integrated financial and accountability reporting - overview … · 2019-07-26 · 7 section i....

Budget

#EUBUDGET

OverviewIntegrated Financial and Accountability Reporting FINANCIAL YEAR 2018

INTEGRATED FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTING 2018

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Overview

#EUBudget

Financial year 2018

Printed by the Publications Offi ce in Luxembourg

The European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Offi ce of the European Union, 2019

© European Union, 2019 Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the copyright of the European Union, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.

Credits:Page 9: © Jakub Jirsák / stock.adobe.comPage 17: © vegefox.com / stock.adobe.comPage 19: © puhhha/stock.adobe.comPage 20: © nd3000 / stock.adobe.comPage 23: © Funtap / stock.adobe.comPage 42: © European Court of Auditors / European Union. Architects of the buildings: Paul Noël (1988) and Jim Clemes (2004 & 2013).

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Integrated Financial and Accountability Reporting

GÜNTHER H. OETTINGEREUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR BUDGET AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Despite its relatively modest size the EU budget makes a big difference for millions of Europeans. It complements national budgets and supports political priorities in areas where it has real added value and where it can deliver results in the most efficient way. With the EU budget we stimulate investment, boost research and innovation, fight against climate change and provide responses to challenges such as the migration crisis.

In 2018 the EU budget contributed in particular to the European economic recovery by investing in key areas promoting job creation. I invite you to discover the stories behind many EU investments on the ‘InvestEU’ portal (https://europa.eu/investeu).

2018 was also a year for looking ahead, and the Commission made its proposals for the future 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, a modern, balanced and realistic budget for a Union that protects, empowers and defends its citizens.

The Commission also carefully monitored the implementation of the EU budget on the ground. This Integrated Financial and Accountability Reporting package, which fulfils our obligations under the financial regulation, describes how every euro was spent in 2018 and what steps were taken to ensure that the EU budget was managed according to the highest standards. It demonstrates the shared commitment of the EU institutions along with the Member States to get the most out of every euro invested through the EU budget.

FOREWORD

INTEGRATED FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTABILITY

REPORTING 2018

https://europa.eu/investeu

5

Contents

I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 7

II. The EU budget in a nutshell ..................................................................................... 9

III. EU budget performance — delivering maximum results ................. 17

IV. EU annual accounts — providing an accurate picture of EU finances ................................................................................................................. 23

V. EU budget financial management and scrutiny — every euro counts ......................................................................................................... 35

7

SECTION I.

Introduction

The Integrated financial and accountability reporting brings together comprehensive in-formation on the implementation, performance, results, sound financial management and protection of the EU budget in 2018.

It consists of five reports:• the 2018 annual management and performance report,• the 2018 consolidated annual accounts of the European Union,• the report on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2017 financial year,• the Commission report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in

2018, and• the long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows of the EU budget (2020-2024).

These documents provide essential input for the annual ‘discharge procedure’ through which the European Parliament and the Council hold the Commission accountable for the way it manages the EU budget. This is in line with the highest international stan-dards for transparency and accountability.

This brochure highlights the key messages of these reports and explains the main fea-tures of the EU budget.


8

Find out more about the Integrated financial and accountability reporting here:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/index_en.cfm

Content of the integrated financial and accountability reporting package 2018

The 2018 Annual Management and Performance Report provides an overview of the performance, management and protection of the EU budget. It explains how the EU budget supports the EU’s political priorities and describes both the results achieved and the role of the Commission in ensuring the highest standards of financial management.

The 2018 Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union contain financial information on the activities of the year, the assets and liabilities, and the revenue and expenditure of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU. They are produced in accordance with international public sector accounting standards.

In the Report on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2017 finan-cial year, the Commission reports on how it proceeded with the requests made by the Parliament and the Council during the discharge procedure. They cover wide-ranging topics and help the Commission to further im-prove the way it manages and implements the EU budget.

The Commission’s Annual report to the discharge authority on inter-nal audits carried out in 2018 presents a synthesis of the recommen-dations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) and the actions taken on those recommendations to improve the Commission’s governance, risk management and control processes.

The Long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows of the EU budget (2020-2024) provides the payments and revenue forecast covering the next 5 years, based on the applicable multiannual financial frameworks (MFFs).

Budget

#EUBUDGET

Annual Management and Performance Report for the EU BudgetFINANCIAL YEAR 2018


Budget

#EUBUDGET

Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union and Financial Statement Discussion and AnalysisFINANCIAL YEAR 2018


Budget

#EUBUDGET

Annual report on internal audits carried out in 2018


Budget

Report on the follow-up to the discharge

#EUBUDGETFINANCIAL YEAR 2017


Budget

#EUBUDGET

Long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows of the EU budget2020-2024


http://ec.europa.eu/budget/index_en.cfm

9


SECTION II.

The EU budget in a nutshell

What is the EU budget?

Unlike national budgets, the EU budget is an investment budget: it does not fund social protection, primary education or national defence, but invests in the key areas that pro-vide European added value by boosting growth and competitiveness. It intervenes only when it is more effective to spend money at a global level than at a local, regional or national level. The EU budget is always balanced: it can neither run a deficit, nor borrow money.

10

How does it work?

LONG-TERM BUDGETAs the EU budget is mainly an investment budget, it needs to be decided on a long-term basis to ensure stability. A long-term spending plan, the MFF, is adopted for a period of at least 5 years (generally 7 years). The MFF sets the maximum annual amounts (ceilings) which the EU may spend in the different categories of expenditure per policy area (heading) for each of the 5 to 7 years.

The EU budget 2014-2020(billion EUR and as a percentage, current prices)

Note: Commitments, adjusted for 2018. Source: European Commission.

Administration6 %

Securityand citizenship

2 %

Global Europe6 %

EUR 0.0billion

EUR1 087

Competitiveness for growth and jobs

13 % 142.1

Economic, social and territorial cohesion

34 % 371.4

69.666.3

17.7

Sustainable growth:natural resources

39 %420

Section II. The EU budget in a nutshell

11

Multiannual vs annual budget

ANNUAL BUDGET

Each annual budget is adopted within the limits of the long-term budget. It determines all EU expenditure and revenue within 1 year and for all EU policy areas.

