somes

Lessons from EU Enlargements for Budget Management

Summary

This report evaluates how EU funds have been managed in Member States that joined after 2004, emphasizing administrative capacity and digital tools over formal governance models.
10 23.06.2026
Other
european union
budgetary control
public administration
simplification of legislation

Key points

  • The success of managing EU funds depends more on the quality and stability of national administrations than on whether they are centralized or decentralized.
  • National governments often add extra, unnecessary rules (known as 'gold-plating') that increase bureaucracy for those receiving funds.
  • Having highly qualified and stable staff is the most important factor in ensuring EU programs perform well.
  • Modernizing digital tools and ensuring different computer systems can work together is essential for transparency and preventing fraud.
Documents (PDFs)
DRAFT REPORT on evaluating the successes achieved and lessons learned from EU enlargements since 2004 in the implementation of the EU budget
These raw data are provided by the Open Data Portal of the European Union (data.europa.eu) and are licensed under ODC-BY 1.0.