Experts agree that the role and tasks of the European Union have increased substantially in recent decades, whether financially through an increased budget, through law-making, or internationally in areas of trade, energy or security. Have accountability and transparency arrangements kept pace to ensure those given power are held to account? This is particularly relevant in today’s global context, where the fragility of values such as accountability and transparency is increasingly evident. Without accountability there can be no democratic control and hence, sooner or later, no legitimacy. With elections for the European Parliament coming up in June this year, now is the time for EU citizens to insist those in power answer for their performance while in office.
What does accountability mean, and what processes are needed to exercise accountability in practice? How does governance relate to trust, what is the role of external audit in the accountability chain, and what is indispensable to close the accountability loop? What hazards and traps are there, particularly in the EU? Accountability and transparency are clearly at the heart of the ECA’s core business and, as many contributors to this Journal point out, for many others in the EU too. We feature interviews with reputed experts on accountability, such as Professor Mark Bovens, top executives such as Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, and Monika Hohlmeier, who, as Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, is the European Parliament’s ‘Ms Public Scrutiny’. As audit is an indispensable link to accountability, there are also contributions from ECA President Tony Murphy and two of his colleagues, and other audit experts, including officers of national audit institutions. European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly explains how accountability is primordial for good public administration and what her role is in promoting this. Lastly, we offer insights from academics and experts regarding the historical dimension of accountability, its application in practice, and the role of standard-setting bodies and non-institutional actors such as the media. In short, this Journal covers a theme which is relevant to all policy areas, as it touches on principles which are indispensable for effective and legitimate governance both in and outside the EU.
This edition’s highlights
7‘Basically, without accountability, no democratic control!’ Interview with Professor Mark Bovens, Utrecht University
39‘Accountability is essential in a system based on the rule of law’ Interview with Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice
50Accountability and transparency – building blocks for trust in the EU By Tony Murphy, ECA President
54Accountability requires a full audit trail for all EU expenditure Interview with Jan Gregor, ECA Member and Dean of ‘Financing and administering the Union’ Audit Chamber
64The EU’s financial landscape report: challenges in auditing accountability from an auditor’s perspective By José Parente, ECA ‘Financing and administering the Union’ Audit Chamber
83The Belgian Court of Audit’s ‘whole-of-government’ audits – encouraging the transparency of meta- structures in a federal state By Vital Put, Belgian Court of Audit
94‘The CONT needs to cause “discomfort” to fulfil its role’ Interview with Monika Hohlmeier MEP, Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee
111The importance of transparent and accountable public administration for European democracy By Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman
116 How to ensure accountability for the decline in media freedom across the EU – the case for a values audit By Ruth Kronenburg, Free Press Unlimited
Alongside 24 articles on the main theme, this Journal also features interviews with Einar Gørrissen, Director-General of the INTOSAI Development Initiative, and ECA Director Alejandro Gallester Gallardo. In addition, there are interviews with new ECA Members Keit Pentus-Rosimannus and Katarina Kaszasová.
Other views on various issues relating to accountability and transparency are set out in articles by Professor Jacob Soll (University of Southern California), Professor Emeritus Richard Mulgan (Crawford School of Public Policy), Laura Leka (International Federation of Accountants), Peter Welch (OECD), Agnieszka Kaźmierczak (European Commission Internal Auditor and Director-General of the Internal Audit Service), Peter van Roozendaal, Maaike Luiten and Danielle van Osch (Netherlands Court of Audit), Associate Professor Paul Stephenson (Maastricht University), Daniel Matos Caldeira (University of Lisbon), Professor Gustavo Fernandes (Fundação Getulio Vargas’s Sao Paulo School of Business Administration), and Associate Professor Ana Lúcia Romão (University of Lisbon). The ECA’s contributors include ECA Member Nikolaos Milionis, Daria Bochnar, Joanna Kokot and Austin Maloney, Oana Dumitrescu, Sara Abbruzzetti, Tamara Pap (former trainee), and Gaston Moonen (Directorate of the Presidency).
The Journal concludes with details of some outreach activities and an overview of recent ECA publications.