On Thursday 30 June, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on
the use of external consultants at the European Commission.
ABOUT THE TOPIC
The European Commission increasingly uses external consultants to perform a range of advisory and support services. These include consultancy work, studies, evaluations and research. Between 2017 and 2020, the value of services procured amounted to nearly €4 billion. This has triggered questions about the type and amounts contracted, the risks of concentration, overdependence and conflicts of interest, and the need to use external consultants as opposed to using internal staff.
ABOUT THE AUDIT
The objective of this audit was to check whether the European Commission has managed its use of external consultants in a manner that safeguards the Commission's interests and ensures value for money. The audit covers the services of external providers which were financed by the EU budget and contracted by the Commission between 2017 and 2019. The auditors also consider recent relevant information on the use of external consultants when appropriate.
FOR PRESS
ECA press office will hold a virtual briefing on Thursday 30 June. Journalists who wish to participate should contact press@eca.europa.eu for details.
The report and press release will be published on the ECA website
eca.europa.eu at 5:00 p.m. CEST on Thursday 30 June.
The ECA member responsible for this report is François-Roger Cazala.
The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.