The event will discuss the important contribution EU agencies make to the European project and to citizens’ daily lives, our annual audit of the EU agencies for the 2021 financial year and key challenges such as conflicts of interest, the “revolving door” phenomenon and procurement. 

EU agencies carry out specific technical, scientific or managerial tasks that help the EU institutions design and implement policies in areas such as health, safety, security, freedom and justice. In this role, they make an important contribution to the citizens’ daily lives. The number of agencies, located in different Member States, has increased over the years and currently stands at 44. 

Each year, the ECA examines the accounts of all agencies set up by the EU, the revenue they receive and the payments they make. This year, the auditors have complemented their work on the financial management aspects with an assessment of risk of conflicts of interest connected with the “revolving door” phenomenon. This risk may occur when managers or other senior officials who leave the agencies take up private-sector jobs. 

On Thursday 27 October 2022, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish its annual audit report on the European Union’s agencies and will hold an online conference with key stakeholders to discuss critical challenges for the agencies such as conflicts of interest and procurement. 

The auditors will discuss the report’s key messages and the agencies’ role for the functioning of the EU with key players in ensuring accountability and transparency of the workings of the EU bodies, as well as hear from a number of agencies’ executives themselves. The conference will consist of two panel sessions: the one on the “revolving doors” will examine how to ensure the independence of key staff, and the other on public procurement will discuss whether the EU rules are fit for all agencies regardless of their different sizes. 

Opening address will be delivered by the chair of the European Parliament’s budgetary control committee, Monika Hohlmeier. The key messages of the auditors’ report will be presented by Rimantas Šadžius who led the audit. The two panels will include the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, a Transparency International representative and the executives of the agencies’ network and of the agencies themselves.

Agenda

Sound financial management in EU agencies 27 October 2022
09:30 - 09:40	Opening of the event	Ms Monika Hohlmeier, Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, European Parliament
09:40 - 10:00	The role of EU Agencies for the functioning of the European Union – contributions to citizens daily lives	Mr Fausto Parente, Chair of the EU Agencies Network and Executive Director of the European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)  Mr Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)  Mr Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (EEA)
10:00 - 10:20	European Court of Auditors annual report on EU Agencies – key takeaways	Mr Rimantas Šadžius, Reporting Member, European Court of Auditors
10:20 - 10:30	Short break
10:30 - 11:30	Panel I:  Revolving doors – how to ensure the independence of key staff in the interest of citizens	Ms Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman Mr Mihails Kozlovs, Member, European Court of Auditors Mr Fausto Parente, Executive Director of the European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) Mr François-Louis Michaud, Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA)  Mr Vitor Teixeira, Transparency international
11:30 - 12:30	Panel II: Financial regulation and public procurement – are the rules fit for EU Agencies of different sizes?	Ms Maria Rosa Aldea Busquets, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission (DG BUDG) Ms Ioanna Metaxopoulou, Director at the European Court of Auditors Mr Krum Garkov, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-Lisa) Mr Xavier Matheu de Cortada, Director ad interim at the European Training Foundation (ETF)
12:30	Closing of the event	Moderator of the event: Mr Fabrice Mercade, European Court of Auditors