the problems that Member States’ authorities and bodies experience in the implementation, control and audit of EU expenditure, their root causes and implications for the Single Audit approach. In particular, the specific objectives of this study are to: • Gain a comprehensive insight into the causes of the problems that Member States’ authorities and bodies face when implementing, controlling and auditing the European Union budget. • Assess the quality of their work, the independence and reliability of the auditors’ work as well as specific weaknesses in the management and control systems. • Assess the cooperation with relevant players including other national bodies, national supreme audit authorities and the EU institutions and bodies (e.g. ECA, Commission, OLAF and EPPO). • Analyse the extent of respect and application of European and international applicable standards.

Authors : Jack MALAN, Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES).

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : As set out in Article 285 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the European Court of Auditors (ECA) shall consist of one national of each Member State. Article 286 (2) TFEU further specifies that each Member State has the right to propose its candidate. The Council then adopts the list of Members as proposed by the Member States. Often, this is a partial renewal of the Court - only one or a few Members are appointed, as the mandates of the Members may expire at different points in time. The Council can only act after consulting the European Parliament; in practice, the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is responsible and the Member-designate of the ECA makes a statement before the committee and has to answer its questions. CONT then votes on the nomination and thus issues a recommendation to plenary, which votes within two months of receipt of the nomination. In case of an unfavourable opinion, the President shall ask the Council to withdraw its nomination and to submit a new nomination (Rule 129 of the EP’s Rules of Procedure). However, Parliament’s opinion is not binding for the Council.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic costs of the lockdown became apparent. Most countries needed to step up health and social spending, while also introducing stimulus packages as their tax revenues fell. This has led to increased budget deficits and sovereign debt. Additional revenue streams need to be found in the near future in order to pay back this debt.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ

Summary : This study is an update of ‘Documenting climate mainstreaming in the EU budget’ published in 2020. The methodology used by the European Commission for tracking climate change and biodiversity related expenditure at EU level is reviewed again in the light of the Multiannual Financial Framework approved in 2021 and the new regulatory framework covering the period 2021-2027. This confirms the main strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the initial study. Recommendations for improving the tracking mechanisms are updated considering the new requirements of the Interinstitutional Agreement (2020).

Authors : François LEVARLET, t33 srl Michele ALESSANDRINI, t33 srl Margit SCHRATZENSTALLER-ALTZINGER, WIFO Nicolò FRANCESCHELLI, Blomeyer

Summary : This study was prepared at the request of the Budget Committee and assesses the Commission’s recent legislative proposals for the new own resources included in the interinstitutional roadmap agreed together with the NextGenerationEU programme. These are a plastic-based contribution as well as own resources based on the EU Emission Trading System and a carbon border adjustment mechanism. Also, own resources based on the reallocation of taxation rights on profits of large MNE according to Pillar I. of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS as well as the taxation of corporations and financial transactions, as further options stipulated in the IIA roadmap, are analysed. Finally, the study briefly reviews further own resource options which could create co-benefits and steering effects supporting a sustainable, inclusive, green and digital transition.

Authors : András SCHWARCZ

Summary : This study examines the extent and nature of fraud in EU funds under shared management. It then examines the measures currently being implemented at the EU level and by Member States to help tackle the problem. A number of good practices are identified. The study concludes with recommendations to help strengthen the effort to reduce fraud in EU funds under shared management. This document was prepared for the Policy Department at the request of the Budgetary Control Committee.

Authors : Rita CALATOZZOLO

Summary : Ahead of the 2024 European elections, the European Commission has presented a proposal to amend Regulation 1141/2014 governing the statute and funding of European political parties (EUPPs) and foundations. The proposed amendments concern, inter alia, the funding provisions, transparency requirements and enforcement of the rules. This briefing examines the quality of the supporting impact assessment (IA), which outlines the problems encountered in applying the regulation, as identified in recent EU-level reports and through stakeholder input. The range of policy options presented in the IA to address the identified shortcomings is rather limited, although under each option, and for each problem, several alternative measures are considered. Elements of the parallel initiative on political advertising - also part of the European democracy action plan - were integrated into the amending EUPP proposal; however, the IA remains vague on the link between these two initiatives.

Authors : Irmgard ANGLMAYER

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This study provides an overview of the EFSD+, a core part of the NDICI-Global Europe Instrument. The study situates the EFSD+ in the context of previous EU experiences with the use of blended finance and guarantees to address external action objectives, focusing on the EIB’s External Lending Mandate (ELM) and the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD). The study examines key challenges related to the accountability and performance of these instruments to inform oversight of EFSD+ implementation.

Authors : Erik LUNDSGAARDE, María-Luisa SÁNCHEZ-BARRUECO, Andreea HANCU BUDUI

Summary : This briefing analyses transfers in the EP's budget during 2021. It differentiates between transfers that were directly or indirectly linked to the EP's response to the COVID-19 crisis and those that dealt with other, unrelated, needs, including the EP’s building policy. A comparison between the main tendencies observed in 2020 and 2021 sheds light on how COVID-19 impacted budget implementation in both years touched by the crisis so far.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : Over the last two decades, the combined effect of multiple crises and low Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) ceilings has led to the emergence of a ‘galaxy’ of EU funds and instruments with variable participation of Member States and a diverse range of decision-making and accountability procedures. This study analyses the impacts on the EU governance and the ability of the European Parliament to fulfil its duties and considers that reforms are needed to ensure the EU budget and financial rules reflect the realities the EU faces.

