On Wednesday 10 May, the European Parliament approved the way the EU institutions have implemented the EU budget in 2021, the first year with payments from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
Almost all EU spending is managed by the European Commission. In 2021, the EU budget increased by about 30% compared to 2020, mainly due to the money spent through the Next Generation EU programme.
While MEPs gave a positive opinion on the Commission’s performance (421 votes in favour, 151 against and 5 abstentions), endorsing the Committee on Budgetary Control’s decision of 22 March (see EUROPE 13147/21), in a resolution accompanying the approval of the use of the EU budget in 2021, they also expressed concern about the limited options they have to verify the use of the €723.8 billion recovery funds.
They also request that EU countries receiving EU money uphold the rule of law.
They are particularly critical of the Commission’s assessment of the only payment made in 2021 to Spain, pointing out that not all steps were properly taken before the funds were disbursed.
“We still lack clear information on how much money has reached the real economy and how many projects have actually been implemented”, said Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, German), co-rapporteur on the European Commission’s budget discharge.
The co-rapporteurs also highlighted systemic errors. “The error rate for expenditure is again increasing compared to previous years and I am concerned about the low implementation rate of commitments, which is only 68%, which only increases the risks”, said co-rapporteur Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, Dutch).
Finally, MEPs criticise the Commission for overstating the amount spent on climate action (by €72 billion) and ask it to present a proposal for an EU regulation to increase the transparency of NGOs. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)