On 15 November 2018, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) adopted Opinion No 9/2018 on the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation establishing the EU Anti-Fraud Programme for the 2021-2027 financing period. The successor to the current Hercule III-Programme, which expires in 2020, aims at protecting the EU’s financial interests and supporting mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States. It also aims at cooperation between the Member States and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agriculture.

The ECA recommends the following:

• Better specification of the programme’s concrete objectives and indicators to evaluate its results;
• Clarification of the frequency of performance and introduction of independent evaluators to carry out evaluations;
• Improved evaluations by the Commission of the programme’s added value and assessment of possible overlaps with other EU actions.

If the plans of the Commission are supported by the co-legislators (Council and EP), the new programme would have €181 million at its disposal for the entire period.