EU misspending rising, 6 billion euro wasted in 2012 – auditors
Six billion euros from the European Union’s budget were frittered away in 2012, the bloc’s official auditor says, warning that the surge in misspending is due to overcomplicated legislation and fraud.
The irregularities affected 4.8 percent of the 139 billion euros
spent by the EU last year, a report by the European Court of
Auditors said.
The total misspending sharply increased in comparison with 2011,
which saw 3.9 percent of the budget wasted.
“Europe’s citizens have a right to know what their money is
being spent on and whether it is being used properly,” said
Vítor Caldeira, the president of the European Court of Auditors.
“They also have a right to know whether it is delivering
value, particularly at a time when there is such pressure on
public finances.”
According to the auditors, the main problems came from
allocations for rural development, the environment, fisheries and
health.
"The majority of errors arise from misapplication or
misunderstanding of the often complex rules of EU expenditure
schemes," the report said.
However, the Luxembourg-based court noted that several cases of
suspected fraud were also reported last year.
The report has encouraged euro-skeptic politicians, with some EU
lawmakers blaming the European Commission, which oversees the
bloc’s spending, for failing to exercise proper financial
controls.
The error rate has been increasing annually since 2009, British
Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn told Reuters.
"Every year we are told the Commission is serious about
tackling the problem. Every year it gets still worse," he
said. "It is shameful to the EU's integrity and unacceptable
to its taxpayers."
The European Commission has replied to the Court of Auditors
findings in writing, insisting that the reported error rate
failed to fully take into account ongoing efforts to correct
mistakes and recover funds.
"In many areas it is unavoidable that errors are only
corrected several years after they have occurred. Therefore, the
Commission considers that the court's [findings] should be seen
in this context," the Commission said.
The auditors believe the Commission isn’t the only one to blame,
and they also blame governments in EU countries for the
misspending.
In many cases, national governments had enough information to
detect and correct errors before the money was paid out, the
report said.
The Court of Auditors has urged a rethink of EU spending rules,
recommending that EU laws be simplified.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said it was unrealistic to
expect that its spending would ever be completely error-free.