Cohesion projects need better monitoring, say auditors

The EU’s auditing body has criticised how member states select and monitor regional ‘cohesion’ projects, some of which involve research and innovation.

Despite previous warnings to the European Commission, and some improvements, member states’ selection of cohesion projects still focuses too much on outputs and spending rather than results, the European Court of Auditors reported on 4 September.

Furthermore, “shortcomings in monitoring make it difficult to assess the extent to which EU funding has contributed to EU and member state objectives”, the auditors said.