THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CLIMATE CHANGE: AN AUDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Combating climate change has become one of the most important policy areas at the national and international level in order to protect the world and ensure sustainability in social and economic life. With its communication on a European Green Deal of December 2019, the European Commission aimed to put the European Union (EU) at the forefront of the fight against climate change and make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. As the supreme audit institution of the EU, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has increased its role in parallel with the rising leadership of the EU in the fight against climate change. This article reviews the developments in the EU’s climate policy and introduces key aspects of the ECA’s responses to the relevant challenges through audit reports, taking into account the ECA’s future perspective. The aim of the research is to evaluate how the ECA responds to climate change related challenges in line with the EU’s strengthened policy in this area. ECA’s main contributions to the implementation of these climate change policies are promoting and disseminating best practices, facilitating institutional learning, and triggering a broader accountability through informing both the institutional and civil accountability actors in the EU. In parallel with the EU’s performance in this area, the ECA is expected to take more initiatives in the upcoming period and contribute to the achievement of a carbon-neutral Europe.