ECA report on regularity of spending in EU cohesion policy

Today (23 November), the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on the EU’s reporting on the legality and regularity of cohesion spending.

Cohesion policy represents one of the largest parts of the EU budget, with a €373 billion budget in the 2021-2027 period. But expenditure under this policy area is considered to be high-risk. A relevant and reliable estimated level of error in Cohesion policy is therefore an essential part of the European Commission’s efforts to monitor whether spending in this policy area was regular and properly accounted for. The error rate is also the basis for corrective actions which may subsequently need to be taken, making accuracy crucial.

Regularity information in Cohesion policy is based on the work of member state audit authorities, and the Commission’s subsequent verification and assessment of their work and results.

The EU auditors have examined the European Commission’s work of the on the member states’ annual assurance packages. This work provides the basis for the validation of the annual residual error rates reported by the audit authorities. In particular, the auditors have analysed the reliability of the regularity information provided in the Commission’s annual activity reports and its annual management and performance report (AMPR).

Through their recommendations, the EU auditors aim to improve the functioning of the current management and control system.

The report and press release will be published on the ECA website at 17h CET today.

The ECA member responsible for this report is Tony Murphy.

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