The European Court of Auditors’ special reports are its most frequent output: last year alone, we published 28 of them. As people are faced with ever more information, we need to get to the point quickly and present key information in an attractive way. With this in mind, we have introduced something new: a concise info sheet containing “key facts and findings” that provides a visually appealing overview of our special reports’ most important insights. We have also given the reports a facelift by highlighting their conclusions and recommendations. The aim here is to make it easier for readers to grasp essential information quickly.

Our audit reports are often highly technical in nature, and so do not necessarily make for easy reading. At the same time, they provide important information that creates more transparency and accountability when it comes to EU spending. However, we are acutely aware that our publications are competing with a deluge of information to which people are exposed every day. As we were looking for new ways to make our reports and key messages more accessible, we therefore decided to introduce a number of innovations.

By far the most visible innovation is an info sheet which we are making available alongside our report. On a single page, the info sheet presents the most important aspects of the audit and its related policy area in a succinct and appealing way, mainly by using graphics. It accompanies and complements the press release, and is translated into all EU languages (you can find a recent example of an info sheet here).

Our special reports also have a more modern look and feel, making it easier for readers to find the essential information they are looking for.

First of all, the cover page has had a facelift, and now visually illustrates the audit topic.

Secondly, we have restructured the reports. They now start with a new section listing our main messages. Readers will immediately be informed about the audited area, and why we originally decided to audit it. We also present our conclusions and recommendations for improvement. This provides readers with quick access to the most important information without having to go through the whole report.

This new first part is followed by a section that features “A closer look at our observations”, enabling the reader to explore our findings in greater detail.

All of our reports contain a lot of additional information which provides a fuller picture of the audit, but which is not necessarily essential. This type of more detailed information is presented in the annexes to the report (see a recent example of an ECA special report in the new format).