On Tuesday 29 May, the European Court of Auditors delivered an overall positive message on the way in which the Commission has supported member states in the action to tackle radicalism. The Commission, however, should improve the way in which it assesses support programmes that involve either the ESF or the Internal Security Fund. This is the main lesson learnt from an investigation carried out between November 2016 and March 2017 based on factors such as a questionnaire submitted to the 28 representations of the member states.
The EU is, overall, responding well to the member states' requirements, according to the report. The Commission has therefore encouraged cooperation between the member states through appropriate initiatives such as the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) created in 2011, the EU Forum on the Internet, created in 2015 and the European Strategic Communications Network.
The Commission coordinated its transversal support through consultations between its directorates general during the approval of the work programmes, which helped to create synergies between its different actions, explains the report. Nonetheless, coordination of Commission action can still be further improved.
“For example, the Commission’s overview of EU-funded actions in this area does not include those managed by Member States, which would be useful to make the most of potential synergies”. One of the main Commission initiatives, the RAN, “has not been used to its full potential” either.
The Court therefore recommends that the Commission improves the framework for the comprehensive coordination of action tackling radicalisation; that it improves the practical support to the actors on the ground and those heading policy in the member states and, finally, that it improves the way in which the results are assessed.
The link to report can be found here: https://bit.ly/2sgKox1. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)