he rules governing the monitoring and reporting obligations of EU
funding programmes under shared management have been developing
progressively over time. Across the EU, there are over 290 different
reporting systems. Fragmentation makes data incomparable, prevents the
use of AI and big data sets and systems for monitoring and control, and
prevents stakeholders and society from getting a comprehensive overview
of the way funds are distributed.
This European added value assessment accompanies the report of the
European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) on the
‘Digitalisation of the European reporting, monitoring and audit’
(2021/2054(INL)), by making an evidence-based analysis, identifying gaps
and barriers, laying out possible policy options and pointing to their
potential impacts.
Action in the field could diminish fraud, abuse and weaknesses of EU
funding programmes, which would lead to more efficiency and
transparency. The three policy options identified in this study propose
strengthening the enforcement of existing measures, creating a single EU
database, and introducing requirements for the disclosure of relevant
information on companies.