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European Court of Auditors: Annual reports concerning the financial year 2020

29. Oct 2021

On October 26, the European Court of Auditors published its Annual reports concerning the financial year 2020.
 
Every year, the European Court of Auditors audits the revenues and expenditures of the EU-budget. The Court also determines the estimated error rate based on sample tests. Errors occur due to incorrect calculations or irregularities when spending EU-budget. The estimated error-rate for the overall 2020 EU-budget is 2.7 %. However, the estimated error rate under the budget Heading “1a Competitiveness for growth and jobs” amounts to 3.9 %.
 
Most errors under heading 1a occurred in the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020 and FP7. The error rate of these programmes is expected to be significantly higher than the 2 % goal the Commission is aiming for. As in previous years, the complex rules for personnel cost calculation in Horizon 2020 are seen as the biggest source of mistakes.
 
Moreover, the Court of Auditors state that auditors often do not detect all errors made by beneficiaries in the FPs. This observation applies to Certificates of the Financial Statements commissioned by beneficiaries and second-level-audits which the European Commission initiates.
 
The Court of Auditors acknowledges the simplification efforts already made by the Commission, especially regarding financial rules under Horizon Europe, the new EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. The Court gives recommendations to the Commission to further lower the error rate in Horizon 2020.

 

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