Corruption could become harder to catch under new EU budget, watchdog warns
Greater spending flexibility could make it harder to "follow the money,” said the chief of the European Court of Auditors.
European Court of Auditors President Tony Murphy has warned that the European Commission's plan to overhaul the EU's long-term budget could make it harder to catch corruption, as the new system could muddy the view of where public money is going. Murphy explained that the plan to assign almost a trillion euros over seven years to a single pot of money that countries can spend flexibly could make spending harder to track.
He noted that giving countries more leeway to shift spending would make it even more difficult to monitor the money. Murphy also highlighted that the increase in misspending of taxpayer funds could make it impossible to even estimate the number of errors in the next EU budget, as each country's auditors have different roles and methods.
The Commission defended its proposal, stating that key principles of the current control system will remain in place, but Murphy remained skeptical. He warned that the Common Agricultural Policy, if merged into a larger fund, would be harder to audit, as illustrated by cases of farm subsidies paying for fake pastures in Greece and cash meant for rural tourism in Slovakia instead going to luxury villas.
Murphy also expressed concerns about the transparency of the new spending system, noting that while countries can direct funds where needed under the post-Covid recovery fund, the spending has become more opaque, with only the top 100 beneficiaries published annually.
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