Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedAs an independent and expert institution, the ECA plays a key role in promoting and consolidating these principles. By carrying out audits and checks and issuing recommendations, the ECA helps to ensure that public finances are managed properly, effectively and transparently.

Removed15. Under the Treaty, the Court is required to assist Parliament in exercising its powers of control over the implementation of the budget. How would you further improve the cooperation between the Court and the European Parliament (in particular, its Committee on Budgetary Control) to enhance both the public oversight of the general spending and its value for money?

RemovedAs the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I have had the chance to ramp up cooperation with the French Parliament, including its committees responsible for budgetary control. This experience has convinced me that systematic and regular dialogue between the Court and Parliament is a key lever for enhancing public oversight of general spending and the value for money delivered by public policy. Having already served as a member of parliament, I am particularly mindful of this issue, and believe that it is crucial for ensuring that parliamentarians are properly informed and for engendering public trust in the institutions.

RemovedIn order to enhance cooperation between the ECA and the European Parliament, and its Committee on Budgetary Control in particular, and in keeping with recent developments, a number of approaches could be considered, namely:

Removed- continuing to strengthen information-sharing and to enhance transparency, so that the ECA’s work may be made swiftly and readily available;

Removed- enhancing dialogue between the ECA and the European Parliament, including its Committee on Budgetary Control, in order to exchange audit methodologies and adjust priorities to pressing political and economic concerns, where necessary;

Removed- fostering cooperation in how audits are planned, while ensuring that the ECA’s status as a fully independent institution is respected;

Removed- focusing on communicating results on a broad scale, including to members of parliament and the public as a whole.

Removed16. What do you think is the added value of performance audit? What added value do you think performance auditing brings and how should the findings be incorporated in management procedures?

RemovedPerformance auditing is an essential part of public finance oversight. It is about ensuring not only legal and financial compliance, but also the efficiency and effectiveness of public policymaking. This approach makes it possible to assess the extent to which the resources deployed have enabled a desired objective to be achieved, and to identify areas for improvement with a view to optimising governance. This is something I am particularly mindful of. As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I have sought to develop public policy as an area of particular focus for French financial courts. What is more, when I was European commissioner, I was responsible for a number of departments in EU public administration, and therefore understood the value of performance auditing in delivering constant improvements to practices and processes.

RemovedThe added value of audit reports resides in their capacity to offer an in-depth and factual analysis of the results obtained, the methods employed and the processes followed. In this way, they provide clear information to help decision-makers, managers and lawmakers improve the decision-making process, make adjustments to programmes and better meet the needs of the general public.

RemovedIf performance audit recommendations are to have a genuine impact, they must be systematically and carefully incorporated in management procedures. This involves doing a number of things:

Removed- adapting the legislative framework in order to incorporate good practices and rectify any shortcomings identified by performance audits;

Removed- putting meticulous arrangements in place to follow up on audit recommendations, including clear indicators and specific deadlines;

Removed- engendering a culture of continuous assessment in European public administration, which should include promoting transparency, making managers accountable and encouraging innovation in working practices;

Removed- enhancing dialogue between auditors and managers, in order to promote lessons learned and put them into practice.

RemovedUltimately, performance auditing should not be regarded merely as a necessary formality. Rather, it should be seen as a genuine tool for continuous improvement to help optimise how public funds are used and to engender greater trust in the ability of institutions to provide good quality public services.

Removed17. How could cooperation between the Court of Auditors, the national audit institutions and the European Parliament (Committee on Budgetary Control) on auditing of the EU budget be improved?

RemovedCooperation between the ECA, the national audit institutions and the European Parliament (including its Committee on Budgetary Control) is crucial for ensuring effective, consistent and additional oversight of the EU budget.

RemovedCooperation arrangements are already in place, including the EU Contact Committee, in which both the French Court of Auditors and the ECA play a concerted role. This committee serves as a forum to exchange best practices, coordinate audit activities and prevent duplication in how the public finances of the EU and the Member State are overseen.

RemovedTo continue enhancing this cooperation, a number of avenues could be explored, namely:

Removed- strengthening the role of the EU Contact Committee, by handing it greater scope with a view to coordinating audit programmes on a more systematic basis and better elucidating reports and recommendations;

Removed- promoting regular and carefully organised exchanges between auditors and MEPs;

Removed- working to ensure that audit results are shared and made widely available, including by using digital platforms to facilitate shared access to information and analysis.

RemovedIt should also be noted that national and European issues are closely interlinked. As such, an integrated approach to the oversight of public finances is required. In this connection, the 2027 French Court of Auditors annual report will examine how EU funds are used across all areas of government action in France. This underscores a general desire to better understand and appraise relationships between the Member States and the EU.

Removed18. How would you further develop the reporting of the ECA to give the European Parliament all the necessary information on the accuracy of the data provided by the Member States to the European Commission?

RemovedIn order to enable the European Parliament to fully exercise its supervisory role, the information provided in ECA reports must be clear, complete and accessible. My initial observation would be that ECA audits have improved markedly in recent years and have become increasingly accessible: they now include summaries, press releases and properly ordered information.

RemovedTo continue these endeavours, ECA reports could explain the methodologies used to confirm that the data obtained is reliable, the possible limitations of such checks, and the exact sources of information gathered from the Member States. Making the ECA’s working methods transparent in this way is crucial to enable MEPs to properly grasp the extent and reliability of report findings.

RemovedFurthermore, reports could more explicitly highlight potential risks, irregularities and inconsistencies. In order to facilitate decision-making, this information could be summarised in comparison tables or graphs to enable readers to swiftly identify shortcomings and broad trends.

RemovedAlongside these findings, in order to improve the internal procedures used for checking and validating data in the Member States, recommendations should be published that are reasonably straightforward to put into practice.

RemovedOther questions

Removed19. Will you withdraw your candidacy if Parliament's opinion on your appointment as Member of the Court is unfavourable?

RemovedHaving twice served as an MEP, I hold Parliament’s opinion in the utmost esteem. Parliament is a key democratic player in how the EU operates. It is vital that Parliament has confidence in ECA Members. Such trust serves to enhance the independence and credibility of our institution vis-à-vis EU citizens. I will therefore respect the opinion of the Committee on Budgetary Control, and hope that it deems me to have satisfied all of the criteria required of prospective ECA Members, as stipulated by the Treaties.