Information note by the European Court of Auditors concerning Special Report No 9/2008 – ‘The effectiveness of EU support in the area of freedom, security and justice for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine’

Following the enlargements of 2004 and 2007, the EU became a direct neighbour of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The Commission made considerable EU funds available to these countries (166 million euro in the period 2000-2005) to improve their capacity in the areas of: border control; migration/asylum management; fight against organised crime; and judiciary and good governance. The greater part of the assistance was delivered through international organisations. The Commission limited assistance to Belarus due to a lack of respect for democracy and human rights.

The purpose of the Court’s audit was to determine the success of the EU support, to establish reasons for possible underperformance and to see to what extent the Commission had a process in place to take into account lessons learned for continued assistance in this field.