Press Release: The effectiveness of Structural measures spending on waste water treatment for the 1994-1999 and 2000-2006 programme periods

The Court’s audit was carried out at the European Commission and in four Member States: Spain,Portugal,Greece and Ireland, who between them received more than 50% of expenditure on waste water treatment in the programme periods examined. During the course of the audit, some 73 treatment plants were audited, with 26 visited on-the-spot in the Member states selected.
For the periods in question, the Court’s audit asked whether:
EU co-financed treatment plants had performed adequately;
the sewage sludge produced by treatment plants had been used appropriately;and
the Commission had fulfilled its role in relation to project selection, project monitoring and the promotion of EU environmental principles.
At the end of this audit process, the overall conclusion of the Court was that EU spending had contributed to an improvement in waste water treatment in the four Member States audited.