How big is it?

Over the years the EU budget has remained a small part of total public expenditure in the EU, accounting for around 1 % of EU income and only around 2 % of EU public expenditure.

The size of the EU budget as percentage of gross national income

Source: European Commission.

Average1993-1999

Average2000-2006

Average2007-2013

Average2014-2020

1.25 %

1.09 % 1.12 %1.00 %

Annual budgets

7-year long-term budget 2014-2020

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

12

How is the EU budget financed?

The EU budget is financed from the following sources:• traditional own resources (mainly custom duties);• an own resource based on the value added tax (VAT) collected by each Member State;• a percentage of Member States’ gross national income (GNI);• other revenue, notably including tax and other deductions from EU staff remuner-

ation, contributions from non-EU countries to certain programmes, interest on late payments and fines, as well as surplus from the previous year.

EU revenue in 2018


Where does the money go and who benefits from it?

The EU budget plays an important role in shaping the future of Europe and supporting many EU policy initiatives. These policy initiatives range from boosting investment (e.g. the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI)) to reforming EU laws (e.g. lower mo-bile phone charges, enhanced data protection), or under taking non-legislative actions such as improving Member States’ coordination and exchange of best practices (e.g. fight against conflicts of interest).

Despite its relatively small size the EU budget shows tangible results in a broad range of domains, for example it:• supports start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);• accompanies digital transformation (high-performance computing, artificial intelli-

gence, cybersecurity and digital skills);• fosters social inclusion;

Own resources

Customs duties13 %

Gross national income

66 %

Value added tax10 %

Other revenue

11 %


13

• allows young people to benefit from an Erasmus exchange; • invests in large-scale infrastructure projects such as Europe’s space programmes,

ITER, the Rail Baltica project or the Brenner base tunnel; • significantly steps up defence investment and capabilities, to enhance Europe’s

strategic autonomy in protecting and defending its citizens; • supports the development of a fully integrated European border management sys-

tem, protecting the Union against trafficking, smuggling and fraud.

The EU budget intervenes in many different areas

For the cost of around one coffee a day the EU budget has an impact on the daily lives of every citizen. It boosts regions and cities, develops SMEs, supports researchers, pro-tects consumers and gives broader perspectives to students, just to name a few.

Who does it benefit?

Social integration

Security and stability

Support for start-ups

and SMEs

Digital transformation

Single market

Opportunities for students

Healthy and safe food

New and better roads

Climate Change

Large-scale infrastructures

Development aid

Border management

system

Young people

Erasmus+, youth

employment initiative

Researchers

Horizon 2020

Regions and cities

European Structural and

Investment (ESI) Funds

SMEs

COSME programme

EU farmers

Direct payments and European

Agriculture Fund for Rural

Development or LIFE programme

Humanitarian Aid (HUMA),

Development cooperation instrument

(DCI)

NGOs

14

Who decides on it?

LONG-TERM BUDGETThe long-term budget and the system of own resources are proposed by the European Commission. The long-term budget must be adopted with unanimity by the Member States after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. For the system of own resources, laid down in the own resources decision, the European Parliament is consult-ed and, after adoption in the Council by unanimity, ratification by all Member States is required.

ANNUAL BUDGETThe annual budgets are approved by both the European Parliament and by a qualified majority in the Council (55 % of Member States, representing at least 65 % of the EU population).

Approval process of the annual budget

When the European Parliament and the Council do not manage to agree on a common text, they engage in a negotiation process known as the ‘conciliation procedure’, which lasts 21 days.

European Commission

proposes

Council’s position

July

Council’s approves, EP rejects

Council and EP reject

No joint text Oct-Nov

BUDGET ADOPTED

BUDGET ADOPTED

Council accepts

European Parliament (EP) approves

Sept-Oct

EP amends

Sept-Oct

Council disagrees

CONCILIATION

21 daysJoint text

Oct-Nov

Drast budget June

New proposal BUDGET REJECTED


15

Who implements it?

EU budget implementation (average as a % of 2014-2020 commitment appropriations)


18 % Direct managementEuropean Commission, including its delegations and executive agencies

74 % Shared managementMember States

8 %

Indirect managementInternational organisations, decentralised agencies and joint undertakings, specialised EU bodies, non-EU countries

16

European Court of Auditors (ECA) publishes:1 Annual report including a statement of

assurance covering the annual accounts and the legality and regularity of revenue and expenditure;

2 Special reports.

1 European Parliament, upon a Council recommendation, decides whether to grant, refuse or postpone the discharge and can make requests to the Commission.

2 Decision on discharge is based on the IFAR, the ECA annual and special reports, hearings of relevant Commissioners, written questions addressed to the Commission.

European Commission submits the Integrated Financial and Accountability Reporting (IFAR).

European Commission, Member States and other Partners (non-EU countries and international organisations) implement the EU budget.

European Parliament and Council approve the EU Budget.

year n - 1 year n

year n + 1

year n + 1 year n + 1 year n + 2

year n

- 1 year n

year n + 1CYCLE

Repor

ts

Lessons Learned

Implementation

THE EU ACCOUNTABILITY

yea

r n +

2

How do we ensure the budget is well spent?

In order to ensure that the EU budget is well spent, controls are applied at all stages of implementation.

As the independent external auditor of the EU’s financial institutions and bodies, the European Court of Auditors checks that the EU funds are correctly accounted for, are raised and spent in accordance with the applicable rules, and have achieved value for money.

A budget year is formally closed when the European Parliament approves how the Commission and the Member States implemented the EU budget for that year. This approval is based on the Commission’s and the Court of Auditors’ reports and takes into account the Council’s recommendations. This procedure ensures that the management of European taxpayers’ money is under democratic control, and that the Commission is always held accountable.

