REPORT on the nomination of Pierre Moscovici as a Member of the Court of Auditors

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the nomination of Pierre Moscovici as a Member of the Court of Auditors

(C10-0220/2025 - 2025/0808(NLE))

(Consultation)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 286(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C10-0220/2025),

- having regard to Rule 133 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A10-0219/2025),

A. whereas, by letter of 29 September 2025, the Council consulted Parliament on the nomination of Pierre Moscovici as a Member of the Court of Auditors;

B. whereas Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control then proceeded to evaluate Pierre Moscovici's credentials, in particular in view of the requirements laid down in Article 286(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; whereas in carrying out that evaluation, the committee received a curriculum vitae from Pierre Moscovici, as well as the replies to the written questionnaire that he had been sent;

C. whereas the committee subsequently held a hearing with Pierre Moscovici on 5 November 2025, at which he made an opening statement and then answered questions put by the members of the committee;

1. Delivers a favourable opinion on the Council's nomination of Pierre Moscovici as a Member of the Court of Auditors;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and, for information, the Court of Auditors, the other institutions of the European Union and the audit institutions of the Member States.

ANNEX 1: CURRICULUM VITÆ OF PIERRE MOSCOVICI

Pierre Moscovici

Education

• Master's in advanced macroeconomics

• Master's in philosophy

• Sciences Po Paris

• Graduate of the French School of Public Administration (Louise Michel cohort)

Honours

• Officer of the French Order of the Legion of Honour

Career

• 03/06/2020: Inaugural President of the French Court of Auditors

• 01/11/2014: European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs

• 21/06/2012: Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance

• 06/2012: Member of the National Assembly for Doubs

• 16/05/2012: Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Foreign Trade

• 2008-2012: President of the Pays de Montbéliard Agglomeration Community Council

• 06/2007: Member of the National Assembly for Doubs

• 20/07/2004: Member of European Parliament

• 06/02/2003: Senior Magistrate at the French Court of Auditors

• 05/06/1997: Minister of State for Europe

• 06/1997: Member of the National Assembly for Doubs

• 19/07/1994: Member of European Parliament

• 01/09/1990: Head of Finance at the French General Planning Commission

• 12/05/1989: Special advisor to the Minister for National Education, Youth and Sport

• 26/05/1988: Technical advisor to the Minister for National Education, Youth and Sport

• 13/04/1988: Referendary

• 01/06/1984: Auditor at the French Court of Auditors

Other functions

• Associate Professor at Sciences Po Paris and Visiting Professor at Columbia University, City of New York, and the College of Europe, Bruges

ANNEX 2: ANSWERS BY PIERRE MOSCOVICI TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire for Candidates for Membership of the Court of Auditors

Professional experience:

1. Please list your professional experience in public finance be it in budgetary planning, budget implementation or management or budget control or auditing.

My entire career has revolved around public finances and Europe. After graduating from France's School of Public Administration, I began working as an auditor at the French Court of Auditors.

I spent six years in the civil service as a budgetary advisor to the Minister for Education and as Head of Finance at the General Planning Commission. I was then elected as an MEP and served on Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

After a stint as French Minister for European affairs between 1997 and 2002, I re-entered the European Parliament as an MEP in 2004, serving as Vice-President and on the Foreign Affairs Committee. In 2007, I was re-elected as a member of the French National Assembly. I became a member of the Finance Committee and was entrusted with scrutinising the national budget.

Between 2012 and 2024, I returned to the government as Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance. During that time, I was at the helm of France's economic policy, overseeing the preparation, implementation and audit of the national budget in the aftermath of the economic crisis and Greek debt crisis. I worked to bring the public deficit under control and to enact structural reforms to ensure that the public finances were sustainable.

As European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs between 2014 and 2019, I was responsible for scrutinising the Member States' budgets and for ensuring compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact. This experience required in-depth expertise, not only with auditing and scrutinising the public finances of the Member States, but also coordinating economic and fiscal policies.

