In its annual audit report, published on Thursday 24 October, the European Court of Auditors considers that the majority of the EU’s 43 agencies managed their finances well in 2023. However, it does not give a favourable opinion of the way in which four of them have spent European funds. The auditors note that public procurement procedures remain the main source of irregularities. They identify improvements to be made in 34 agencies.
The Court of Auditors’ report shows that out of 43 agencies, 39 have obtained a favourable audit opinion for their 2023 payments.
The four that have not received it (the same number as in 2022, compared with just one in 2021) are the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), the European Labour Authority (ELA), the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and the Agency for the operational management of large-scale information systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA).
In the case of the EIT, the qualified opinion was issued because of the estimated level of error in the grants it managed. For the other three, the reservation was due to irregularities detected in the public procurement procedures or during the implementation of the latter. The auditors stress that these agencies should pay particular attention to the rules laid down in the Financial Regulation.
In addition, the auditors draw attention to procedural weaknesses in the management and control systems, such as a lack of adequate controls before transactions are authorised, as well as shortcomings in the delegation of powers or in the segregation of duties. Some agencies should also improve compliance with legal payment deadlines. Even if the total amount of late payment interest paid was low, the frequency of late payments noted in some agencies risks damaging their reputation.
Link to the ECA annual report: https://aeur.eu/f/e0v (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)