The Commission welcomes the European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) report and broadly concurs with its findings. The report rightly highlights the multidimensional nature of hunger and the complexity of delivering effective and sustainable responses in fragile and crisis-affected environments. While acknowledging the progress achieved, the Commission also recognises that more can be done to strengthen the design, targeting, monitoring and long-term impact of its interventions.

The Commission agrees on the need for greater transparency in the prioritising of countries and regions for development support (Recommendation 1). It is committed to documenting context-sensitive criteria for targeting, balancing vulnerability with operational feasibility.

It also acknowledges the importance of strengthening project design (Recommendation 2) by, for example, paying greater attention to structural causes and sustainability, and ensuring more inclusive community engagement, while retaining flexibility for local adaptation.

The Commission fully endorses the objective of reinforcing the humanitarian–development nexus (Recommendation 3). It is actively promoting inter-departmental coordination and integration of the peace dimension. However, it emphasises that effective implementation depends on political conditions and institutional capacity in partner countries. Ensuring complementarity between actions may often be more feasible than pursuing fully integrated strategies.

Improving monitoring and reporting systems (Recommendation 4) is also a shared priority. The Commission is enhancing project oversight through risk-based monitoring and clearer verification requirements. It agrees on the value of better indicators, including outcome indicators where feasible, but underlines the need to adjust expectations to fragile, volatile settings. It also supports the development of a common donor methodology for tracking food and nutrition-related funding, while recognising the challenges of harmonising approaches across institutions and sectors.

On sustainability (Recommendation 5), the Commission is committed to embedding transition strategies in project design, strengthening local ownership, and promoting long-term results. It recognises the need for more systematic post-project assessments where conditions allow.

Throughout its response, the Commission stresses that EU action must remain responsive to local contexts and integrated within broader strategic priorities, including the Green Deal, Global Gateway, and Farm to Fork strategies. The shift towards sustainable food systems reflects the EU’s vision for long-term transformation even if impacts may take time to show. Nutrition remains a core priority, as reaffirmed at the Paris Nutrition for Growth Summit. Increasingly, it is mainstreamed throughout EU investment, using multisectoral approaches and innovative financing tools.