The principle of sound financial management is one of the fundamental principles of managing the general budget of the EU. The starting point of the research is the hypothesis that, in the context of shared management of EU funds, the principle of sound financial management is reflected in a number of specificities arising from the management of EU funds through national authorities rather than in a centralised way at the EU level, such as in the case of budgetary spending in individual states or centrally regulated federal states.
In the dissertation, the shared management system is placed in the broader context of a multi-level EU governance model, which points to the need to strengthen the symbiotic relationship between the Commission and the Member States, which can lead to an optimal EU added value of EU funds under shared management, from where I substantiate my basic idea of a symbiotic model of optimal EU value for money.
In my dissertation, I focus on exploring specific aspects of the principle of sound financial management, as reflected through the regulatory framework for managing EU funds in the context of the division of tasks in the shared management system in the case of combatting intentional irregularities and in the case of financial correction systems for breaches of public procurement rules. It is in these areas that most problems are detected, as reflected in the many detected violations of EU law and the resulting financial corrections.
In examining these areas of concern in the light of the principle of sound financial management, I try to critically assess the current regime and build on that criticism with proposals of amendments to EU legislation, since financial corrections serve more to punish Member States than to achieve the objective of protecting the EU's financial interests.
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