Authors : Alix DELASNERIE

Summary : This study provides an overview of the EFSD+, a core part of the NDICI-Global Europe Instrument. The study situates the EFSD+ in the context of previous EU experiences with the use of blended finance and guarantees to address external action objectives, focusing on the EIB’s External Lending Mandate (ELM) and the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD). The study examines key challenges related to the accountability and performance of these instruments to inform oversight of EFSD+ implementation.

Authors : Erik LUNDSGAARDE, María-Luisa SÁNCHEZ-BARRUECO, Andreea HANCU BUDUI

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The Policy Department for Budgetary Affairs in the European Parliament (EP) is about to draw up an in-house briefing on national nomination procedures for Members of the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The purpose of the briefing is to provide relevant information to the Members of the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) ahead of hearings of Members-designate of the ECA (of which there will be 8 in the course of 2022). In order to develop a better understanding of the national procedures, we are interested to see if and how national chambers are involved in the nomination process.

Authors : Michaela FRANKE

Summary : The European Union has decentralised a number of functions, locating agencies across the European Union. The are many factors influencing the choice of the seat(s) of an agency, including the political aim to evenly distribute the agencies. However, the location of an agency has an impact on its capacity to perform its duties effectively and efficiently. This report analyses whether the agency locations fulfil the necessary criteria.

Authors : Jorge NUNEZ FERRER, CEPS Daina BELICKA, CSE COE Alfredo DE FEO, EUI Dace KRUPENKO, CSE COE

Summary : The Analytical Study suggests that the seven EU agencies in the health and safety field demonstrate strong European added value and that this is widely recognised by Member States and other stakeholders including business. The agencies have played an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic. More generally. the study concludes that the cost of ‘non-agencies’, i.e. a situation where the agencies ceased to exist, would be higher to the European Commission, national authorities and business than the current cost of the seven agencies to the EU budget.

Authors : Jack Malan, Giorgio Cacciaguerra, Sandra Ruiz, Cara Burillo Feduchi and Ivan Bosch-Chen, Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES)

Summary : The Management Boards of the EU decentralised agencies have a key role in ensuring the agencies’ good governance. This study examines the established practices of the Management Boards. In particular, it assesses how effective and efficient the Boards’ working methods are and the main factors affecting their performance. The study investigates key governance issues including the size and composition of the Boards, the representation of different interests, the decision-making rules, the effectiveness of the Boards in fulfilling their tasks. Last but not least, the study provides recommendations on how to improve the functioning of the Management Boards.

Authors : Jack Malan, Marta Dimauro Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES)

Summary : The Next Generation EU programme is radically changing the way the EU finances itself and interacts with financial markets, due to its ambitious and groundbreaking new public debt programme. The European Commission has thus adopted a totally new, diversified borrowing strategy, similar to that of other major issuers, to raise money safely, reliably and in a cost-effective manner. EU debt therefore has to be attractive to financial markets and maintain a strong credit rating.

Authors : Alix DELASNERIE

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : The rules governing the monitoring and reporting obligations of EU funding programmes under shared management have been developing progressively over time. Across the EU, there are over 290 different reporting systems. Fragmentation makes data incomparable, prevents the use of AI and big data sets and systems for monitoring and control, and prevents stakeholders and society from getting a comprehensive overview of the way funds are distributed. This European added value assessment accompanies the report of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) on the ‘Digitalisation of the European reporting, monitoring and audit’ (2021/2054(INL)), by making an evidence-based analysis, identifying gaps and barriers, laying out possible policy options and pointing to their potential impacts. Action in the field could diminish fraud, abuse and weaknesses of EU funding programmes, which would lead to more efficiency and transparency. The three policy options identified in this study propose strengthening the enforcement of existing measures, creating a single EU database, and introducing requirements for the disclosure of relevant information on companies. A potential EU added value was identified, which could presumably lead to a lowering of the error rates by 0.7 percentage points and savings worth €1.11 billion. In the case of high-risk expenditure the error rates could drop by up to 2.9 percentage points, yielding savings worth €1.94 billion.

Authors : LENKA JANCOVA, KLAUS MULLER, NIOMBO LOMBA

Summary : At the request of the CONT Committee of the European Parliament, this study has been prepared as background information for work on the legislative Own Initiative Report on the digitalisation of European reporting, monitoring and audit. Building on the findings of the study on ‘The largest 50 beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds’, this study assesses the requirements for a single EU database of beneficiaries. Such a database would overcome the current fragmentation in the databases of beneficiaries of EU funds, ensure completeness and obtain the relevant indicators for all beneficiaries. A single EU database of beneficiaries would serve for both audit and control, as well as transparency purposes. The core of the database would be the information from managing authorities which, through identifiers and matching indicators, would be linked to other databases to obtain all the required information. For transparency purposes, the reporting system would have to cover a subset of indicators, including registration number and type of beneficiary, in order to enable the identification of the ultimate beneficiaries

Authors : Willem Pieter DE GROEN, CEPS Damir GOJSIC, CEPS Mathieu VUYLSTEKE, CEPS

Summary : The Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) organised the workshop on ‘Missing Trader Fraud: definition, effects, prevention and solutions’ on 26 May 2021. This document consists of the proceedings briefing on ‘Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud’, biographies of the speakers and the PowerPoint slides of the presentations.

Authors : Alexandra Cynthia Jana POUWELS

Summary : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Summary : This analytical study, requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, examines the impact of organised crime on EU’s finances. Taking together the expenditure and revenue sides, the research suggests that between 1% and 2% of the EU budget is defrauded each year. The study also assesses measures at the EU and Member State levels to combat the problem, and recommends actions to help reinforce these measures.

Authors : Jack MALAN, Ivan BOSCH CHEN et al. (CSES)