Ms Suzanne Keatinge:

EU transparency is an oft-repeated theme in this committee and it is important but we must be clear what we are talking about. From the perspective of civil society, there is transparency around where money goes for grants. In fact, we have to account for every cent of EU funding that we use. The question is about transparency around the strategic direction and how decisions are made. In this new EU instrument there is much more unallocated funding which should allow greater flexibility, but we need to be concerned about how decisions are made in this area. For this reason, we need not just transparency but oversight.