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There has been a sustained improvement in the estimated level of error in payments from the EU budget, according to the latest Annual Report from the European Court of Auditors. About half of EU spending audited in 2016 was below the 2% threshold for material level of error. As a result, the auditors have issued a qualified opinion on 2016 payments, rather than an adverse one. This is their first qualified opinion since they began to provide an annual statement of assurance in 1994. In addition, the auditors have given a clean opinion on the 2016 EU accounts’ reliability, or “signed them off”, as has been the case every year since 2007. Revenue in 2016 was free from material error.
The overall level of error for EU spending in 2016 was estimated at 3.1%, compared with 3.8% in 2015 and 4.4% in 2014.
“Entitlement payments”, made for meeting specific conditions, account for about 49% of EU spending and showed levels of error below 2%. They include direct aid for farmers, grants to students and researchers, and staff costs. ‘Natural Resources: Market and direct support’ had an estimated level of error of 1.7 % and ‘Administration’, 0.2 %.
However, higher levels of error were found in “Reimbursement payments” made through refunds. For ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’, the estimated level of error was 4.8%; for ‘Natural Resources: Rural development, the environment, climate action and fisheries’, it was 4.9%.