On Friday 4 November, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published an information document containing some fairly harsh criticism of the Commission's communication on the mid-term review of the the multiannual financial framework (MFF) of the EU for 2014-202 (see EUROPE 11624).
The proposals do not allow for a "comprehensive EU spending review of the performance and added value of the different areas of the EU budget", ECA's document reads. It argues that such an exercise should be carried out before the next MFF is agreed. It notes that for instance, the Commission did not propose any changes to administrative or agricultural expenditure.
ECA feels that the items in the package that increase budgetary flexibility risk adding to the complexity of the system, undermining the annuality, specificity and transparency of the EU budget. It also calls for more specific information on the budgetary effects of the proposed flexibility, in terms of spending.
Delays in the implementation of programmes under the current MFF and in closing previous programmes mean that the proposals on the revision of the current MFF have not benefitted from any assessment of spending under the current period, ECA regrets. It further stresses that there is little chance of carrying out an assessment of spending performance before the next MFF, which is to be presented by the Commission at the end of 2017. It makes the following recommendations: - reconsider the timetable for developing the next MFF; - conduct a comprehensive EU spending review; - develop clearer, simpler and more coherent funding arrangements; - make EU budget priorities the subject of a high-level debate. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)