During that time, I represented my country at numerous international financial forums, including the G7 and G20 finance summits and meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, where I have served since 2020, I command a multifaceted national audit institution. Working on behalf of the French Government, local authorities and the social security system, the Court is responsible for auditing public accounts and for ensuring that public administration is effective and properly managed. I also sought to move the Court towards appraising public policy. It now publishes some 180 reports every year, including an annual report on a specific topic and other reports compiled at the French Parliament's behest. The Court also has a certain jurisdictional authority, with public officials in France accountable to it.

2. What have been your most significant achievements in your professional career?

I have been privileged to have a number of responsibilities in the course of my career, both in France and for the EU.

During my time as French European Affairs Minister and an MEP, I was involved in the EU enlargement negotiations for prospective Central and Eastern European Member States. During the French Council Presidency in 2000, I helped to negotiate the Treaty of Nice, which paved the way for expansion. Then, as an MEP, I was a rapporteur for Romania's accession to the EU. I also represented France in the context of work on the Convention on the Future of Europe.

During my time as Economics and Finance Minister in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, I helped to usher in banking reforms and set up the French Public Investment Bank and High Council of Public Finance. This latter institution, which I now chair in my capacity as the inaugural President of the French Court of Auditors, seeks to analyse the credibility of the government's budget forecasts, and to keep the French Parliament and public informed accordingly.

As European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs I was responsible for coordinating economic policy in the EU. I embarked on tax reforms to tackle fraud and helped Greece to exit its economic adjustment programme.

As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I have overseen a comprehensive overhaul of the financial courts, which helped to modernise the Court's working methods, bolster recruitment there and engender a greater appreciation for its work, while bringing it closer to the general public

3. What has been your professional experience of international multicultural and multilinguistic organisations or institutions based outside your home country?

Throughout my career, I have had the chance to develop at a number of international and EU institutions.

I exercised my duties as an MEP alongside parliamentarians from the rest of the EU. This experience enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings behind interparliamentary cooperation and to hone my ability to play an effective part in discussions with counterparts from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.

Then, as European commissioner, I implemented policies and coordinated work in a multicultural, multilingual and interinstitutional environment. In that connection, I worked closely with national governments, other European commissioners, Parliament and the Council, most notably during the sovereign debt crisis.

Since 2020, I have continued to operate in the global sphere, carrying out audit work on behalf of the French Court of Auditors for a number of international organisations, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the World Trade Organization and, as of 2025, the International Organization for Migration. I have also chaired the UN Board of Auditors since early 2025. These endeavours have seen me work with institutions outside France, including partners from different administrative and legal traditions.

4. Have you been granted discharge for the management duties you carried out previously, if such a procedure applies?

Not applicable.

5. Which of your previous professional positions were a result of a political nomination?

I was elected to public office a number of times between 1984 and 2011, both at a local (general councillor, regional councillor, chair of an agglomeration community) and national (member of the National Assembly) level. I have also served as a minister, having been recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the president, and as a European commissioner. Then, in June 2020, I was made the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, having been appointed by the French President acting within the Council of Ministers.

6. What are the three most important decisions to which you have been party in your professional life?

If I had to choose three important decisions that have shaped my professional life, they would be:

- Taking part in EU accession negotiations

Both as French European Affairs Minister and as an MEP, I was involved in the negotiations that culminated in 12 Central and Eastern European countries joining the EU in 2004 and 2007. It had always been my conviction that Europe was the sum of its Member States and that, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it had to expand to take on countries that formed an integral part of the continent and the European project. I pushed for an open and rigorous process, which had to include putting EU law on the statute book and meeting the Copenhagen criteria. In that context, I had the opportunity to visit all of the prospective Central and Eastern European Member States on a number of occasions, which reconciled me to the view that a 'greater Europe' would be a force to be reckoned with.

