In a review report published on Monday 13 November, the European Court of Auditors reveals that the European Commission is more optimistic than the Court about the achievements of the EU budget.
These divergences in budgetary management are particularly apparent in specific areas such as cohesion and the post-Covid-19 recovery fund, where the auditors found more errors.
The European Commission’s annual management and performance report is used by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to assess the implementation of the EU budget, as part of the annual discharge procedure.
In more than a third of their 2022 audit and performance reports, the auditors notified the Commission of shortcomings in data collection, monitoring and performance reporting.
As regards EU budget expenditure for 2022 (€196 billion), the auditors found a higher rate of error in payments (4.2%) (see EUROPE 13265/29) than that reported by the Commission (1.9%), particularly in cohesion expenditure (6.4% compared with a maximum of 2.6% for the Commission).
The auditors also identified problems with 15 of the 281 milestones and targets that contribute to the monitoring of the Post-Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Facility, which the Commission did not report.
They noted as well that the Commission had overestimated the contribution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to climate-related expenditure by €9 billion.
Secondly, the Commission’s report mentions the rise in interest rates and inflation, but does not, according to the Court, refer to outstanding commitments, which have reached a record level of €453 billion, even though the Commission takes them into account in its long-term forecasts.
To see the Court of Auditors’ report: https://aeur.eu/f/9ja (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)