The European Court of Auditors endorses the “aims of flexibility and simplification” set by the European Commission with a view to drawing up the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), but considers it “essential that these efforts do not come at the expense of accountability and transparency”, according to its President, Tony Murphy, in the 2024 activity report that the European auditors published on Monday 5 May.
While the Court of Auditors is currently drafting its strategy for the period 2026-2030, Mr Murphy points out that “significant changes to how the EU budget is implemented will have an impact on how we can achieve our mission”.
In February, the Commission set out its plans to reduce, after 2027, more than 50 existing spending programmes into three types of fund: single national plans per Member State, a European competitiveness fund and a revised foreign policy fund (see EUROPE 13577/20).
For the 2023 financial year, the European auditors found that the level of error in EU budget spending was between 4.4% and 6.8%, with ‘most likely error’ described as ‘material’ rising from 4.2% in 2022 to 5.6% last year (or €191 billion – see EUROPE 13501/15). This increased level of error is mainly attributable to the ‘Cohesion, resilience and values’ section of the MFF.
It should also be noted that, for the 2023 financial year, the Court of Auditors has issued a qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of expenditure under the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (RRF), the budgetary instrument of the Next Generation EU recovery plan (see EUROPE 13525/15). Out of 23 payments analysed, six showed a significant level of error. Weaknesses were observed in the design of the milestones and targets (in terms of reforms and/or investments) that Member States must meet in exchange for financial assistance.
For 2025 and 2026, the Court plans a work programme comprising 69 audits and analyses to be carried out on a variety of subjects such as forest fires, the supply of critical raw materials, the EU’s pharmaceutical strategy and trade sanctions against Russia.
See the European Court of Auditors’ annual report: https://aeur.eu/f/go2 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)