Court of Auditors strongly criticizes the European Commission

Severe judgment by the European Court of Auditors concerning the work of the EU Commission: lack of rigor and consistency in the practical application of the excessive deficit procedure, in particular as regards the monitoring of structural reforms, focusing more on the legal aspects than on ' effective implementation of reforms.

The reference is to the EDF procedure (excessive deficit procedure) governing compliance with the rules on deficits and debt of EU countries.

Governed by Article 126 of the Stability Pact, the procedure provides for the satisfaction of a dual criteria – deficit and debt of EU countries must not be greater than 3% and 60% of gross domestic product. Otherwise, the 'corrective arm' of the fixed repayment terms precise procedure for the correction of the public finances.

Still scarce are judged by the Court the information publicly available on the Commission's assumptions and parameters for the data and its interpretation of the key concepts.

It notes in particular that "even in areas where the Commission has defined clear internal rules, can always decide to deviate from the established procedure, which raises doubts about the overall reliability of its assessments."

"The Commission plays a vital role in the functioning of the procedure correct the excessive deficit," said Milan Martin Cvikl, head of the Court's report. "But it must be more rigorous. It is not enough informed on what happens in reality and is not applying the rules in a consistent manner."