The European Court of Audit has certified the accounts of the eight Joint Technology Initiatives for the 2017 financial year, while expressing reservations about the financial operations of one of them, in the annual evaluation report on these programmes, published on Monday 12 November.
Joint Technology Initiatives are public-private partnerships that pool resources from the Commission, Member States, research groups and the technology industry to develop major research projects. Their budget for 2017 totalled 2.1 billion euros, or about 2% of the EU's total budget.
"Joint undertakings are important vehicles for cutting-edge research and innovation in the EU”, said Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, the Court's member responsible for audits.
While the auditor draws a generally positive accounting balance sheet on these initiatives, her report highlights some of the improvements expected by the Court of Audit concerning “budgetary and financial management, internal controls, leverage of industry and research partners’ contributions, as well as the European Commission’s evaluations”.
In addition, the auditors refuse to make any judgement on the effectiveness of these programmes, considering that the stimulation of industry is sometimes achieved through contributions outside the programme itself, which is de facto beyond the mandate of the Court of Audit.
Already highlighted last year, the initiative 'Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership' (ECSEL) was again the subject of an audit opinion with reservations concerning the 2017 financial year. The compliance of operations with the rules set out by the previous Framework Programme is therefore not certified by the auditors, who nevertheless consider that these problems “do not affect” the current programme (Horizon 2020).
Concerns about the dysfunctions of the ITER project
Finally, the auditors draw attention to the EU's contribution to the ITER nuclear fusion project, launched in 2001 and led by the Joint Technology Initiative for the Development of Fusion Energy (F4E).
The cost of this programme, which should already have been implemented at the Cadarache site in southern France, could increase by 82% from the 6.6 billion euros previously approved and could be delayed by 15 years compared to the initial schedule. (Original version in French by Mathieu Solal)