EU accountability cycle


17

SECTION III

EU budget performance — delivering maximum results

The EU budget is key for implementing European policies and priorities. It is an in-vestment budget and is executed together with the Member States. Its programmes are multiannual in nature, providing a stable and predictable framework, which is ideally suited to supporting strategic investments over the medium to longer term. It leverages national budgets and other policy instruments at European level to address the many challenges, and opportunities, faced by the Union. This requires strong ac-countability and optimal control mechanisms to ensure the budget is properly and effectively spent.


18

Ensuring that the EU budget delivers on what it promises

The EU budget has an advanced framework for measuring and reporting on perform-ance. Its key elements are:• clear objectives for each spending programme;• indicators reporting progress towards the objectives;• monitoring, reporting and evaluation arrangements.

This performance framework is a compulsory feature in the legal basis of all spending programmes of the current 2014-2020 long-term budget. It is a key pillar of the increased focus on results across the budget.

Performance framework — transparent results

The current performance framework of the spending programmes includes indicators measuring the performance against general and specific objectives set at the start of the programmes. In 2018, most of these indicators have been reported upon. However, not all of the indicators measure EU budget performance directly. Some provide either high-level contextual information (e.g. ‘the Europe R & D target of 3 % GDP’ or ‘share of researchers in the EU active population’) or process-related information (e.g. ‘quality of project applications’, ‘number of participants’).

For the next long-term budget, the Commission is proposing to strengthen the focus on performance across all programmes, including by setting clearer objectives, focusing on a smaller number of higher-quality performance indicators and linking those directly to the objectives with a new budget nomenclature. This will make it easier to monitor and measure results — and to make changes when necessary.

Key documents reporting performance information

The annual management and performance report covers the results achieved with the EU budget across all budget headings and policy areas. This report draws on information from the 2018 annual activity reports produced by all Commission departments, and other sources such as programme statements (1) and the programmes’ performance overviews, evaluation reports, studies and implementation reports.

(1) Draft general budget of the European Union for the year 2020 — Working document Part I — Programme statements of operational expenditure, COM(2019) 400.

Section III. EU budget performance – delivering maximum results

19

Delivering results for all citizens — the essence of the EU budget

2018 was the fifth year of implementation of the MFF. Important priorities included providing a European response to the new challenges deriving from the complex geo-political environment, from migration management to the protection of the EU’s ex-ternal borders and the security of its citizens, guaranteeing strategic investment and sustainable growth, supporting economic cohesion and creating jobs, in particular for young people.

BOOSTING INVESTMENT AND THEREFORE GROWTH AND JOBSThe EFSI was extended from mid 2018 until the end of 2020 with a new investment target of EUR 500 billion. It is expected that this plan will help create an estimated 1.4 million new jobs by 2020, while the EU’s gross domestic product will be boosted by an estimated 1.3 %. Thanks to these investments 30 million Europeans benefited, for example, from better healthcare.

The Connecting Europe Facility (transport) partially funded a new tunnel under the 18 km-wide Fehmarn Strait, between Rødby in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany. Travel time by car between Copenhagen and Hamburg will be reduced by around 1 hour, and by 2 hours for rail freight transport.

20

SUPPORTING INNOVATIONUsing Horizon 2020 funding, the Joint Research Centre has developed and operates the only worldwide automatic tsunami alert system. It can quickly calculate the esti-mated wave height and travel time and automatically send an alert message through the Global Disaster Alerts and Coordination System.

SUPPORTING YOUNG EUROPEANSBetween July and October 2018 around 15 000 young people were able to explore Europe by rail with a Discover EU travel pass. Since the start of Erasmus, more than 10 million people have benefited from it. Since 2014, more than 3.5 million young people have received an offer of employment, education, a traineeship or apprenticeship each year thanks to the youth employment initiative.

STIMULATING JOB CREATION AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH VIA ITS COHESION POLICYEU investment in transport, with the goal of removing bottlenecks, helped to repair or improve 7 500 km of old roads and built 3 100 km of new roads.

The European Social Fund supported 1.1 million SMEs, leading directly to the creation by 2020 of 420 000 new jobs, helped more than 7.4 million unemployed people find a job and allowed over 8.9 million people to gain new qualifications.

HELPING TO ENSURE SAFE HIGH-QUALITY FOODSince 2014 the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development has helped modernise the agricultural holdings of more than 51 400 young farmers, helped train more than 1 million participants, supported organic farming on close to 16 million hec-tares and invested over EUR 255 million in renewable energy production.

http://www.gdacs.org/

Section III. EU budget performance – delivering maximum results

21

ACHIEVING CROSS-CUTTING OBJECTIVES: CLIMATE ACTION AND BIODIVERSITYThe EU budget is also an important tool for achieving cross-cutting policy objectives such as climate action and biodiversity. In 2018 the amount allocated to climate action was more than EUR 32 billion, 20.7 % of the total budget, while the total cu-mulative amount (2014-2018) was more than EUR 141 billion by the end of 2018.

Climate mainstreaming in 2018(million EUR and as a percentage)


GIVING AN ESSENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO MIGRATION POLICYIn 2018, by providing extra emergency assistance to Greece, blankets, winter jackets and other winter supply kits were provided at reception facilities, and the presence of police personnel was covered to increase the security of migrants and staff.

Operations run by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency have helped rescue 690 000 people at sea since 2015.

Thanks to the facility for refugees in Turkey, 136 new schools have been built, 410 000 refugee children are now attending school and 60 000 students have joined catch-up classes. 178 healthcare centres are now operational and 650 000 child refugees have been vaccinated.

Global Europeand other

5 %1 693


16 420

Competitivenessfor growth and jobs

14 %4 514


30 % 9 810

51 %

EUR 0.0billion

EUR 32 437million

22

MAKING THE EU A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE AND WORKA record EU civil protection operation helped Sweden fight forest fires: over 360 firefighting personnel, seven planes, six helicopters and 67 vehicles were mobilised. The Connecting Europe Facility (telecommunication) set up a voluntary cooperation platform to strengthen preparedness and response to cyberattacks. By doing so, the EU is contributing to an EU-wide solution to a threat that does not respect national borders.

