Future of EU agencies – Potential for more flexibility and cooperation

Summary:

Having focused in the past on the performance of individual agencies, this is the ECA’s first overall assessment of the conditions put in place by the EU to support all EU agencies in the delivery of policy for the benefit of citizens. The audit identified a need for more flexibility in the set-up, functioning and possible winding-up of agencies. The auditors also found that insufficient support from Member States, industry, Commission or other agencies prevents some agencies from fully performing their role. The ECA recommends that the Commission and the agencies evaluate more carefully the coherence of agencies over their lifetime, and adjust resources accordingly; that they assess inefficiencies in the area of governance and improve performance reporting to focus not only on agencies’ activities but also on their important contribution to policy implementation; and that they facilitate agencies’ efforts to cooperate as centres of expertise and networking.

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