The European auditors are publishing their critical findings at a time when European politicians will start negotiating a new seven-year budget. The European Commission wants to base that multiannual framework on the same model as the corona budget (RRF).
It was agreed among the EU countries that the ex-post control would be carried out separately by each country, and there is no administrative link between the pre-budgeted expenses and the actual costs incurred. Using this system is one of the ways the European Commission aims to reduce EU overhead and EU rules.
“Citizens have less trust in public finances if the money is not spent in complete transparency,” said Ivana Maletić, the ECA member who led the audit in 10 EU countries.
Promotion
No carry-over effect
“We do not have a complete picture of how RRF funds are spent. Citizens have the right to know how public funds are used, who receives the funds, and what is actually spent. These gaps in transparency must not carry over into future EU budgets.
Moreover, the transparency rules do not require full disclosure of the money flow. Although all countries published the required list of their hundred largest end recipients, that does not provide a clear picture of the overall use of the funds.
More than half
For example, more than half of the recipients are public institutions such as ministries, and the EU countries are not obliged to publish further payments via public procurement to contractors, which means they do not do so.
Netherlands
Dutch authorities on Wednesday arrested four people in The Hague who are suspected of fraud involving 8 million euros in corona support. The owners of two employment agencies are also suspected of money laundering.
During the corona crisis, companies in every EU country could obtain European subsidies to continue paying salaries. Some entrepreneurs abused this measure.
The suspects are linked to two Hague employment agencies that wrongly received corona aid. They applied for subsidies citing lost revenue, while their turnover actually increased significantly. The four are also suspected of money laundering because they allegedly funneled the money abroad among other things.