EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS

The 'European Court of Auditors' is one of five institutions of the European Union. Its "mission is to audit independently the collection and spending of European Union funds and, through this, assess the way that the European Institutions discharge these functions".

Contents

Overview

Function

Organization of work

External links

Overview

The Court of Auditors checks that all the Union's revenue has been received and all its expenditure incurred in a legal and regular manner and that the EU budget has been managed soundly. The Court was established on 22 July 1975 by the Budgetary Treaty of 1975. The Court started operating as an external Community audit body in October 1977. Since the Treaty of Maastricht the European Court of Auditors has been recognised as one of the Institutions of the European Communities.
The Court has one Member from each EU country, appointed by the Council for a renewable term of six years following a "hearing" at the European Parliament. Currently there are 27 Members. Since the Treaty of Nice, the Court can set up "chambers" (with only a few Members each) to adopt certain types of reports or opinions.
In their countries of origin, the Members of the Court have all worked for a supreme audit institution or are specifically qualified for that work. They are chosen for their competence and independence, and they work full-time for the Court.
The Members elect one of their number as President for a term of three years.

Function

The Court's main role is to check that the EU budget is correctly implemented — in other words, that EU income and expenditure is legal and regular and, in particular through its performance audit, to ensure the Commission's sound financial management of EU funds and programmes financed by the Community budget.
To do its job effectively, the Court of Auditors must remain independent of the other Institutions. Its work helps guarantee that the EU system is transparent and operates efficiently and effectively.
To carry out its tasks, the Court may investigate the work of the European Commission, agencies, but also other Institutions. If need be, it carries out on-the-spot checks in the Member States (or even beyond) of any legal person or organisation handling EU income or expenditure on behalf of the European Commissionor receiving EU funds and subsidies. Its findings are published in reports which are submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union which represents the Member States of the European Union.
One of its key functions is to help the budgetary authority (the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union) by presenting them every year with a report on the previous financial year together with a Statement of Assurance. The comments it makes in this annual report play a very important role in Parliament's decision whether or not to approve the Commission's handling of the budget. For twelve years in a row the European Court of Auditors has refused to sign off the EU accounts[1].
Finally, the Court of Auditors gives an opinion before the EU's financial regulations are adopted. It can comment at any time on specific issues, or it can give an opinion at the request of one of the EU Institutions.

Organization of work

The Court of Auditors works independently, and is free to decide how to schedule its auditing activities, how and when to present its observations, and what publicity to give to its reports and opinions.
It has approximately 760 qualified staff, of whom about 250 are auditors. The auditors are divided into "audit groups". They prepare draft reports and opinions on which the Court takes decisions.
The auditors frequently go on tours of inspection to the other EU institutions, the Member States and any country that receives aid from the EU. Indeed, although the Court's work largely concerns money for which the Commission is responsible, in practice 90% of EU expenditure is managed by the national authorities in the Member States.
The Court of Auditors has no legal powers of its own. If auditors discover fraud or irregularities they pass the information as quickly as possible to the EU bodies responsible, so they can take the appropriate action.
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External links

★ European Court of Auditors — official site

★ Article on EUABC

★ European Court of Auditors European NAvigator