Carlos Mendez and John Bachtler have published a paper in the Journal of European Public Policy on the EU Cohesion policy 'audit explosion'.
It argues that the audit regime corresponds to a compliance model contrasting with the New Public Management ethos inspiring administrative reforms in the Commission and moves towards performance audit in other jurisdictions.
The link between organizational efficiency and governance effectiveness is challenged, as the underlying audit and control problem in Cohesion policy - the high error rate - remains unresolved.
Lastly, the proliferation in Cohesion policy auditing is presented as a classic example of unintended consequences: originally intended to improve policy performance and accountability, it has in fact undermined the strategic performance of the policy and is even threatening its sustainability.
The article can be accessed here.