ACTING AS A STRONG GLOBAL PLAYERIn 2018 more than EUR 1.4 billion was spent on humanitarian aid in more than 90 countries, of which a significant part was spent on supporting conflict-affected popula-tions in Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries.

23

SECTION IV

EU annual accounts — providing an accurate picture of EU finances

Highlights of the 2018 EU budget

2018 was the fifth year of the current long-term budget (MFF), which runs from 2014 to 2020. The 2018 adopted budget focused on two main policy priorities for Europe: supporting the ongoing recovery of the European economy and addressing security and humanitarian problems.

The implementation of the EU budget in 2018 totalled EUR 173.1 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 156.7 billion in payment appropriations.• Nearly half of the funds (EUR 87.4 billion of commitments) were aimed at stimu-

lating growth, employment and competitiveness. This included funding for research and innovation under Horizon 2020, education under Erasmus+ and supporting SMEs.

• As part of its commitment to the fight against climate change, the EU has integrated spending on climate action across all EU programmes (for example, in cohesion, energy, transport and research and innovation policies, as well as the common agricultural policy), making the EU budget a key driver of sustainability. In 2018, the amount was more than EUR 32 billion, 20 % of the total budget. The total cumulative amount for climate mainstreaming was more than EUR 141 billion by the end of 2018.


24

Implementation of the EU budget in 2018 and long-term forecast for 2020-2024

REVENUE IN 2018The EU budget is funded from ‘own resources’, namely contributions based on Member States’ GNI, custom duties and contributions from VAT. These are supplemented by oth-er sources of revenue (taxes on EU staff salaries, contributions from non-EU countries to certain programmes, fines on companies for breaching competition laws, etc.).

EU revenue in 2018

Note: Sugar levies and correction of budgetary imbalances negatively contributed to revenue by EUR 85 and 19 million, respectively. Source: European Commission.

EXPENDITURE IN 2018Additional appropriations. After the final budget is adopted, some additional appro-priations can be added to commitments and payments. Additional appropriations are composed of two elements: carry-overs and assigned revenue.

Carry-overs. Funds that could not be used in the previous financial year that are al-lowed to be ‘carried over’ to the following year. This only happens exceptionally and under strict conditions.

Assigned revenue. Funds received in addition to the final budget to finance specific expenditures. Examples include financial contributions from non-EU countries to pro-grammes, such as funds from the participation of European Free Trade Association countries in EU actions such as the programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs and Erasmus+.

GNI65.85 %

Customs duties

Other

12.74 %

10.66 %

VAT10.75 %

Reduction of GNI-based contribution

of the Netherlands and Sweden

Contributions and refunds in connection with Union agreements and programmes

8.01 %

Revenue accruing from persons working with the institutions and other union bodies

0.97 %

Interests on late payments and fines0.92 %

Surpluses, balances and adjustments0.36 %

Revenue accruing from the administrative operation of the institutions0.35 %

Borrowing and lending operations0.02 %

Miscellaneous revenue0.01 %

0.004 %

EUR 159.4billion

Section IV. EU annual accounts – providing an accurate vision of EU finances

25

Commitments made in 2018


Commitment represents a legal obligation to fund the cost of projects, contracts and grants. Although commitments are made for the full amount of the EU contribution to the project in the first financial year, payments take place in instalments over subse-quent financial years, as the project progresses.

Final budget adopted

Additional appropriation

Total committment appropriations

Commitments made

MFF heading (billion EUR)

Competitiveness for growth and jobs 22.0 3.9 25.9 23.8


55.5 8.3 63.8 63.6

Sustainable growth: natural resources 59.2 3.2 62.4 60.6

Security and citizenship 3.5 0.5 4.0 3.9

Global Europe 10.4 1.1 11.4 11.1

Administration 9.7 0.8 10.5 10.1

Special instruments 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.2

TOTAL 160.7 17.8 178.5 173.1




5.8 % Special instruments

Global Europe 6,4 %


2.2 %

6.4 %

0.1 %


35 %

13.7 %

36.7 %

Administration

EUR 173.1billion

26

Payment appropriations represent the actual availability of funds to pay recipients in a given year. Appropriations are consumed when the European Union pays a contractor or third party to fulfil the legal obligation.

Payments made in 2018

Final budget adopted

Additional appropriation

Total payments

appropriations

Payments made

MFF heading (billion EUR)

Competitiveness for growth and jobs 20.2 4.9 25.1 21.4


46.6 9.3 55.8 54.5

Sustainable growth: natural resources 56.2 3.4 59.6 58.0

Security and citizenship 3.0 0.3 3.3 3.1

Global Europe 8.8 2.0 10.8 9.5

Administration 9.7 1.7 11.4 9.9

Special instruments 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.2

TOTAL 144.8 21.584 166.4 156.7




6.3 % Special instruments

Global Europe 6.1 %


2 %

0.1 %


37 %

13.7 %

34.8 %

Administration

EUR 156.7billion


27

Consolidated financial statements

The consolidated financial statements of the EU comprise more than 50 entities (includ-ing the Parliament, Council, Commission and EU agencies). The European Commission is the most significant entity, covering 96 % of the total assets of the consolidated financial statements.

The EU accounts are prepared according to the highest available standards, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Adhering to these standards ensures that the accounts provide relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable financial information for citizens. They provide information on the financial position (balance sheet) of the EU as well as detailed explanations of its assets, liabilities, financial commitments and obligations. They also show how the EU budget was implemented during the year.

