The economic and financial crisis revealed weaknesses in the EU's economic governance and continued risks to the European financial and banking system. We share with ECON a desire to ensure that the lessons learned from that period are carried forward as effectively as possible at all levels.

As the EU’s auditors, we also look ahead in order to help address key challenges facing the EU in future. We anticipate continuing challenges for fiscal sustainability, still a vulnerable financial sector, against the background of a stalled globalisation process and declining support for the free market system after the economic crisis. The relative competitiveness of the EU economy threatens to continue its downward trajectory given the rise of China and other future world economic powers.

We will keep all these factors in mind when selecting our audit tasks and formulating recommendations for the future.