|
Abstract:
This volume represents the collected papers of the colloquium on the management of the EU budget held by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) at Maastricht in December 1998. Aimed at, and drawing on, the experience of EU officials and academics working in the field, the seminar took place in the interregnum between the revelations of Commission official Paul van Buitenen and the report by the committee charged by the European Parliament with looking at allegations of fraud, nepotism and mismanagement within the College of Commissioners.
The improvement of the management of EU spending is the defining issue for the new Commission. The resignation of Jacques Santer and his colleagues provides further evidence of the fundamental importance of this issue. If the Prodi Commission is not to suffer the same fate, it is argued that reforms must be grounded on hard evidence, sound principles and realistic targets. While the focus of attention may have been on malpractice at the highest level, most of the changes will have to take place at Directorate-General level within the Commission and within the administrative systems of the Member States. It is on these arrangements that this collection of papers focuses.
The papers, some in English and some in French, provide an informed and up-to-date summary of EU budgetary management as it is practised. Subjects covered in the chapters include a general summary of the budget of the European Union; performance indicators for measuring the quality of programme management; the SEM 2000 initiative to improve Community expenditure management; budgetary control and management; and concluding comments on how to improve the mechanisms employed for spending. This timely work will be of interest to academic and practitioners alike.
|
