The 2021–25 ECA Strategy — what is key and what is new about it?

In January 2021, the ECA College adopted the ECA 2021–2025 Strategy. What does this strategy contain? And in which way does it differ from the ECA’s previous strategy? In this article, Andreas Bolkart, the Principal Manager who leads the strategy and planning team in the Directorate of the Presidency that supported the 2021–2025 strategy development process in the ECA, takes a step back and seeks to identify the essence of the new strategy. He provides two insights, first by means of a concentrated visual overview, and second through an analysis of what new orientations and change messages emerge when comparing the new strategy with the previous one.

By Andreas Bolkart, Directorate of the Presidency

A core message: an important feature of a good strategy

The term strategy has a military origin: a strategy is a comprehensive plan to achieve a better position in war and combat, but also in times of peace. It is successful if all generals and officers, and ideally all soldiers too, can understand it and put it into action. The same principle applies to the strategy of an organisation, such as the European Court of Auditors.

The easier it is to transmit the core change message of a strategy, the more likely it is that it will reach people inside and outside the organisation. That in turn increases the chances of instigating action, the ultimate goal of any strategy. For effective communication, shared ownership and implementation, it should be possible to reduce a strategy, even the most elaborate planning or multi-annual masterplan, to a core change message, a statement, a slogan or a motto. Often, this is easier said than done…

The 2021–2025 ECA Strategy ‘in a nutshell’

So what is the 2021–2025 ECA strategy ‘in a nutshell?’ Below I offer two complementary attempts to answer this question . First, with the help of the ECA’s graphic design team, I have condensed the strategy into a two-page infographic (Figure 1). Second, in the following paragraphs, I present the essence of the strategy based on an analysis of the most novel ideas in the strategy text. It is up to you to decide which of the two ‘strategy nutshells’ you like better…

Figure 1 — Infographic of the ECA 2021–25 Strategy

What is the essential change message in the strategy text?

Filtering out the essence of an already rather concentrated text is necessarily somewhat subjective, as each person might see different points of emphasis. As a start, one can easily identify parts of the text that reiterate the ECA’s mandate, principles and previous orientations. This is the case for the first part of the mission statement and the values. Several affirmations under the three goals and the information under the headings in the section ‘enabling our action’ also reaffirm previous orientations or describe how the operational implications of the strategy will remain the same. These statements are important as they signal continuity and a confirmation of the ECA’s core mandate and values. But they do not reveal in what direction the ECA will push for further development.

The mission and the vision statements are good potential sources of change messages, in particular if we look at differences between the 2018–2020 strategy and the new one. If we leave out the goals the ECA already set in the previous strategy and mission statement, the following novel items emerge. The ECA aims to respond effectively to current and future challenges facing the EU, be at the forefront of the public audit profession, and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable EU which upholds the values on which it is based. These statements illustrate that the ECA wants to take a forward-looking stance , sees responsibility for developing the public audit profession as a whole, and it places its audit work in the context of achieving the EU objectives of resilience, sustainability and defence of its values. This aligns the ECA with the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission, who have set these concepts as key strategic objectives.

Goal 1 ‘Improving accountability, transparency and audit arrangements across all types of EU action’ has many elements of continuity when it comes to promoting accountability and transparency. However, it takes a somewhat more proactive stance as to the scope of this work when stating that it aims to identify audit and accountability gaps as well as overlapping and duplicating audit activities in the EU’s current and future architecture. Here we can see objectives concerned with actively finding and closing audit gaps, improving audit efficiency, and — again — we see a future-orientation. The ECA also states that the best solution would be for the ECA to be mandated to audit all EU institutions and bodies set up by the Treaties, but also all intergovernmental structures that are of key relevance for the functioning of the EU. This shows a very holistic interpretation of the ECA’s contribution to EU accountability.

The four strategic areas under Goal 2 ‘Targeting our performance audits on the areas and topics where we can add most value’ represent an evolution from the previous strategy. They bring new points of emphasis such as competitiveness, respect for the European values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law and fiscal policies and public finances in the Union. Dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, in particular the management of the Next Generation EU recovery programme, features prominently in both Goals 2 and 3, i.e. from a performance and statement of assurance audit perspective.

A change theme that is resonating strongly is digitalisation, by making enhanced use of data and IT tools in the statement of assurance work under Goal 1 and to take advantage of new IT tools in all audit work as expressed under the heading ‘Using technology in audit.’ The same section also shows that the digital agenda does not stop at the ECA’s own work but that the ECA will promote the development and deployment of digital practices in the management and control of EU policies and programmes. Finally, the ECA signals that it intends to lead by example in efficiency by proposing to realise additional productivity gains in our performance audit practice (Goal 2), to increase efficiency of resources used for our assurance work (Goal 3) and achieve productivity gains in our work (in the final section ‘Our own accountability’).

In a nutshell: continuity, but some noteworthy new orientations

To conclude, this short analysis shows that the 2021–2025 ECA strategy represents a continuation of the general course of the ECA. However, when looking at differences between the previous and the new strategy, a number of nuances and new elements of emphasis emerge that give indications of how the organisation will evolve in the next five years. These include placing its audit work in the context of contributing to EU values — such as democracy and rule of law — and EU objectives — such as resilience and sustainability. A more proactive stance towards EU accountability gaps and auditing the EU COVID-19 crisis management and recovery efforts also plays an important role. Finally, the ECA signals that digitalisation of audit work, forward looking risk analysis and efficiency improvements in its work will be key objectives.

However, do not take my word for it. Take a look at the 2021–2025 ECA strategy yourself!