On Thursday, 12 December, the Court of Auditors ruled that the data used by the EU to justify payment for variable tranches of budget support to partner countries are not always sufficiently reliable for decisions to be taken in full knowledge of the facts.
Every year, the EU transfers an average of €1.7 billion to partner countries in the form of ‘budget support’. According to the court, approximately 44% of payments for budget support contracts are made in the form of variable tranches, which are paid based on the results obtained in relation to the defined performance indicators.
In its report published on 12 December, the court found that the performance indicators and corresponding target values were sometimes not relevant, making it difficult to determine whether partner countries had made progress in implementing the agreed reforms. The auditors report that it is thus possible that certain budget support disbursement decisions have been taken without sufficient justification.
In response to its finding of insufficiency, the Court of Auditors recommends in its report that the European Commission improve its assessment of countries’ capacity to provide reliable performance data. The auditors add that the formulation of indicators used for budget support—much like the verification of performance data used to decide variable tranche disbursement—need to be improved. Lastly, in their opinion, it is necessary to make more use of outcome indicators.
Read the report: http://bit.ly/2tbJntA (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)