Government has no clue about effect of subsidies: audit office

The government hands out €6bn in subsidies and grants every year but often has little idea of what is achieved with the money, the national audit office said in a damning report on Thursday.


The effect of the subsidies is often only partially assessed if at all, and subsidies found to be a waste of time are never cancelled, the audit office said.
By law, subsidies should be assessed properly every five years, but this only happens in 50% of cases. This can lead ministers to take the wrong decisions, the office warned.
In a reaction, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told news agency ANP that he did not plan to introduce formal rules for evaluating subsidy payments or to bring in a standard stop on payments if they are not having the desired effect.
However, there will be a better overview of the subsidy system from next year, ANP quoted the minister as saying.

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