The European Commission has announced the inclusion of 2009 data into the Financial Transparency System (FTS). This on-line database, which goes back to 2007 and contains more than 114.000 entries, has been upgraded to allow more search options, and provide information on Commission administrative expenditure.

The European Commission has disclosed the beneficiaries who in 2009 received EU funds in policy areas like research, education and culture, energy and transport or external aid in the framework of EU Funding schemes.

The Financial Transparency System (FTS), launched in 2008, discloses information on the beneficiaries of budget lines managed directly by the Commission and its executive agencies. The data are accessible through a web-based search engine with various search criteria such as the country of the beneficiary, the name of the programme or the amount.

The information is extracted from the Commission's accounts and is based on the financial amounts committed in the budget for a given beneficiary. This year for the first time the database includes Commission procurement contracts for its day-to-day administration.

The FTS provides data on some 20% of the EU budget, i.e. the part managed directly by the Commission. The remaining part of the EU budget is handled mainly by the national administrations and the responsibility to publish the names of beneficiaries rests with them. A general portal providing access to all websites with information on EU beneficiaries is also available for consultation.

Commissioner for budget and financial programming, Janusz Lewandowski, highlighted that “very few public administrations in the world have gone that far with financial transparency. We provide European citizens with an easy access to detailed information on who benefited from our grants and contracts. I believe this will contribute to better accountability and better quality of EU spending”.