On the choice of performance indicators for audit and budgetary control in the context of financing measures to support the implementation of future European competitiveness
A-10-2025-0268
Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Olivier Chastel
- Voted on · Adopted 318–247–67 · See the decision →
- Full procedure 2025/2034
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This resolution addresses the choice of performance indicators for audit and budgetary control of EU financing measures supporting competitiveness. It calls for a simplified, harmonised performance framework with reliable, result- and impact-oriented indicators, and proposes specific indicators for innovation, industrial relocation, energy, skills, and administrative burden.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Budgetary Control proposes a resolution calling for a more effective performance framework for EU spending, with a focus on result and impact indicators, simplification, and robust audit and control.¶¶¶
Key points
- Calls for performance indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART), derived from programme objectives, and balanced across input, output, result and impact indicators.¶
- Regrets that most indicators are input/output and that baseline data is often missing; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure indicators are measurable, verifiable, traceable to contract and beneficiary level, with clear baselines and definitions.¶
- Notes the complexity and fragmentation of the current framework, with over 5 000 indicators under the 2021-2027 MFF and around 7 000 milestones under the RRF; calls for a more comprehensive, harmonised and transparent framework for future instruments.¶¶
- Calls for simplification of the performance framework, reducing administrative burden especially for SMEs and local authorities, applying the 'once-only' principle, and ensuring transparency and auditability.¶¶
- Insists on public availability of indicator data and methodologies in real time, traceability to final beneficiary level, and inclusion of social and environmental footprint information.¶
- Demands mandatory ex ante and ex post verification of milestones and targets, systematic referral of suspected fraud to OLAF and EPPO, and possibility to suspend payments.¶
- Calls for independent verification of performance data by national audit bodies and the ECA, with results available to Parliament and citizens.¶
- Considers rule of law an essential precondition for competitiveness and calls for indicators related to justice, anti-corruption and checks and balances.¶
- Calls for a shift from spending rates to result and impact indicators that capture real effects on competitiveness, such as productivity growth, emissions reduction, job creation, and leverage of private investment.¶¶
- Proposes specific output, result and impact indicators for innovation projects, industrial relocation, energy purchasing, skills development, and administrative burden reduction.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- The Commission and Member States are called on to improve performance indicators and data reliability for EU-funded projects.¶¶
- Small and medium-sized enterprises and local authorities would benefit from reduced administrative burden and simplified reporting.¶
- Beneficiaries of EU funds, including final beneficiaries, would be subject to greater transparency and traceability requirements.¶
- National audit bodies and the European Court of Auditors would be involved in independent verification of performance data.¶
Figures and deadlines
- Over 5 000 heterogeneous performance indicators are used under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework.¶
- Around 7 000 milestones and targets have been set under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Legal basis: Article 318 and Article 322(1)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union¶