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Principles
We follow a standard structure to present our opinions to speed up preparation of the document and to facilitate understanding by the users.
When feasible, we share a draft of the opinion with the main stakeholder(s) before presenting it for approval.
Opinions are subject to the equivalent quality management procedures applied to performance audits - [link title="supervision%2C%20review" link="%2Faware%2FGAP%2FPages%2FSupervision-review.aspx" /]
and [link title="independent%20quality%20review" link="%2Faware%2FGAP%2FPages%2FIndependent-quality-review.aspx" /]
.
It is good practice to publish opinions for impact and transparency.
Instructions
Drafting the opinion
Draft the opinion using the following standard structure.
Introduction
Set out the reason for the ECA making the opinion by reference to the legal basis, legislative proposal and request from EU Institutions.
When necessary for the purposes of clarity provide brief background information to help readers understand the legislative proposal, including hyperlinks to sources with further detail.
Set out the scope of our opinion and any significant limitations. List any relevant previous ECA reports and opinions.
General observations
If likely to help readers understand our opinion, present general remarks on the legislative proposal and on the opinion.
Organise specific comments to follow the structure of the legislative proposal. Include clear references to the paragraphs on which we provide our comments. For long legislative proposals, consider using non-evaluative sub-headings to help the reader navigate through the text.
Wherever possible, suggest amendments to the legislative proposal to add clarity to the points we raise in our opinion. Present these suggestions and other comments we make in a table. If the table is very large, consider presenting it in an annex to the opinion.
Consultation with the main stakeholder
Share a draft of the opinion with the main stakeholder(s) before presenting it for approval, making it clear that this is an early draft not yet approved. This gives them the opportunity to consider and respond to the main elements of the opinion, and if appropriate, to start taking our suggestions into account. It is also in line with our ‘[link title="no%20surprises%20approach" link="%2Faware%2FGAP%2FPages%2FCommunication-in-audit.aspx" /]
’ and helps our opinions to be of high quality and robust. However, if the deadline for publishing the opinion is extremely short, the issues complex and/or the number of stakeholders high, consider a more limited consultation.
Publication
The chamber concerned can decide on a case-by case-basis [link new-window title="whether%20to%20publish%20opinions" link="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eca.europa.eu%2FLists%2FECADocuments%2FIMPLEMENTING_RULES_2021%2FIMPLEMENTING_RULES_2021_EN.pdf" icon="external-link" /]
.
It is good practice to publish mandatory opinions.
Non-mandatory opinions and observations on a proposal for legislation may also be published, after consulting the [link new-window title="institution%20making%20the%20request%20and%20other%20institutions%20concerned" link="https%3A%2F%2Feur-lex.europa.eu%2Flegal-content%2FEN%2FTXT%2F%3Furi%3DCELEX%3A32018R1046%23259.001" icon="external-link" /]
. These institutions have the right to provide a reply, and for that reply to be published. If they provide a reply to be published, set up a formal consultation, analogous to the [link title="adversarial%20procedure" link="%2Faware%2FPA%2FPages%2FReporting%2FAdversarial-procedure.aspx" /]
for special reports, on the draft opinion approved by the chamber.
If considered useful, complement the publication with a user-friendly summary and/or publicity material.
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[link new-window title="Art%20259(2)%20FR" link="https%3A%2F%2Feur-lex.europa.eu%2Flegal-content%2FEN%2FTXT%2F%3Furi%3DCELEX%3A32018R1046%23259.001" /]
[link new-window title="Art%2011%20ECA-RP" link="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eca.europa.eu%2FLists%2FECADocuments%2FRULES_PROCEDURE_2010%2FRULES_PROCEDURE_2010_EN.PDF" /]
[link new-window title="Art%2057%2C%2071%20ECA-IR" link="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eca.europa.eu%2FLists%2FECADocuments%2FIMPLEMENTING_RULES_2021%2FIMPLEMENTING_RULES_2021_EN.pdf" /]
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