The main strategic priorities (combating climate change, preserving biodiversity, gender equality, the Sustainable Development Goals and the digital transition) are integrated to very different degrees in the EU’s spending programmes, according to a report published on Monday 14 November by the European Court of Auditors.
According to the auditors’ findings, gender equality is the least emphasised priority in the EU budget. In addition, there is a significant lack of consistency in the way the Commission measures and reports on the EU budget’s contribution to the five cross-cutting policies.
The Commission stated that it had fully integrated the key strategic priorities into the Union’s budgetary programmes. However, the auditors found significant differences between the priorities of climate change and biodiversity compared to gender equality.
The five horizontal priorities have been integrated to varying degrees into the EU’s spending programmes, including those for research, agriculture and regional development. However, the auditors believe that the Commission has provided overly optimistic conclusions on the progress made in achieving the mainstreaming objectives.
Climate change and biodiversity were generally well integrated, while the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the digital transition were only partially incorporated.
Gender equality was at the least well integrated priority.
For climate change and biodiversity, the Commission has put in place methods to track spending across a range of programmes in order to determine how much is spent on them. It also has a system for measuring the EU’s budget contribution. But its reports lack detail, the auditors note.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/41k (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)