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EU flags in Brussels: According to the Court of Auditors, the European Union's expenditure in 2020 amounted to 173.3 billion euros
Photo: Georg Hochmuth / dpa
Every year the European Court of Auditors, as an independent supervisory authority, checks whether the payments of EU funds by the EU Commission are in compliance with the rules.
On Tuesday he published his report for the past year: According to this, more than four billion euros from the budget of the European Union were incorrectly spent in 2020.
According to the information, the error rate was 2.7 percent.
It thus remained stable compared to 2019.
Most of the cases that have been audited are, according to the Court of Auditors, errors in the procurement process and not fraud.
Six cases of fraud by the Court of Auditors have been reported to the EU anti-fraud agency Olaf.
In the previous year, nine cases were forwarded to Olaf.
According to the latest report, the EU spent € 173.3 billion last year.
Most of the funds (34.9 percent) were spent in the field of "natural resources".
According to this, 34.3 percent of the expenditure fell into the area of »cohesion« and 13.9 percent into the area of »competitiveness«.
As reported by the Court of Auditors, around two thirds of the money is spent under what is known as shared management, in which it is up to the Member States to distribute the funds, select projects and manage EU expenditure.
"Significant Change in EU Finances"
The report also shows challenges in the € 1.8 billion budget and corona development package for the years 2021 to 2027.
In the next seven years, the EU will spend a lot more than in previous periods, said Court of Auditors Klaus-Heiner Lehne.
"This decision marks a major shift in EU finances."
Effective reviews of how money is being spent and whether the planned results are being achieved are necessary, Lehne said.
The Court of Auditors has therefore requested additional funds for the next audit.
aar / dpa