On Wednesday 22 February, the EPP group in the European Parliament expressed concern about a lack of transparency in the management at national level of the Spanish economic recovery plan, which benefits from EU funding.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control went on a mission to Spain to shed light on how the government is implementing EU aid under the recovery plan.
The delegation met with members of the Spanish government, including the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, the Minister of Finance and Public Administration, María Jesús Montero, and the Minister of Inclusion and Migration, José Luis Escrivá.
Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, German) explained, with regard to transparency and information on payments, that data is available but difficult to find for the public and journalists. It recommended that the Spanish authorities ensure that information on the final beneficiaries of the funds is published. The MEPs also asked the Spanish authorities to give the EU Court of Auditors permanent access to control systems and stressed that they expected “strong cooperation from the Spanish authorities” with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Anti-Fraud Office in terms of access to data and reporting suspected offences. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)