The EU is coming to the middle of its multi-year budget cycle covering 2021 to 2027. Conditions have been rather turbulent so far. Unprecedented challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, have called for significant policy and funding responses. Robust financial management and oversight are needed at all levels of the EU. The European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) annual report on the EU budget makes a major contribution in this regard. This year’s report is due to be published on 10 October.
Through its work, the ECA contributes to enhancing the financial management and effectiveness of EU policies. Each year, our auditors examine EU budget revenue and expenditure to see whether the annual accounts are reliable and income and expenditure transactions comply with the rules and regulations. To do so, they test samples of transactions to see how far spending is affected by error.
The level of error has increased noticeably over recent years. Last year, our auditors estimated it at 4.2 %. It is important to understand that the level of error is not a measure of fraud, inefficiency, or waste, but an estimate of the amount of money that was not used in compliance with EU and national rules and regulations. However, in the course of their work, the auditors may also identify cases of suspected fraud. These are reported to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which will then decide whether or not to open an investigation.
In 2023, EU budget spending amounted to €191.2 billion. Taking account of spending from the EU’s COVID-19 recovery funds, total payments from the EU amounted to €239.2 billion. Since the EU budget and the COVID-19 recovery funds operate under two very different spending models, for the third consecutive year, the ECA will provide two separate opinions on the legality and regularity of expenditure, one for the traditional EU budget and one for the COVID–19 recovery funds. The annual report will be published on 10 October 2024 at 00:01 on the ECA website.
Source – ECA