Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors is a European organization that assesses the collection and spending of EU funds – independently from political influences and according to high professional standards. It ‘acts as the independent guardian of the financial interests of the citizens of the Union.’ Its task is to inspect ‘whether financial operations have been properly recorded and disclosed, legally and regularly executed and managed’.
This means that the Court of Auditors asks only whether EU programs are effectively implemented in order to attain the objectives stated in the program, it does not second-guess the fundamental choice of policies and objectives. The fact that its reports do not question the fundamental aspects of the CAP does thus not imply any agreement but expresses simply a limitation of responsibility.
The Court of Auditors has repeatedly lambasted the CAP. Among the most important of its reports are:
Has the reform of the sugar market achieved its main objectives?
Is cross compliance an effective policy?
Physical and substitution checks on export refund consignments
Rural Development Investments: Do they effectively address the problems of rural areas?
Rural Development: The Verification of Agri-Environment expenditure