The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to thank all those working to save lives and fight the pandemic, and express its support for everyone affected and their families. We call on each individual to follow the public health instructions. We are continuing to make every effort to reduce the effect of the pandemic on our staff and minimise the risk to them and to their families. We continue to encourage teleworking as the preferred option.
At the same time, we have done everything we can to continue providing an effective public audit service in the EU and deliver timely audit reports, opinions and reviews.
Where appropriate, we re-scoped our ongoing tasks and adjusted the approach and timeline to take account of changing circumstances.
We have already published two major reviews on the EU's economic and public health response to the COVID-19 crisis. We have also responded swiftly to requests for opinions on COVID-19 related matters, and will continue to do so in the coming months.
Our 2021-2022 work programme is also shaped by the unprecedented crisis we are facing. One in four audit tasks to be started this year will be dealing with the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the 'Next Generation EU' (NGEU) initiative.