2018 balance sheet of the EU

2018 2017

Assets ‣ Graph page 28 (billion EUR)

Financial assets 69.4 68.6

Pre-financing 50.0 49.0

Receivables 24.7 12.4

Cash and cash equivalents 18.1 24.1

Property, plant and equipment and other assets 12.3 12.0

TOTAL 174.4 166.2

Liabilities ‣ Graph page 30

Post-employment benefits 80.5 73.1

Financial liabilities 55.9 56.9

Payables 32.2 39.0

Accruals 63.2 63.9

Other liabilities 4.1 3.5

TOTAL 235.9 236.5

Net assets

Reserves 5.0 4.9

Amounts to be called from Member States (66.4) (75.2)

TOTAL (61.5) (70.4)


28

ASSETSEU assets include buildings, receivables and cash, but also EU-specific items such as the satellites of the Galileo and Copernicus programmes, loans given to Member States as financial assistance and advances (pre-financing) given to recipients of EU funds — primarily Member States.

EU assets in 2018 (major categories)


Financial assetsLoans. The EU provides financial support to preserve financial stability in Europe and to grant financial assistance to Member States (and some non-Member States, e.g. Ukraine) in financial difficulties. In this context, the EU raises funds on the capital markets or with financial institutions, which is lent under the same conditions (back-to-back operations) to the Member States concerned.

The following graph shows the loans outstanding at 31 December 2018 by Member States.

Financialassets● Loans 78 %● Available-for-sale financial assets 22 %

40 %

Pre-financing● Pre-financing 87 %● Other advances to Member States 13 %● Contribution to trust funds 0.1 %

29 %Receivables● Recoverables from non-exchange transactions 92 %● Receivables from exchange transactions 9 %

● Property, plant and equipment 91 %

● Other assets 9 %

14 %

Cashand cash

equivalents

10 %

Property, plantand equipment

and other assets

7 %

Consolidated assets

EUR 174.4billion


29

Loans for financial assistance in 2018(billion EUR)

Portugal24.3Ireland 22.5

Latvia 0.7 Romania1.0

EUR 48.5billion


Available-for-sale financial assets. The EU holds available-for-sale financial assets in the form of debt securities, equity instruments and other types of investment. These investments are made as part of the implementation of the budget to maximise the impact of the funds available for programmes and policy areas. The basic con-cept behind this approach is to encourage the contribution of additional private and public funds to the programmes in question, maximising the impact of the funds avail-able (the so-called leverage effect).

Pre-financingPre-financing is an essential instrument for the implementation of the EU budget, and it represents a cash advance given to recipients to implement a specific programme. The recipient is required to report eligible expenditures incurred to the EU, and any ineligible or unused amounts must be returned to the EU.

European Commission pre-financing by management mode in 2018


Shared management60 %

Direct management23 %

Indirect management 17 %

EUR 0.0billion

EUR 43.4billion

30

ReceivablesReceivables are mostly made up of amounts due to the EU arising from competition fines issued (fines) and other amounts to be collected from Member States (e.g. tradi-tional own resources, European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and rural development).

Property, plant and equipment — space assetsThis category covers operational fixed assets related to the two EU space programmes: the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (i.e. Galileo and EGNOS) and the Copernicus European Earth observation programme.

Space assets at 31 December 2018 amounted to EUR 3.9 billion, with a further EUR 2.5 billion recognised as assets under construction. In 2018, the EU launched the seventh Copernicus satellite designed to improve the monitoring of oceans, land and the atmosphere. Four new satellites were launched for Galileo, with the objective of improving the performance of the whole satellite navigation programme.

LIABILITIESEU liabilities are primarily amounts owed to recipients of EU funds, as well as borrow-ings, pensions and other employee benefits.

EU liabilities in 2018 (major categories)


Post-employment benefits

34 %

Financial liabilities● Borrowings for financial assistance 96 %● Other financial liabilities 4 %

24 %

Payables

● Accrued charges 99.5 %● Other accruals 0.5 %

14 %

Accruals27 %

Other liabilities2 %

LiabilitiesEUR 235.9

billion


31

Post-employment benefitsThe EU grants a set of post-employment benefits to employees, which include retire-ment, invalidity and survival pensions, as well as medical coverage. The benefits are provided under a defined benefit pension plan and post-employment sickness scheme.

Financial liabilities (primarily borrowings)The EU borrows money on the capital markets so as to grant back-to-back loans under the same conditions — see ‘Financial assets’ above.

PayablesPayables include invoices and cost claims received by the EU but not paid at year end. The largest amounts mainly concern structural actions where Member States request reimbursement of expenditure made in the current or previous years.

Accruals, constituted mainly by accrued chargesAccrued charges include estimated amounts concerning invoices and cost claims not yet received, i.e. where the EU estimates that beneficiaries have incurred expenditure that the budget will have to reimburse in the following year. The largest amount at year end relates to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, where the amounts are primarily paid from the budget in the first quarter of the following year.

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Contingent liabilities

A contingent liability is an amount disclosed in the notes to the accounts that represents an exposure of the EU budget to the possible risk of having to pay out amounts in the future. As this risk is unlikely to happen, the amounts are not treated as liabilities on the balance sheet (in accordance with international accounting standards).

Contingent liabilities relate mainly to guarantees covered by future budgets (including loans and financial assistance programmes) and to legal risks. All contingent liabilities, except those relating to fines and guarantees covered by specific funds, should they fall due, would be financed by the EU budget (and thus the EU Member States) in the years to come.

Contingent liabilities in 2018

2018 2017

(billion EUR)

Guarantees relating to financial assistance 55.0 55.5

Budgetary guarantees 36.3 30.1

Guarantees given for EU financial instruments 2.7 2.5

Legal cases 5.7 5.5

TOTAL 99.7 93.5


Contingent liability for budgetary guarantees. The EU provides guarantees to the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group for their loans granted outside of the EU as well as on debt and equity operations within the EU covered by the EFSI guarantee. This is

Guarantees relating to financial assistance

55 %

Budgetary guarantees36 %

Guarantees given forEU financial instruments

3 %

Legal cases 6 %

EUR 99.7billion


33

done to support the EIB Group’s operations. In order to mitigate the risk that guarantee calls by the EIB Group could have on the EU budget, the EU has created dedicated guar-antee funds, i.e. the Guarantee Fund for External Actions and the EFSI Guarantee Fund.

Contingent liability regarding EU financial assistance. The EU’s borrowing and lending activities for financial assistance programmes are non-budget operations (the EU borrows money on the capital markets to finance these loans). The Commission has put proced-ures in place to ensure the repayment of these borrowings in case of a loan default by the recipient. Borrowings of the EU constitute direct and unconditional obligations of the EU and are thus guaranteed by the EU Member States (budgetary contingent liabilities).

LONG-TERM FORECAST FOR 2020-2024The report on the long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows complements the information on budget implementation presented in the annual accounts report by providing a long-term forecast for the next 5 years. This year’s forecast report covers the years 2020 to 2024. It captures the last year of the current financial framework and the first 4 years of the proposed future MFF, which is subject to ongoing negotiations at the time of publication of this report. The payment forecast for 2021-2024 is therefore based on the Commission’s proposals of 2 May 2018 for the future financial period.

MFF 2014-2020

(EU-28)Commission proposal MFF 2021-2027

(EU-27) 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

(billion EUR, current prices)

OUTFLOWS

Commitments ceiling 168.8 166.7 173.7 179.4 182.9

Payments ceiling 172.4 159.4 164.0 177.3 180.9

Commitment appropriations 167.7 166.7 173.7 179.4 182.9

Payment appropriations 153.2 159.1 164.2 178.1 185.2

Total payment appropriations including special instruments

153.6 159.1 164.2 178.1 185.2

INFLOWS

Own resources ceiling as a percentage of EU GNI 1.20 % 1.29 % 1.29 % 1.29 % 1.29 %

Own resources ceiling expressed in EUR billion 203.9 191.4 197.1 202.9 209.2

Total own resources 151.6 157.2 162.3 176.2 183.3

Total revenue (own resources and other revenue) 153.6 159.1 164.2 178.1 185.2


34

This forecast takes into account the following:

Payments in relation to new commitments (outflows). The estimates remain con-sistent with last year’s report. An update of those estimates would only be possible when the negotiations are concluded.

Payments in relation to commitments made under the current financial frame-work (outflows). The forecast builds on the level of appropriations included in the draft budget for 2020 and the latest developments in the implementation of the 2019 budget.

Revenues (inflows). The forecast covers traditional own resources, national contribu-tions and other revenue. The revenue forecast for 2020-2024 follows the principle that total revenue equals total expenditure.

Developments in the following two areas will be particularly important for the payment forecast after 2020:

• The outcome of ongoing negotiations on the next financial framework (and in par-ticular on the cohesion policy funds, where some proposals could potentially gener-ate additional needs while others may delay implementation to the future period).

• The evolution in the implementation of the current financial framework and the level of outstanding commitments at the end of 2020. For most of the budget headings, the 2020 draft budget is below the level forecast 1 year ago. This auto-matically shifts payments into the post-2020 period, which come in addition to the payments assumed at the time of proposing the payment ceilings for the years 2021-2027.

These developments will have to be taken into account in the negotiations for the next MFF. The payment ceilings under negotiation may have to be adjusted to accommo-date any additional needs resulting from the higher level of outstanding commitments and/or changes in the Commission proposals for the implementation of the future programmes.

35

SECTION V

EU budget financial management and scrutiny — every euro counts

The European Commission attaches great importance to the proper use of the EU budget. The assurance that the EU budget is well-managed is based on:• a reinforced system of corporate governance;• a robust assurance and accountability model that was further strengthened in

2018;• control systems that are designed to reduce the risk to the legality and regu-

larity of transactions;• financial corrections and recoveries applied to protect the EU budget;• the reasonable assurance provided by the authorising officers by delegation of all

the Commission’s departments and services on their control systems and financial management, entailing a stable number of reservations the financial impact of which remains limited.;

• the revised anti-fraud strategy and the implementation of a zero-tolerance policy to fraud;

• the assurance obtained through the work of the IAS;• the external audit and the discharge procedure.

Reinforced system of corporate governance

The system of corporate governance within the European Commission is based on a clear division of responsibilities between the political, corporate and departmental levels.

The College of Commissioners takes collegial political responsibility for the work of the Commission. Operational implementation of the budget is delegated to direct ors-general and heads of service, as authorising officers by delegation. They are responsible for the sound financial management of resources. In implementing the EU budget they must comply with the provisions of the financial regulation and establish an appropriate internal control framework.

The underlying assurance and accountability model was reinforced in 2018 by strengthening oversight at corporate level while maintaining the decentralised account-ability of authorising officers by delegation for the sound financial management of the funds allocated to their departments.

Most EU funds are either spent together with Member States under what is known as shared management (some 74% of the budget) or entrusted to international


36

AccountantManagement and internal control Internal Audit

Units/DirectoratesManagement control

DirectorsRisk management and internal control

Assurance from Member

States andEntrusted EntitiesShared and indirect

management

European Parliament and Council

Discharge

College of CommissionersAuthorising OfficerPolitical responsibility

year n year n + 1 year n + 2

Annual report Statement of assurance

Special reports related to budget

Dischargeof year n

Corporate Management Board

Oversight

Integrated Financial and Accountability ReportingAnnual

ActivityReports

Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union

European Court

of Auditors

European CommissionAccounting

Officer

European Commission

Internal Audit Service

Assurance and consultancy

EuropeanCommission

Central ServicesGuidance

and support

European Commission

Audit Progress Committee

Assurance

Directors-GeneralAuthorising Officers

by Delegation

Management responsibility

and accountability

Assurance packages

- Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union

- Annual management and performance report

- Long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows- Annual internal audit report- Report on the follow-up to the discharge

External audit Discharge

Timeline

organisations, decentralised agencies, non-EU countries, etc. under what is know as indirect management (some 8 % of the budget). The authorities in the Member States (for instance the respective ministries for regional development) or the entrusted entities manage the expenditure under the supervision of the Commission. Although they are in the first instance responsible for sound financial management, the ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the EU budget lies with the European Commission.

