What we audited
Administration covers the expenditure of EU institutions and other bodies. These are the Commission, Parliament, European External Action Service (EEAS), European Council and Council, European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors, European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of Regions, European Ombudsman and European Data Protection Supervisor. It also includes payments to the European Schools.
Spending on human resources (salaries, allowances and pensions) accounts for about 60 % of the total. Expenditure on buildings, equipment, energy, communications and information technology accounts for the remainder.
The results of our audits of the European Union agencies and other decentralised bodies are reported in specific annual reports, which are published separately, together with a summary of the results.
What we found
| Affected by material error? |
Estimated level of error1: |
| NO |
0.5% (2013: 1.1 %) |
1 Equivalent estimated levels of error for 2013 to reflect the new MFF headings.
Our examination of systems did not reveal any significant weaknesses overall. However, we found some areas where there is scope for improvement in certain institutions and bodies. These are covered in the following recommendations.
What we recommend
We recommend that:
- the European Parliament reinforces the controls concerning the reimbursement of costs by European political parties to their affiliated organisations as well as for public procurement by the political parties;
- the European Economic and Social Committee strengthens its procurement procedures; and
- the institution and bodies improve their systems for updating information for calculating family allowances.
Want to know more? Full information on our audit of EU expenditure for administration can be found in Chapter 9 of the 2014 annual report on the EU budget.