3. Supporting Greece during the euro area crisis

As European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, I was directly involved in the negotiations to stop Greece crashing out of the euro area. This marked an extremely important moment not only in my own career, but also - I firmly believe - in the recent history of European integration. With Greece close to defaulting on its debt, Europe was deeply divided on what to do, while trust among the public was wavering. I worked to ensure that Athens and the EU institutions continued to engage in discussions and to consolidate the status of the euro. Thanks to the agreement brokered in summer 2015, Greece managed to exit from its economic adjustment programme, helping it to stave off economic collapse and preserving the vital unity of the euro area. With Greece now back on the path to economic growth, I believe that the stance Europe took then, aided in part by my own mediation alongside Jean-Claude Juncker, is one of the proudest achievements of my life.

3. Transforming the French Court of Auditors

Since 2020, I have exercised an independent mandate as President of the French Court of Auditors. After I took over, I embarked on an ambitious project to overhaul the institution to make it more accessible and transparent and to revamp the management structure. Not only did I bring in proper public policy assessments on the basis of a specific methodology, I also pushed for all of the Court's reports to be made public (as of 2023), for the annual report to be published on a specific topic, and for the Court to occupy a central position in the public debate, not least on issues surrounding public finances.

Independence

7. The Treaty stipulates that the Members of the Court of Auditors must be 'completely independent' in the performance of their duties. How would you act on this obligation in the discharge of your prospective duties?

Since becoming the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors in June 2020, I have discharged my duties completely autonomously of both the executive and the legislative branch. This experience has cemented my belief that independence is a sine qua non for ensuring that the Court's work is credible, transparent and effective.

Above all, this means not taking orders, directives or instructions from authorities in the political, administrative or private spheres. Being able to act and to think freely must also apply to the ways in which audits are planned and carried out and reports are compiled and published, without interference or external pressure. I will be committed to being completely independent in my duties, while scrupulously adhering to the professional, ethical and procedural standards incumbent upon ECA Members.

All that being said, an independent institution need not mean a remote one. After all, under the Treaties, the ECA is required to work closely with other EU institutions, including the Commission, the Council, Parliament and the supreme audit institutions of the Member States. This cooperation, which is underpinned by constructive dialogue and an open exchange of information, is crucial for improving how audits are carried out and making them more effective. To this end, I will be able to draw on my experience at the French Court of Auditors which, by providing independent support to the constitutional powers, navigates a middle ground between the government and the parliament.

I will ensure that such cooperation is undertaken with the utmost regard for the fundamental principle of independence, and will not allow external influences to affect my impartiality or freedom of analysis. In my view, reconciling independence and cooperation is the key to maintaining the trust of both Europeans and the institutions in the fundamental role played by the ECA.

Finally, I believe that respecting the ECA's independence means making an enduring commitment to integrity, professional ethics and transparency before the public.

8. Do you or your close relatives (parents, brothers and sisters, legal partner and children) have any business or financial holdings or any other commitments, which might conflict with your prospective duties?

I have no business or financial holdings, nor any other commitments liable to pose such risks. My brother has sole proprietorship of a property advisory firm.

9. Are you prepared to disclose all your financial interests and other commitments to the President of the Court and to make them public?

Yes, of course. I also did this for my roles at Parliament, the French Government and the Commission.

10. Are you involved in any current legal proceedings? If so, please provide us with details.

No.

11. Do you have any active or executive role in politics? If so, at what level? Have you held any political position during the last 18 months? If so, please provide us with details.

I have been out of politics since 2014. As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I am bound by a duty of impartiality and neutrality, which I have strictly heeded. I would continue to be politically neutral as a Member of the ECA.

12. Will you step down from any elected office or give up any active function with responsibilities in a political party if you are appointed as a Member of the Court?

I am not in elected office and no longer a member of a political party.

13. How would you deal with a major irregularity or even fraud in EU funds and/or corruption case involving persons in your Member State of origin?

