The European Court of Auditors has found that around 3.8% of EU funds spent last year were not spent in accordance with the rules in force. Out of a total of around €176.3 billion, this means that around €6.7 billion was spent in breach of EU rules.
Among the most common problems identified were violations of public procurement rules, as well as the financing of projects or costs that did not meet eligibility criteria.
However, as the Court of Auditors points out, the estimated error rate “is not an indicator of fraud, inefficiency or waste of funds.” It represents an estimate of the amounts that were not used in accordance with EU and national rules.
Separately, auditors reported 17 suspected cases of fraud to the competent European authorities, related to 2025 spending.
Pandemic Recovery Fund
The auditors examined in particular irregular payments from the Recovery Fund after the coronavirus pandemic, worth around 650 billion euros.
To benefit from this fund, member states had to submit plans that included concrete investments and reforms. The funds should be provided only after the agreed targets for the implementation of these reforms and investments have been met.
According to the auditors, out of 37 payments made to member states during 2025, nine of them, or more than a quarter, were not in compliance with the applicable rules and conditions.
Among other things, violations of public procurement rules were found, while funds were provided even before the relevant objectives were met.
Reduced or changed objectives
The auditors also identified cases where initially agreed objectives were watered down, changed or completely bypassed.
“Essentially, the ambitions of these plans are being reduced to ensure that the funds are distributed anyway,” warned the President of the European Court of Auditors, Tony Murphy.
In Luxembourg, for example, a telemedicine app, initially planned for the entire population, was developed only for a limited group of users. However, the change was approved by the EU Council.
“Therefore, the target was later lowered so that it could be considered met,” criticized Daniel Kaspari, a German member of the European Court of Auditors.
The European Commission defends its methodology
The European Commission stated on Thursday that it will seriously consider the Court of Auditors’ analysis and recommendations.
According to the Commission, around nine billion euros were covered by preventive and corrective measures during 2025. It estimates that the final error rate, after corrections in cost reimbursement programmes, will remain below the two percent threshold.
When irregular expenditures exceed the two percent threshold, they are considered “materially significant.”
However, the European Commission uses a different methodology than the Court of Auditors, so their assessments are not directly comparable.
By comparison, EU auditors estimated an error rate of 3.6 percent for 2024 and 5.6 percent for 2023.