Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, the budgetary control committee of the European Parliament recommended that the Commission be granted discharge on the execution of the general budget of the EU for 2013.
However, the MEPs entered reservations regarding the management by the Commission and the member states of European funds in the following areas: agricultural policy, cohesion policy (structural funds) and employment and social affairs. This is down to the absence of adequate controls.
Although the European Commission is responsible for the overall expenditure, some 80% of all EU funding is in fact managed and paid out locally by the member states and their authorities. This expenditure is then reimbursed by the European Union.
The estimated error rate - in other words, the percentage of payments for which administrative mistakes were made - stood at 5.2% for the funds managed by the member states and 3.7% for the European Commission. These figures exceed the 2% threshold below which the European Court of Auditors is able to regard the payments as being free from errors. The most frequent mistakes concern failure to comply with the rules on eligibility for the funds and incorrect public procurement procedures.
The MEPs criticised a number of decisions made by the European Commission in the field of foreign affairs. These include European aid provided without the use of a tendering procedure, through organisations which may not have fulfilled the eligibility criteria for work of this kind. The MEPs flagged up problems with European aid to a refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria, and a payroll fraud in Ghana.
The MEPs have called upon the Commission to present a report next year on the efficiency of the Juncker €315 billion investment plan.
The recommendations of the budgetary control committee will be voted on in plenary between 28 and 30 April. (Lionel Changeur)