When the Commission departments face particular challenges or weaknesses in their control systems or in financial management, the declarations of assurance are qualified by reservations. These reservations are a key element of sound financial management: they ensure transparency and are accompanied by action plans aimed at mitigating

Section V. EU budget financial management and scrutiny – every euro counts

37

AccountantManagement and internal control Internal Audit

Units/DirectoratesManagement control

DirectorsRisk management and internal control

Assurance from Member

States andEntrusted EntitiesShared and indirect

management

European Parliament and Council

Discharge

College of CommissionersAuthorising OfficerPolitical responsibility

year n year n + 1 year n + 2

Annual report Statement of assurance

Special reports related to budget

Dischargeof year n

Corporate Management Board

Oversight

Integrated Financial and Accountability ReportingAnnual

ActivityReports

Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union

European Court

of Auditors

European CommissionAccounting

Officer

European Commission

Internal Audit Service

Assurance and consultancy

EuropeanCommission

Central ServicesGuidance

and support

European Commission

Audit Progress Committee

Assurance

Directors-GeneralAuthorising Officers

by Delegation

Management responsibility

and accountability

Assurance packages

- Consolidated annual accounts of the European Union

- Annual management and performance report

- Long-term forecast of future inflows and outflows- Annual internal audit report- Report on the follow-up to the discharge

External audit Discharge

Timeline

future risks and strengthening the control systems. In 2018, the financial impact of the reservations on management assurance remained fairly stable at EUR 1.078 million, compared to EUR 1.053 million in 2017.

A robust assurance and accountability model

The Commission has strong arrangements in place to ensure sound financial manage-ment. The main building blocks in its solid chain of assurance building and accounta-bility are presented in the chart below.

Commission’s assurance building and accountability for the EU budget: clear roles and responsibilities

38

Continuous improvements in financial management

In order to maintain the highest standards in financial management, the Commission is consistently improving its rules and procedures, organisational fitness and agility. The Commission also works with the Member States and other partners to enhance financial management and control standards. The aim is to further increase efficiency and lower administrative burden, shorten ‘time to grant and pay’ to recipients and protect the EU budget at a reasonable cost compared to the funds managed by taking prevent ive and corrective action against errors, irregularities and fraud.

In 2018, the revised financial regulation was adopted, reducing red tape for bene-ficiaries of EU funds and simplifying each important phase in the funding process. These simplification measures are embedded in the new spending programmes proposed by the Commission for the 2021-2027 period which, by design, focus on maximising synergies and efficiencies, as well as risk-differentiated and cost-effective control systems. The aim is to achieve both the policy/programme objectives and the in-ternal control objectives, i.e. fast payments, a low level of error and low cost of controls.

The Commission’s revised internal control framework, introduced in 2017, has now been fully implemented. Thanks to intensive communication efforts, workshops and the exchange of good practice, the internal control culture has improved substantially. In 2018, overall, the Commission departments assessed their internal control systems as effective.


39

Reduced risk to the legality and regularity of transactions

The Commission considers that the budget is effectively protected when the risk to the legality and regularity of financial transactions, and more specifically the risk at closure, is below the 2 % materiality threshold.

This risk (both as a percentage and as an amount) is based on the errors detected by the Commission’s departments and services through their control activities. It is esti-mated at two key stages in the cycle: at payment and at closure (see figure below). This is due to the fact that, EU spending programmes being multiannual by design, the related control systems and management cycles also cover multiple years. Thus, while errors may be detected in any given year, they may be corrected in the current year or in subsequent years until the very end of a programme’s lifecycle.

European Commission’s multiannual control cycle

The risk at payment quantifies those errors that might still affect the payments after preventive controls have been carried out. These risks are detected thanks to controls carried out after the payments have taken place.

The risk at closure is the risk that will remain at the end of the programme’s life cycle, after all the estimated future corrections have taken place. These are the corrections that each department estimates they will implement as a result of controls carried out in subsequent years.

ERRORS VERSUS FRAUD

Errors do not mean that EU money is lost, wasted or affected by fraud. Errors mainly stem from misinterpretations of public procurement rules or from administrative mistakes in applications submitted by beneficiaries, for example when documents are missing. In fact, fraud affects approximately 0.2 % of the total EU budget.

Ex antecontrols

Ex anteadjustments Payments Ex post

controls

Risk at payment

Equivalent to Court

of Auditors’ ‘most likely error’ rate

Estimated future

corrections

Riskat closure

Recoveries and

corrections

End of pro-gramme’s life cycle

1.7 % 0.9 % 0.8 %

40

In 2018, both the risk at payment and the risk at closure remained at a low level, below 2 %. The risk at closure is even below 1 % (see graph below).

Given that the risk at closure is estimated to be less than 2 %, the Commission’s multiannual control systems ensure:• appropriate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity

of the transactions; and• that the financial corrections and recoveries made over the entire life of programmes

protect the EU budget overall.

Risk at payment/risk at closure (2016-2018)

Source: European Commission, annual activity reports.

Risk at payment

Risk at closure

2016 2017 2018

2.6 %

2.4 %

2.2 %

2.0 %Materiality

1.8 %

1.6 %

1.4 %

1.2 %

1.0 %

0.8 %

0.6 %

0.4 %

0.2 %

2.8 %

3.0 %

3.2 %

0.6%

1.7%

0.8%

1.7%

1.1 %

2.6 %


41

The management of EU finances has seen a sustained improvement over recent years. The structural decrease and stabilisation of risks at payment and closure can be explained by simpler rules and more effective control systems introduced in the current programmes. These measures are now bearing fruit as the 2014-2020 programmes, which in most cases have an inherent lower risk, are coming up to speed.

The Commission analyses the risks to the legality and regularity of the financial trans-actions not only for reporting purposes, but also because it is an important manage-ment tool. This entails detecting any weaknesses at programme level and correcting them, identifying the root causes of systemic errors and preventing future errors, preparing the next programmes by considering the lessons learned. For instance, for segments of funding where the risk at payment is above 2 %, management actions are in place. This approach ensures the continuous improvement of the Commission’s financial management over the years.

