Brussels, 30/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - European Union spending on education as well as its impact on the labour market must be subject to a better follow procedure. This recommendation was made by the European Court of Auditors in a report published on Thursday 30 June.
The report focuses on education spending in the operational programmes of member states for the period 2007-13 and 2014-20. It analyses some of the amounts of the €33 billion paid by the EU for the 2007-13 period and €27 billion for the 2014-20 period in support of education as part of cohesion policy.
The auditors note that for the 2007-13 period, the EU education objectives had been taken into consideration in the operational programmes. Nonetheless, they assert that "certain aspects of the intervention logic were not described" and that "shortcomings affect the follow-up instruments". For the current period of 2014-20, they also highlight certain shortcomings that are likely to have an impact on performance follow-up. They also highlight the fact that the link between education measures funded by the EU and the impact on employability is still not very clear.
In this context, they recommend that the Commission clarifies the indicators for which basic and targeted values should be set out for each investment priority period during preparations for the next programming period (2021-2027). In the event of programme modification, member states should ensure that a clear link is established between investment priorities and the result indicators. They should also systematically implement appropriate indicators to demonstrate the real effects of a project on the final participants and ensure follow-up on the progress accomplished in carrying out the Community objectives for education. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)