Brussels, 28/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - In a report published on Thursday 28 April, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) says that the relationship between cost and efficiency in the buildings of the 140 European Union delegations around the world was not always optimal because there were weaknesses in the way the buildings were selected and managed.
In the ECA report, the auditors state that while delegation buildings generally met needs, “they did not provide best value for money in some cases”. The auditors give the exampled of the buildings' space exceeding the limits specified in the building policy, of the European External Action Service (EEAS) remaining the owner of buildings it no longer uses, or of some charges being levied on organisations hosted in shared premises not being sufficient to recover all costs. The report states that the EEAS does not always select the right buildings because of weaknesses in each of the major stages of selection. Furthermore, the EEAS does not have sufficient expertise to identify suitable options and has not yet set up an effective system for managing the properties it owns, the report states.
The auditors thus recommend strengthening the application of the procedure for selecting buildings, reinforcing expertise in property management at headquarters in order to develop a more strategic approach, and introducing systems to manage owned buildings effectively. The report also states that the EEAS should establish medium-term priorities for rentals, purchases, sales and modifications to buildings. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)