My approach to an irregularity or case of fraud or corruption would be consistent, regardless of whether it involved a person in France or not. All EU citizens, irrespective of their origin or nationality, are accountable to the same legal and ethical standards. During my time at the Commission, I was a bona fide European commissioner - not the Commissioner for France - and my work was rooted in the general European interest.

I will ensure that each case is handled with the utmost impartiality, on the basis of the facts and with regard for due process, eschewing any special protection or treatment on the basis of nationality. The ECA's credibility and integrity hinges on equal treatment and absolute impartiality.

Performance of duties

14. What should be the main features of a sound financial management culture in any public service? How could the ECA help to enforce it?

Speaking from the benefit of my experience at various French and EU institutions, I believe that public services cannot function effectively without adroit and meticulous financial management. Sound financial management is not only a crucial lever for effective public policy, it is also vital for ensuring that people continue to trust national governments and EU institutions in the context of such action.

To that end, I believe that a number of steps should be taken:

3. providing predictability for expenditure and the resources required, so that a balance may consistently be struck between objectives and the measures taken to achieve them. This requires clear and pragmatic budget planning based on reliable data and calculated assumptions;

3. implementing the budget in accordance with legal, regulatory and budgetary requirements, in a rigorous, transparent and accountable manner. Every stage of the public spending process must be duly justified and substantiated so that managers may be held accountable and audits carried out to good effect;

3. carrying out ex post assessments to ascertain legal and financial compliance and ensure that spending is truly effective. It is essential to evaluate the extent to which allocated funding has enabled the desired results to be achieved and the needs of public services to be genuinely met. Such an assessment is an invaluable tool for guiding future decisions and improving governance.

As an independent and expert institution, the ECA plays a key role in promoting and consolidating these principles. By carrying out audits and checks and issuing recommendations, the ECA helps to ensure that public finances are managed properly, effectively and transparently.

15. Under the Treaty, the Court is required to assist Parliament in exercising its powers of control over the implementation of the budget. How would you further improve the cooperation between the Court and the European Parliament (in particular, its Committee on Budgetary Control) to enhance both the public oversight of the general spending and its value for money?

As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I have had the chance to ramp up cooperation with the French Parliament, including its committees responsible for budgetary control. This experience has convinced me that systematic and regular dialogue between the Court and Parliament is a key lever for enhancing public oversight of general spending and the value for money delivered by public policy. Having already served as a member of parliament, I am particularly mindful of this issue, and believe that it is crucial for ensuring that parliamentarians are properly informed and for engendering public trust in the institutions.

In order to enhance cooperation between the ECA and the European Parliament, and its Committee on Budgetary Control in particular, and in keeping with recent developments, a number of approaches could be considered, namely:

- continuing to strengthen information-sharing and to enhance transparency, so that the ECA's work may be made swiftly and readily available;

- enhancing dialogue between the ECA and the European Parliament, including its Committee on Budgetary Control, in order to exchange audit methodologies and adjust priorities to pressing political and economic concerns, where necessary;

- fostering cooperation in how audits are planned, while ensuring that the ECA's status as a fully independent institution is respected;

- focusing on communicating results on a broad scale, including to members of parliament and the public as a whole.

16. What do you think is the added value of performance audit? What added value do you think performance auditing brings and how should the findings be incorporated in management procedures?

Performance auditing is an essential part of public finance oversight. It is about ensuring not only legal and financial compliance, but also the efficiency and effectiveness of public policymaking. This approach makes it possible to assess the extent to which the resources deployed have enabled a desired objective to be achieved, and to identify areas for improvement with a view to optimising governance. This is something I am particularly mindful of. As the first ever President of the French Court of Auditors, I have sought to develop public policy as an area of particular focus for French financial courts. What is more, when I was European commissioner, I was responsible for a number of departments in EU public administration, and therefore understood the value of performance auditing in delivering constant improvements to practices and processes.

