External publications

’We do not see the problem, but agree with your solution’: the European Court of Auditors and the politics of evaluation in EU development policy

in: Journal of European Integration, first published 15.04.2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2025.2491625
Open access

This article investigates to what extent the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) have contested evaluations by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Adopting a constructivist framing approach, the article investigates key diagnostic and prognostic frames in ECA performance audits through a qualitative content analysis. The empirical findings point to a strongly critical engagement of the ECA with the EU’s development policy interventions, particularly on their efficiency. In turn, there is a strong pattern of contestation observable in the responses by the Commission and the EEAS to diagnostic frames. In contrast, the findings point to little contestation over prognostic frames, although the analysis also reveals that the institutions often engage with recommendations provided by the ECA only superficially. Overall, the analysis suggests that the acceptance of the validity of findings of ECA performance audits in EU development policy by the Commission and the EEAS is limited.

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Bergmann, Julian

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