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BRUSSELS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission needs to further strengthen its governance right across the institution to address key risks, according to a new report from the European Court of Auditors on Tuesday.
As the executive body and one of the most important institutions of the European Union, the European Commission has taken some actions to modernize its governance in recent years, the report said. However, the auditors found that in several areas, the institution diverges from, or does not fully adhere to, international best practice.
After examining the institution's governance arrangements with a focus on audit, financial management and control, the auditors found recent organizational reforms are beginning to address some of the risks of a "silo" culture, but the European Commission still needs to further strengthen governance across the institution as a whole.
The auditors pointed out that while the European Commission's own audit service focuses on internal control, responsibility for overseeing spending outside the institution lies with the individual directorates and units.
"This limits the information available to the Audit and its composition is more limited than audit committees at similar international bodies," the report said.
Meanwhile, although the European Commission has recently begun to supply non-financial information to accompany the accounts, it still provides less non-financial information alongside its accounts than comparable organizations, according to the report.
Therefore, the auditors advised the institution to invite its Internal Audit Service to carry out more work on high-level governance issues. They also recommended that the European Commission should bring together information already available into a single accountability report presented for audit in a timely manner.
"Getting governance right is a priority in the public and in the private sector", said Lazaros S. Lazarou, the Member of the Court of Auditors responsible for the report.
"The Commission's current governance is functional, but it is in need of an update. The Commission needs to be a role model in governance, at the forefront of developments in best practice," the auditor added. Enditem
