Court of Auditors' Special Report No 11/2003

of 2 March 2004

on the financial instrument for the environment (LIFE) - Council Conclusions

(2004/C 61/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. WELCOMES the Court of Auditors' special report No 11/2003, which examined the conception, management and implementation of the financial instrument for the environment (LIFE);

2. AGREES with the Court's assessment that LIFE has been an important instrument of the Community's environmental policy; and RECALLS that LIFE remains the only instrument dedicated to supporting this policy;

3. NOTES that the Court's audit focused in particular on the second phase of LIFE (1996 to 1999);

4. FURTHER NOTES that the Court's main recommendations are that:

(a) the role of LIFE be made clearer, particularly in relation to Environmental Action Programmes, and that precise objectives for the instrument, quantified where possible, be defined;

(b) the Commission's existing management procedures be improved. In particular, the Court recommended:

(i) improved inter-service consultation to avoid double-funding;

(ii) the use of outside experts for the evaluation of proposals under all three strands of the instrument, to guarantee transparency of procedures; and

(iii) establishing a more precise definition of eligible costs and improved controls for land purchases;

(c) there is a need for improved monitoring, control and evaluation on the part of the Commission, including:

(i) maintaining and, if possible, increasing the number and quality of on-the-spot checks on projects; and

(ii) through external audits of projects;

(iii) by introducing, into the strategy for the dissemination of project results, instruments to analyse the effectiveness and measure the impact of projects;

(d) more attention be given to using the results of projects, in order to ensure that a satisfactory relationship is achieved between financing and the attainment of environmental policy objectives;

5. APPRECIATES the Commission's constructive response to the special report; and NOTES, in particular, that the Commission has already introduced measures which have improved the management of the current, third phase (2000 to 2004) along the lines of many of the Court's recommendations;

6. WELCOMES the Commission's report to the European Parliament and the Council of 5 November 2003 on the Mid-Term Review of Regulation (EC) No 1655/2000 which, although relating to the current phase of LIFE, is largely based on projects financed under the previous phase of LIFE; and NOTES that it recommended a simplification of the management of the instrument, improved focus on the priorities of the Sixth Environment Action Programme and to better the use and dissemination of results, which is again in line with the Court's recommendations;

7. SUPPORTS the Commission's recent initiative to propose an extension of the current phase of LIFE until 2006 and to incorporate in that extension certain other recommendations of the Court;

8. EXPRESSES some reservations about the Court's recommendations on the definition of eligible costs as regards salary costs and land purchases; and CONSIDERS that these recommendations will require careful consideration;

9. CALLS UPON the Commission to have regard to the remaining recommendations of the special report and of the mid-term review in its future management and implementation of LIFE.