Brussels, 24/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - Is it a wise decision to delegate executive tasks to the executive agencies? One might doubt it when reading the recently published report from the European Court of Auditors, which writes that the creation of six executive agencies since 2003 “was mainly driven by the need to compensate for staff shortages at the Commission”.
Executive agencies implement EU spending programmes totalling around €27.9 billion for the current multiannual financial framework (2007-2013). The six agencies are: the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI); the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC); the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA); the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA); the Research Executive Agency (REA); and the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA).
The Court of Auditors noted that the Commission's initiative to create the above agencies was driven by the need to remedy the difficulties posed by the dismantling of the technical assistance offices (TAOs) and to allow the continuation of programmes under their management without new resources being made available in the Commission's operating budget. Recent documents confirm that the Commission's practice consisting of studying the possibility of creating new executive agencies when faced by a shortfall in resources continues to be used, the Court's report states.
With regard to the advantages gained, financial savings “clearly” result from recruiting contract staff at lower grades compared to the Commission's officials. Nonetheless, the precise amount of the savings cannot be accurately quantified, the Court regrets. The Court admits that executive agencies provide better services than those previously carried out by their supervisory DGs (shorter times for awarding contracts, accelerated procedures for the approval of technical and financial reports, shorter payment times, etc). Finally, the audit showed that control of the activities of the executive agencies carried out by the Commission is not fully effective. (L.C./transl.jl)