For the first time this year, the European Court of Auditors carried out a large-scale review of the allocation of funds from the Corona Fund. The verdict is devastating. Of the 13 financial aid payments, for which a total of €46.9 billion flowed to eleven EU states in 2022, according to the Court, six “were subject to significant errors”. And that’s not all: “In addition, auditors found cases where measures and underlying milestones or targets were poorly designed or there were doubts about the reliability of the information.”
As an example, the court cites the financing of charging stations for electric vehicles in Greece from the Corona fund, which totals 800 billion euros (at current prices). In the “Milestone 42” agreed between the European Commission and Greece, the payment of aid was linked to the entry into force of several ministerial decisions, such as sanctions, requirements for charging stations and training of technicians. However, the three mentioned were not yet in effect when the money was paid.
When questioned, the auditors did not provide further specific examples. Money flowed several times without the milestones or target values agreed as prerequisites being achieved.
Very vague milestones and target values
Given the result, the president of the Irish Court of Auditors, Tom Murphy, repeated his criticisms of the “design” of the Corona fund. Milestones and target values are very loosely defined (FAZ of September 22). That’s why they were difficult to control. This also applies to the European Commission. “Large sums pose a greater risk to the budget,” he said. If the outflow of funds from the fund, previously quite slow – Germany has not yet withdrawn any money – accelerates, the risk will become even greater.
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At the same time, the number of errors in the allocation of funds from the classical EU budget has increased again. The error rate was 4.2%, after 3% last year. The goal is a 2% error rate. However, the value was never reached. The error rate was highest in 2022, at 6.4% for funds intended for structural support. By themselves they represent almost a third of the budget totaling 196 billion euros. The development is concerning, Murphy said. The reason is complicated rules and mistakes made by authorities. The court suspects fraud in only 14 cases.