A delegation of representatives from the European Court of Auditors (ECA), led by President Lehne, visited the EIB on Tuesday, meeting President Hoyer, Vice-Presidents Peeters and Östros and other delegates to discuss relations between the two organisations.

One of the key topics of discussion for this working lunch was the new Tripartite Agreement (TPA), as the EIB, the ECA and the European Commission (EC) have recently agreed on terms after much discussion. The TPA is an agreement between the EIB, the ECA and the EC to regulate the modalities for the ECA’s performance audits of the use of EU budget funds involving the EIB.

Strengthening a key relationship

In January 2020, the first meeting between the EIB and the ECA took place to discuss the renegotiation of the TPA. In June 2021, a draft agreement was subsequently approved by the EIB Management Committee (and was also approved by the relevant bodies of the ECA and the EC).

The new TPA, once signed by all signatories (expected by the end of October), allows the ECA to have greater access to the EIB’s documents and data that relate to the activities carried out under the mandate of the EC. Data on the EIB’s Own Funds activities remain out of scope of the ECA’s audits.

The EIB would like to thank the respective teams for their hard work over the past 18 months.