European Court of Auditors

“Like many other bodies, the EU’s medical agencies were overwhelmed by the force and speed of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four years later, the lessons learned must be effectively applied at EU level so that history doesn’t repeat itself.”

On Wednesday 11 September, we will publish a special report on the contribution of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) towards climate action and the green transition 🌱 ↓

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic caught the EU partially off guard. 💉 The EU’s medical agencies were not fully prepared for a protracted pandemic 💉 They nevertheless adapted and responded well to the COVID-19 crisis 💉 Attempts to boost health crisis readiness further need to stand the test of time Read the full report 📗↓

🗨️ “Timely absorption of the RRF is essential: it helps to avoid bottlenecks and reduces the risk of inefficient and erroneous spending. We are flagging risks, as EU countries had drawn down less than a third of the planned funds at the halfway point.”

The first 3 years of the #EU’s €724 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility have seen delays in funds being disbursed and projects being implemented. This put at risk the achievement of goals for helping EU countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full report 📗 ↓ https://lnkd.in/dKksesPv

Together with the European University Institute in Florence we are now accepting applications for the 18th edition of our postgraduate research grant programme. Two grants of €5000 are available. 📅 Apply by the 7 October ↓

🗨️ “The EU’s industrial policy on renewable hydrogen needs a reality check. The EU should decide on the strategic way forward towards decarbonisation without impairing the competitive situation of key 🇪🇺 industries or creating new strategic dependencies.”

The EU has had mixed success in providing the building blocks for the emerging renewable hydrogen market. While the European Commission has taken several positive steps, challenges remain along the hydrogen value chain, and the 🇪🇺 is unlikely to meet its 2030 targets ↓

📗#ECAJournal | Mihails Kozlovs, ECA Member, provides insights into the EU's framework for screening Foreign Direct Investment, the ECA's audit work on the topic and the Commission's plans to develop the framework further. ↓ https://lnkd.in/d5dsukdh

🗨️ “The European Commission and member states work closely to deliver EU Cohesion policy benefits to citizens, but they must make greater efforts to ensure that spending follows the rules. When we talk about controls, there are many players in the field, but the results are not there.” ↓