Report on the Dutch EU member state declaration 2009

Opinion on preparation
The EU member state declaration for 2009, as issued by the Minister of Finance on behalf of the government, was on the whole prepared in a sound manner.

Opinion on the assertions made on management and control systems
The assertions made in the EU member state declaration 2009 regarding the performance of the management and control systems (and the measures they include) in place in the Netherlands for the agricultural funds remitted and received by the Netherlands in 2009 are sound. In our opinion, the member state declaration should provide more insight into the Netherlands' exposure to the financial risks arising from the investigations currently being carried out by the European Commission and the potential resultant financial corrections.

The assertions made in the member state declaration 2009 regarding the performance of the management and control systems (and the measures they include) in place in the Netherlands for the three structural funds and the four migration funds, in so far as they fall within the scope of the member state declaration, are sound.

The declaration includes a reservation regarding the shortcomings detected in the performance of the management and control systems in place for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Opinion on the assertions made on financial transactions
The member state declaration includes a positive assertion on financial transactions from the agricultural funds down to the level of the financial beneficiaries. We cannot express an opinion on the assertions made on financial transactions from the structural funds and the migration funds this year because no expenditure from these funds has been declared yet to the European Commission.

About the member state declaration
The EU member state declaration is addressed to the European Commission and the Dutch parliament. The Netherlands introduced it in order to improve management, control and accountability for the EU funds that it spends under shared management with the European Commission. The member state declaration is issued annually by the Minister of Finance on behalf of the government. The Court of Audit was asked to express an opinion on the Dutch EU member state declaration each year. This is the fourth year in which it has done so.

The Dutch EU member state declaration for 2009 considers expenditure that the Netherlands has incurred and claimed from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Net agricultural expenditure in 2009 totalled €1,082.6 million and net claims totalled €15.9 million.

The structural funds were included in the member state declaration for the first time in the previous year. These funds are the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Fisheries Fund (EFF). The migration funds were included for the first time this year. These funds are the European Refugee Fund, the European External Borders Fund, the European Return Fund and the European Integration Fund. The Netherlands did not claim any expenditure from the European Commission in 2009 in respect of the structural funds and the migration funds.

We recommend that the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) and the Minister of Finance indicate in the notes to the sub-declaration and the member state declaration respectively the extent of the financial risk to the Netherlands of the European Commission's current investigations.

We asked the Minister of Finance to provide a joint response to our report on behalf of the Ministers of LNV, Economic Affairs, Social Affairs and Employment, Justice, Housing, Communities and Integration and himself. We received such a joint response from the Minister of Finance on behalf of the government and the ministries concerned on 4 May 2010.  We read with pleasure that the ministers intended to follow up the recommendations.