The EU’s monetary watchdog has raised considerations {that a} last-minute rush to spend €283 billion COVID restoration money earlier than the tip of 2026 would result in extra errors throughout what it already sees as an unreliable spending scheme.
When presenting its annual report revealed on Thursday, the European Court docket of Auditors (ECA) president Tony Murphy mentioned that the EU’s €650 billion Restoration and Resilience Facility (RRF) faces rising dangers as member states scramble to satisfy funding deadlines. Thus far, solely €367 billion has been disbursed since December 2020, and solely 40% of the targets set for August 2026 have been met.
“It’s an enormous enterprise”, mentioned ECA president Tony Murphy. “Primarily based on our previous expertise… once we put strain on EU nations to spend cash, we see a direct correlation with errors taking place,” he mentioned, after presenting key report findings on Wednesday.
The report discovered that six of 28 RRF grant funds didn’t adjust to relevant guidelines, and flagged “persistent issues with the reliability” of reporting from EU nations. These embody dangers of double funding, rolling again measures that have been already paid for, weak controls, and little data on potential fraud.
In July, Murphy advised Euractiv mentioned the European Fee “absolved” itself from monetary accountability by way of the methods the RFF plans have been designed, including that auditors “don’t actually have a foundation for saying whether or not it labored.”
EU spending watchdog pours chilly water on Fee’s reform-for-cash funds plan
Don’t absolve your self from the accountability of managing EU funds, the top of the EU’s…
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In its personal report launched on Wednesday, the Fee insists that “combating fraud, corruption, and conflicts of curiosity stays a prime precedence.” It additionally urged EU nations to “speed up implementation” whereas saying their “methods present constructive outcomes.”
MEPs demanded an 18-month extension of the COVID mortgage deadlines, however have been rebuffed by the Fee.
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