European Court of Auditors warns of high debts

The European Court of Auditors warns in a new report that the EU's debts could rise to up to one trillion euros by 2027. According to the Court of Auditors, the EU will spend up to 93 billion euros on interest alone between 2028 and 2034.

The German member of the Court of Auditors, Daniel Caspary, expects a significant increase in national contributions in the medium term, "particularly for Germany as the largest net contributor."

3.8 percent of household spending is incorrect

Every year the European Court of Auditors investigates whether the money from Brussels flowed legally. This year, too, the auditors discovered irregularities amounting to billions of dollars.

In the last financial year, an estimated 3.8 percent of expenditure was incorrect. With total expenditure of around 176.3 billion euros, this corresponds to a total of around 6.7 billion euros in which EU regulations were violated.

The most common problems included violations of public procurement rules and the financing of ineligible projects or expenditure.

In the previous year the rate was slightly lower at 3.6 percent. In 2023, the EU auditors put it at 5.6 percent, the highest level in years. Above a threshold of two percent, irregular expenditure is considered “essential”.

No evidence of trickery

However, according to the Court of Auditors, the estimated error rate is “not a measure of fraud, inefficiency or waste.” It is an estimate of the amounts that were not used in accordance with EU and national rules.