On Thursday 14 November, the European Court of Auditors issued an unqualified (clean) audit opinion on the 2018 accounts of the eight EU Joint Undertakings.
However, the audit opinion on the accounts of the company 'Fusion for Energy' (F4E) is accompanied by an emphasis of matter, in order to draw attention to the risk of further cost increases and delays in the implementation of the 'International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor' (ITER) project.
The Court reports that F4E has recalculated its contribution to the construction phase of the project at €12 billion (in 2008 values), an increase from the €6.6 billion budget approved by the EU Council in 2010.
This estimate does not take into account contingencies, even though the Commission considers that a contingency margin of up to 24 months in terms of schedule and between 10% and 20% in terms of budget would be appropriate.
On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom informed the European Council of its decision to withdraw from the EU and Euratom. According to the Court, this could have a "significant" impact on the activities of F4E and the ITER project after 2020.
The auditors found the accounts of the eight Joint Undertakings (Clean Sky, SESAR, PCH...) to be reliable and expressed favourable opinions on the legality and regularity of their payments and revenue. To read the audit: https://bit.ly/2Ko7NWn (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)