New EU Budget: increased flexibility welcomed but greater emphasis on value added still needed

The European Commission’s proposed EU Budget for the period from 2021 to 2027 still needs a greater emphasis on value added, according to a new Briefing Paper from the European Court of Auditors i. The auditors welcome the increased flexibility of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to deal with unforeseen events. However, they warn that changes in priorities among spending areas are not clearly explained in the proposal or supported by the published results of the Commission’s assessment of EU spending programmes’ value added.

“EU value added was identified as one of the guiding principles for the Commission’s reform of spending”, said Jan Gregor, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the Briefing Paper. “But the Commission’s proposals are not clearly explained or justified by the Commission’s assessment of the EU value added of spending programmes.”