Report on the national declaration 2013
Positive opinion on Duch nationale declaration 2013. No information on Dutch remittances to EU and on efficiency
The accounts rendered by the Netherlands for the €1,276.4 million in expenditure it claimed from the European Commission are in order. In the Court of Audit's opinion, the national declaration 2013 gives a good view of the Netherlands' management and use of European funds. However, information on Dutch remittances to the EU is lacking, as is information on the efficiency of EU funding in the Netherlands. The government does not want to disclose this information, despite the Court of Audit's repeated recommendations that it do so. The Court of Audit also notes that there is a risk of underspending: if the Netherlands does not use all the EU funds allocated to it, the European Commission may reallocate them.
Press release
There have been further improvements in the management of the agricultural funds allocated to the Netherlands (€962.1 million). In 2012, though, financial corrections had to be made of €20.7 million because inaccurate claims had been submitted for agricultural funding in previous years. The Minister of Economic Affairs is still in talks with the European Commission regarding a further €41.4 million.
The Dutch declarations to the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) are so much lower than the amount budgeted for the period 2007-2013 (€48.6 million) that the Netherlands is running the risk of not making full use of the budget. The same is true of other funds, such as the migration funds.
By addressing a 'national declaration' to the European Commission and the Dutch parliament, the Netherlands wishes to help improve management, control and accountability for EU funds that the Netherlands spends under shared management with the European Commission. The national declaration is issued each year by the Minister of Finance on behalf of the government. The Minister of Finance asked the Court of Audit to express an annual opinion on the Netherlands' national declaration. The Court expresses its opinion in the Report on the National Declaration (known in previous years as the Report on the Dutch Member State Declaration).
Apart from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden also issue member state declarations. There are differences between the declarations on account of the different national regulations and the lack of uniform standards. Unfortunately, these initiatives have not yet been followed by other member states.
Court of Audit draws attention to remittances and efficiency
The Court of Audit urges the Minister of Finance to include Dutch remittances to the EU in the national declaration. In the Court's opinion, maximum transparency of European funds flows would strengthen trust between the member states and the European Commission. The Court has also identified opportunities to widen the scope of the declaration to include an opinion on the efficiency and effectiveness of European funding. Furthermore, the publication of a national declaration could be made a precondition for the receipt of financial support by member states in financial difficulties. They could use the declaration to report on their budgetary discipline and the implementation of reform programmes.
In 2011 the Netherlands contributed €5,869 million to the EU. A substantial proportion of this remittance (72%, €4,215 million) was based on the Netherlands' gross national income. The Netherlands also contributed a proportion of the import duties and VAT it levied.
Response of the government and the Court of Audit's afterword
The Minister of Finance responded to the Court of Audit's report on behalf of the Ministers of Economic Affairs, Security and Justice, and Social Affairs and Employment. The government does not want to include Dutch remittances to the EU in the national declaration. The Court says in its afterword that this is a 'pity' and regrettable in view of the principles of good public administration, transparency and accountability. Nor does the government wish to include information on the efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the national declaration. The Minister of Finance, however, is open to ideas and suggestions to improve the quality of evaluations in the new programming period (2014-2020). The Court of Audit refers in its afterword to its report entitled Evaluation of Policy Effectiveness in Central Government (22 May 2012), in which it makes suggestions for the evaluation of grant schemes.