Upcoming special report on JASPERS regional support (publication: Thursday 11 January 2018)

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report 'Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS) - time for better targeting' on Thursday 11 January 2017 at 11h30 in 23 EU languages.

ABOUT THE AUDIT

This report assesses whether JASPERS has made a positive contribution to the development and overall quality of the EU co-financed projects in those Member States it supported, as well as improved their administrative capacity. The auditors visited Croatia, Malta, Poland and Romania, and the audit covered the period from when JASPERS began operations in 2006 until the end of 2016.

The report is expected to identify weaknesses in targeting of JASPERS activities, which - together with other shortcomings - put at risk the initiative's success, in particular in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The auditors are expected to make a number of recommendations to the Commission, including on planning, monitoring, evaluation and independent reviewing.

ABOUT THE TOPIC

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) set up JASPERS to provide Member States joining after 2004 with independent, free-of-charge advice to help them prepare high-quality proposals for large-sale regional investment projects. Managed by the EIB, JASPERS is jointly financed by the EIB, the Commission (through the EU budget) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The three partners vote unanimously to take strategic decisions on the direction and supervision of the initiative

The actual cost of JASPERS, between commencing operations in 2006 and the end of 2016, was about €284 million, with around 79% of funding coming from the EU budget. The total amount invested in the 963 major projects approved between 2006 and end 2016 was around €77.6 billion, of which the EU contribution totalled €46.2 billion.

The ECA's special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.