Zero tolerance to fraud

The Commission’s anti-fraud strategy lays down the principle of zero tolerance of fraud and other guiding principles, and steers services’ anti-fraud actions, based on fraud risks observed. The strategy is the blueprint for the Commission departments’ and executive agencies’ fight against fraud. Each director-general and head of ser-vice, as authorising officer by delegation, is responsible for internal control, including anti-fraud controls, and gears them to the characteristics and specific challenges of their operations. Against this backdrop, the anti-fraud strategy provides orientation and a coherent structure, as one of the instruments through which the Commission ensures that the EU budget stays protected across the board.

The Commission has recently updated its anti-fraud strategy. To maximise effect-iveness and efficiency, the new strategy places a strong emphasis on methodology and cooperation. Methodically, the Commission must acquire better knowledge about fraud patterns and trends in order to fight fraud more effectively. Closer cooperation amongst the services concerned is making its anti-fraud action more consistent.

In addition, the Commission has strengthened the treatment of conflicts of interests and has made proposals to protect the EU budget against generalised deficiencies in the rule of law in the Member States.

Internal and external audit

The EU is one of the most transparent institutions in the world as far as its accounts and spending are concerned. Every euro the EU spends is recorded in the books and accounted for. Control about how the money is spent is carried out both through

42

internal audits by the European Commission’s IAS and through external independent audits by the European Court of Auditors. The Commission’s Audit Progress Committee oversees the independence and quality of internal audit work, and monitors that the improvements recommended in both internal and external audits are properly implemented.

INTERNAL AUDITThe Commission departments also based their assurance on the work done by the IAS. A summary report of the internal auditor’s work is forwarded by the Commission to the discharge authority in accordance with Article 118(8) of the financial regulation. The results of the IAS’s work encompass the following:• Performance management. In 2018, the IAS made recommendations to help

improve the overall performance of several key processes in the areas of govern-ance, IT security, human resources, synergies and use of resources. The IAS also issued specific recommendations related to the performance in implementing dir-ectly and indirectly managed funds.

• Financial management. As required by its mission charter, the IAS issues an annual overall opinion on the Commission’s financial management, based on its audit work during the 2016-2018 period, and also taking into account information from the reports of the European Court of Auditors. In 2018, the internal auditor considered that the procedures put in place by the Commission, taken as a whole, are adequate to give reasona-ble assurance over the achievement of its financial objectives. However, the overall opinion is qualified with regard to the reservations made by the authorising officers by delegation in their declarations of assurance. In arriving at this opinion, the IAS considered the combined impact of the amounts estimated to be at risk as disclosed in the annual activity reports and the correc-tive capacity as evidenced by financial corrections and recoveries of the past, as well as by estimates of future corrections and amounts at risk at clos ure. Given the magnitude of financial corrections and recoveries of the past, and assuming


43

that corrections in future years will be made at a comparable level, it considered that the EU budget is adequately protected as a whole and over time.

• Follow-up of previous internal audit work. The IAS has a strict follow-up policy in place to assess whether the Commission departments have taken appropriate action to address the issues identified. The IAS confirmed that 97 % of its recom-mendations followed up during 2014-2018 were effectively and timely imple-mented by the Commission departments.

EXTERNAL AUDITThe European Court of Auditors examines the implementation of the budget, and publishes annual reports on how the budget has been spent and a number of special reports on thematic issues, mostly dealing with the performance of EU spending. More particularly, every year the European Court of Auditors examines:• the reliability of the accounts;• whether all revenues has been received and all expenditure has been incurred in

a lawful and regular manner;• whether the financial management has been sound.

Discharge procedure

In the context of the annual discharge procedure, various stakeholders scrutinise the implementation of the budget. The European Parliament grants discharge taking into account a recommendation from the Council. By approving how the European Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, has implemented the EU budget in a given year, the European Parliament formally closes the budget year in question.

The Commission reports on how it followed up on requests made by the European Parliament and Council in the previous year’s discharge. These requests cover wide-rang-ing topics relating to the management and implementation of the EU budget.

Discharge procedure

accountability reportsby the

Commission

replies from the Commission

to questionnaires

reports from the European

Court of Auditors

When deciding on the discharge, the European Parliament takes into account

the recommendation from the Council

exchanges of views with

Commissioners about the EU

budget

44

A CONSTRUCTIVE INTERINSTITUTIONAL COOPERATIONIn the 2017 discharge procedure, the European Parliament considered the financial management of the 2017 budget and highlighted success stories for the performance of policies. The continuous improvement of sound financial management in the Commission and Member States — in relation to both performance and compliance aspects — reflects a constructive interinstitutional cooperation over time.

The discharge procedure offers an opportunity for the EU institutions to reflect on past developments and to identify both good practices and weaknesses to be addressed, with the aim of further improving financial management and achieving even better results with the EU budget in the future.

The European Parliament and the Council made requests to the Commission in the 2017 discharge procedure focusing on:• performance of policies,• accountability reporting,• absorption,• specific issues such as conflicts of interest.

In the report on the follow-up to the 2017 discharge, the Commission reports on how it is following up on these and other requests. Many elements fed into the Commission’s proposals for the next long-term budget and the next generation of programmes, cur-rently under discussion between the European Parliament and the Council.


Getting in touch with the EU

In personAll over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can fi nd the address of the centre nearest you at: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en

On the phone or by emailEurope Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this service:– by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls),– at the following standard number: +32 22999696 or – by email via: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en

Finding information about the EU

OnlineInformation about the European Union in all the offi cial languages of the EU is available on the Europa website at: https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en

EU publications You can download or order free and priced EU publications at: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publications. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe Direct or your local information centre (see https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en).

EU law and related documentsFor access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1952 in all the offi cial language versions, go to EUR-Lex at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu

Open data from the EUThe EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en) provides access to datasets from the EU. Data can be downloaded and reused for free, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.

Print ISBN 978-92-76-03089-8 doi: 10.2761/134336 KV-02-19-290-EN-C

PDF ISBN 978-92-76-03090-4 doi: 10.2761/801236 KV-02-19-290-EN-N

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