The European Court of Auditors (ECA) audits the EU’s finances. Its main work is to control the EU’s budget and policies, principally those areas related to economic growth, public finances and the environment. The auditors check if the taxpayer’s money is being used properly by following all the open projects in person and country by country.
These auditors provide guidance on how to improve the projects and come from a very varied range of professional backgrounds from accountancy, to law, to economics. Moreover, they work closely with translators and other support staff.
Therefore, we could sum up saying that the he ECA is responsible to guarantee the well-functioning of the EU budget in terms of both revenue and spending but always along with the consent and collaboration of the Member States.
As the EU’s independent external auditor, the ECA checks that the EU funds are correctly accounted for, raised and spent correspondingly with the applicable rules and regulations. Finally, they confirm if the results have been achieved.
The ECA is based in Luxembourg and its current president is Klaus-Heiner Lehne. If you’d like to know more in depth about this institution please click here.
If you would like to know more about all the institutions in the EU please click here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDMuXadn1B4
Sources:
iate. https://iate.europa.eu/search/standard/result/1558531960215/1. Accessed May 22, 2019.
(ECA) ECof A. What is the European Court of Auditors all about? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHmy5cdc3R8&feature=youtu.be. Published January 30, 2013. Accessed May 22, 2019.
(ECA) ECof A. European Court of Auditors – Guardians of EU Finances. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDMuXadn1B4. Published August 20, 2017. Accessed May 22, 2019.
Anonymous. European Court of Auditors (ECA). European Union. https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies/european-court-auditors_en. Published February 13, 2019. Accessed May 22, 2019.
ECA’s Work. ECA. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/ECAWork.aspx. Accessed May 22, 2019.
European Court of Auditors. LCTO. https://www.luxembourg-city.com/en/place/kirchberg/european-court-of-auditors-luxembourg. Accessed May 22, 2019.
European Court of Auditors. (ECA). https://www.eib.org/en/about/eu-family/eca.htm. Published October 14, 2001. Accessed May 22, 2019.
Members. ECA. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/OrganizationChartList.aspx. Accessed May 22, 2019.
Mission and Role. ECA. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/MissionAndRole.aspx. Accessed May 22, 2019.
Written by Maria Blanca Escudero Fontan, trainee in the Direction of the Directorate B. Graduated with a BA in Translation and Interpretation (uVigo) and a Masters in International Studies (USC, Galicia).