Subject: ECA Journal – Accountability and transparency: arrangements and practices
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:07:30 +0200

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Dear Reader,

The edition of the ECA Journal with as theme ‘Accountability and 
transparency: arrangements and practices’ has just been published and is 
available on our website by clicking here 
<https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications/JOURNAL-2024-01> .

Experts agree that the role and tasks of the European Union have increased 
substantially in recent decades, whether financially through an increased 
budget, through law-making, or internationally in areas of trade, energy or 
security. Have accountability and transparency arrangements kept pace to 
ensure those given power are held to account? This is particularly relevant 
in today’s global context, where the fragility of values such as 
accountability and transparency is increasingly evident. Without 
accountability there can be no democratic control and hence, sooner or 
later, no legitimacy. With elections for the European Parliament coming up 
in June this year, now is the time for EU citizens to insist those in power 
answer for their performance while in office.

What does accountability mean, and what processes are needed to exercise 
accountability in practice? How does governance relate to trust, what is the 
role of external audit in the accountability chain, and what is 
indispensable to close the accountability loop? What hazards and traps are 
there, particularly in the EU? Accountability and transparency are clearly 
at the heart of the ECA’s core business and, as many contributors to this 
Journal point out, for many others in the EU too. We feature interviews with 
reputed experts on accountability, such as Professor Mark Bovens, top 
executives such as Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, and Monika 
Hohlmeier, who, as Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, is the European 
Parliament’s ‘Ms Public Scrutiny’. As audit is an indispensable link to 
accountability, there are also contributions from ECA President Tony Murphy 
and two of his colleagues, and other audit experts. European Ombudsman Emily 
O’Reilly explains how accountability is primordial for good public 
administration. Lastly, we offer insights from academics and experts 
regarding the historical dimension of accountability, its application in 
practice, and the role of standard-setting bodies and non-institutional 
actors such as the media. This Journal covers a theme which is relevant to 
all policy areas, as it touches on principles which are indispensable for 
effective and legitimate governance both in and outside the EU.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

Kind regards,

________________________

Gaston Moonen

Editor in Chief

Directorate of the Presidency

European Court of Auditors

[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>

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