Verification of Gross National Income for financing the EU budget. Risks in data compilation well covered overall, but scope for increased prioritisation of actions

Summary:

​​The Gross National Income (GNI)-based own resource is the main source of financing for the EU budget. To ensure that Member States pay the correct amount of national contributions, the Commission checks the quality of their GNI data in multi-annual verification cycles.

We examined the most recently completed GNI verification cycle (2016-2019) to assess whether the Commission had managed it effectively and efficiently. We found that, overall, the Commission was effective in identifying high-risk issues, but did not address all of them in a timely manner.

We make recommendations to the Commission aimed in particular at increasing prioritisation of high-risk issues and further improving the efficiency of the verification cycle.

• Alternative Source 1
• Alternative Source 2