BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) (ITALPRESS) – In the annual report published today, the European Court of Auditors reports that the estimated error level in EU spending remains “too high”. This “is important for citizens, because the weakness of spending controls compromises the confidence that funds go to eligible projects and get the desired results. It is also important for political decision-makers, since negotiations on the EU’s next long-term budget (2028-2034) are still underway,” reads in a statement by the Court, “political decision-makers to ensure that the new budget model currently debated, which would be very similar to that of the resumption and resilience device (RRF), does not present the same weak points identified in the IRRF, the main pillar of the EU resumption.” The Court also warns that “the growing indebtedness of the EU could exert ever greater pressure on future budgets and intervention choices.”.
The Court concludes that “the EU accounts for 2025 provide a faithful and truthful image of the financial situation and that the operations on which the revenue is based are free of errors. However, the estimated error level in EU spending has risen from 3.6% of 2024 to 3.8%. The Court’s auditors found irregularities even in the 45.4 billion euro spent under the IRRF”.
“Ambitious budgets require equally ambitious safeguard measures – said Court President Tony Murphy – If the EU passes to a new budget model in which funding is no longer linked to costs, we have to learn from experience and overcome what has not worked in the past, so that EU funds will achieve the desired effects for citizens.”.
As part of the IRRF, of which 2025 was the penultimate year of implementation, EU countries receive funds in the face of the achievement of predetermined goals and objectives. At the end of 2025, 237,5 billion euros of 359,9 billion euros committed in this context were paid; a third of the funds available for subsidies, i.e. more than 122 billion euros, must therefore be paid in the last year of the IRRF. However, “there are considerable differences between Member States in the percentage of RRF grants allocated: only three out of 27 countries had used at least 80% of the funds. The rules and conditions laid down were not complied with for nine of the 37 grants made for Member States in 2025. For example – the Court continues – the Court’s auditors noted the unsatisfactory achievement of goals and goals, violations of public procurement rules and irregularities concerning State aid.”.
They also identified “weak points in the definition of goals and goals, shortcomings in monitoring carried out by the Commission and persistent problems about the reliability of Member States’ control systems.” The Court “has therefore made a judgment with reliefs on expenditure under the IRRF. Moreover, EU countries have sometimes been allowed to simplify their respective commitments in terms of recovery plans or to make them less extensive, without these countries providing compelling reasons and evidence. In some cases, the changes were made only after the country concerned had requested payment to the Commission. This generates the risk that states can receive EU funds to obtain less than originally promised.”.
For traditional EU budget expenditure, “the Court found that errors were both significant and widespread. For the seventh year, he made a negative judgment on EU expenditure. The highest error rates were in cohesion funding, supporting employment, growth and regional development, as well as spending on agriculture and the environment.”.
The error rate in cohesion funds rose from 5.7% of 2024 to 6.6% in 2025, while the rate for agriculture and the environment rose from 2.6% to 3.9%. The most commonly detected problems were the financing of projects or non-eligible costs and the lack of compliance with public procurement regulations.
The Court also warns that “the increasing burden of EU debt could weigh heavily on future budgets. Loans from the EU could reach EUR 1 000 billion by 2027, mostly because of the NGO, while the sole interest-rate expenditure for the loss of NGO during the period 2028-2034 could reach EUR 93 billion. The proposals submitted by the Commission for the next budget would also allow an important further debt to support Ukraine, the national plans of the Member States and the possible use of the mechanism for serious crises. The sums in question could be considerable. For example, loans for Ukraine approved or agreed since 2014, including the loan of €90 billion in aid of Ukraine decided at the beginning of 2026, totalled EUR 170.1 billion, of which at the end of 2025 had already been granted €70.3 billion.”.
The Court therefore invites “to caution with regard to future budgets: without an agreement on new sources of revenue, the EU budget could face a significant shortage of funds, which would impose difficult choices, such as higher national contributions and minor ambitions.”.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
