The European Union (EU) misspent $4.6 billion in the 2020 budget year, an assessment by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Tuesday revealed.

“Misspending can occur as a result of accounting errors or when funds go towards something other than what they were intended for, but in rare cases, it is also due to fraud, the auditors disclosed. “The proportion of misspent funding was 2.7 per cent of the total €147.8 billion-expenditure examined in the audit, broadly level with recent years.”

Their report indicated that most of the audited cases came down to errors in the procurement process and not fraud.

“The errors our auditors found most frequently were ineligible cost claims, ineligible projects, activities, or beneficiaries,” the ECA document explained. “There were also errors in public procurement and state ad aid and lack of supporting documentation.”

Six cases were reported to the EU anti-fraud agency Olaf, compared to nine cases in 2020. The report also flagged challenges ahead in the €1.8-billlion-COVID-19 recovery programme.

The report noted that the EU would spend significantly more over the next seven years than in the previous programme period.

It added that the 27 member states in the bloc agreed on a COVID-19 recovery programme financed by issuing public debt. This decision marks a major shift in EU finances.

The auditors warned that the decision entails an obvious need for effective checks on how EU money is spent.

(NAN)