In an annual report published on Thursday 30 October, the European Court of Auditors noted improvements in the financial management of the European Union’s 43 agencies in 2024.
“Most EU agencies managed their finances well in 2024. But we keep finding issues, particularly with public procurement”, said Petri Sarvamaa, the member of the Court responsible for the report.
The Court concludes that the European agencies’ accounts are reliable. They all received a favourable opinion on their revenues. The auditors also confirmed the legality and regularity of payments for all the agencies, with the exception of the European Labour Authority (ELA). This EU agency received a qualified opinion because of problems with a contract that the auditors felt had been awarded irregularly in 2022.
According to the Court of Auditors, the main shortcomings observed concern public procurement, where procedures do not always guarantee the acquisition of products or services at the best price. The following 21 agencies have been singled out: ACER, BEREC Office, CdT, EASA, ECDC, EEA, EFCA, EIGE, EISMEA, ELA, EMA, ENISA, EPPO, ESMA, ETF, EUDA, EUIPO, eu-LISA, EU-OSHA, Eurojust and SRB.
In particular, the Court of Auditors points to a public contract that, in its view, was awarded irregularly. The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) awarded, without competitive bidding, a contract worth €410,000 to develop a reporting system on specific drugs. However, the agency failed to justify the use of a negotiated procedure without publishing a call for tenders and without establishing contract award criteria. Moreover, the beneficiary company reportedly did not submit a genuine offer.
Furthermore, the European auditors stress that the financial information provided by certain EU agencies warrants particular attention, especially regarding the financial consequences of legal proceedings. They also point to the weakness of certain management and control systems in several agencies.
See the Court of Auditors’ 2024 report: https://aeur.eu/f/j7t (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)