The added value of audit reports resides in their capacity to offer an in-depth and factual analysis of the results obtained, the methods employed and the processes followed. In this way, they provide clear information to help decision-makers, managers and lawmakers improve the decision-making process, make adjustments to programmes and better meet the needs of the general public.

If performance audit recommendations are to have a genuine impact, they must be systematically and carefully incorporated in management procedures. This involves doing a number of things:

- adapting the legislative framework in order to incorporate good practices and rectify any shortcomings identified by performance audits;

- putting meticulous arrangements in place to follow up on audit recommendations, including clear indicators and specific deadlines;

- engendering a culture of continuous assessment in European public administration, which should include promoting transparency, making managers accountable and encouraging innovation in working practices;

- enhancing dialogue between auditors and managers, in order to promote lessons learned and put them into practice.

Ultimately, performance auditing should not be regarded merely as a necessary formality. Rather, it should be seen as a genuine tool for continuous improvement to help optimise how public funds are used and to engender greater trust in the ability of institutions to provide good quality public services.

17. How could cooperation between the Court of Auditors, the national audit institutions and the European Parliament (Committee on Budgetary Control) on auditing of the EU budget be improved?

Cooperation between the ECA, the national audit institutions and the European Parliament (including its Committee on Budgetary Control) is crucial for ensuring effective, consistent and additional oversight of the EU budget.

Cooperation arrangements are already in place, including the EU Contact Committee, in which both the French Court of Auditors and the ECA play a concerted role. This committee serves as a forum to exchange best practices, coordinate audit activities and prevent duplication in how the public finances of the EU and the Member State are overseen.

To continue enhancing this cooperation, a number of avenues could be explored, namely:

- strengthening the role of the EU Contact Committee, by handing it greater scope with a view to coordinating audit programmes on a more systematic basis and better elucidating reports and recommendations;

- promoting regular and carefully organised exchanges between auditors and MEPs;

- working to ensure that audit results are shared and made widely available, including by using digital platforms to facilitate shared access to information and analysis.

It should also be noted that national and European issues are closely interlinked. As such, an integrated approach to the oversight of public finances is required. In this connection, the 2027 French Court of Auditors annual report will examine how EU funds are used across all areas of government action in France. This underscores a general desire to better understand and appraise relationships between the Member States and the EU.

18. How would you further develop the reporting of the ECA to give the European Parliament all the necessary information on the accuracy of the data provided by the Member States to the European Commission?

In order to enable the European Parliament to fully exercise its supervisory role, the information provided in ECA reports must be clear, complete and accessible. My initial observation would be that ECA audits have improved markedly in recent years and have become increasingly accessible: they now include summaries, press releases and properly ordered information.

To continue these endeavours, ECA reports could explain the methodologies used to confirm that the data obtained is reliable, the possible limitations of such checks, and the exact sources of information gathered from the Member States. Making the ECA's working methods transparent in this way is crucial to enable MEPs to properly grasp the extent and reliability of report findings.

Furthermore, reports could more explicitly highlight potential risks, irregularities and inconsistencies. In order to facilitate decision-making, this information could be summarised in comparison tables or graphs to enable readers to swiftly identify shortcomings and broad trends.

Alongside these findings, in order to improve the internal procedures used for checking and validating data in the Member States, recommendations should be published that are reasonably straightforward to put into practice.

Other questions

19. Will you withdraw your candidacy if Parliament's opinion on your appointment as Member of the Court is unfavourable?

Having twice served as an MEP, I hold Parliament's opinion in the utmost esteem. Parliament is a key democratic player in how the EU operates. It is vital that Parliament has confidence in ECA Members. Such trust serves to enhance the independence and credibility of our institution vis-à-vis EU citizens. I will therefore respect the opinion of the Committee on Budgetary Control, and hope that it deems me to have satisfied all of the criteria required of prospective ECA Members, as stipulated by the Treaties.

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The rapporteur declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his report input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register[1], or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE