Financial accountability and the quality of performance in EU cohesion policy. The case of Italy

This chapter focuses on the linkage between the financial and performance dimensions of accountability in EU cohesion policy, showing how accountability mechanisms have gradually evolved beyond the financial audit remit. It illustrates how the logics of compliance and appropriateness have combined in the design of the system of multiple controls and obligations, increasingly covering such important performance aspects as monitoring, evaluation and transparency in the management of European structural and investment funds (ESIF). Drawing on the analysis of the implementation of programmes co-funded by ESIFs in five Italian regions, the findings bring evidence that the linkage between the financial and performance dimensions of accountability is stronger when the logic of appropriateness prevails in the implementation process, notwithstanding the fact that the EU exerts stronger regulatory pressure with regard to the financial rather than performance criteria of accountability.