EU cohesion funds are meant to reduce disparities between the richest and poorest regions, but the European Commission and member states are failing to properly monitor their spending, a new report by the European Court of Auditors says.
The European Court of Auditors has criticized the monitoring of Cohesion Policy spending by the European Commission and member states. We are talking about special funds intended for the development and revitalization of territories, which make up one third of the seven-year EU budget (more than 400 billion euros in 2014-2020).
According to the court, the EU’s current control system has failed to stop spending errors and that cohesion funds are not being spent according to the rules. “The control systems of the European Commission and member states are not reliable enough,” Auditor General Helga Berger told Euronews.
In the 2014-2020 budget cycle, the combined expenditure error rate fell from 6% to 4.8%; auditors admit improvement, but still well above the 2% threshold. “The system must prevent errors, and when they do occur, the system must help detect and correct them,” Berger said, pointing to opportunities for improving cohesion policy.
In Spain, Germany and Portugal, a disproportionate number of errors were found with the funds received. “We believe it is particularly important for these three member states to strengthen the capacity of their audit authorities to detect errors with the support of the European Commission,” the report said.
EU auditors identified three main reasons for irregularities in the spending of cohesion funds: inadequate management by Member States, negligence or alleged willful non-compliance by beneficiaries and problems with the interpretation of rules.
“Management bodies play a decisive role here,” Berger emphasized. Auditors estimate that national governments could have avoided more than a third of the errors found between 2017 and 2022.
During the election campaign for the second term, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised to simplify the EU budget. Auditors have warned that Brussels must urgently improve tools to detect, prevent and correct mismanagement of the cohesion fund.
For example, the auditors recommend that Member States provide clearer instructions and carry out more compliance checks.