Following the publication today of the European Court of Auditors' Annual Report on the EU budget for 2013, S&D Group spokeswoman on budgetary control, Inés Ayala Sender said:
"We are at a critical point. We have a seven year budgetary plan and right now we are not certain that the EU will be able to cover all its expenditure. By the end of this year, the EU will face more than €26 billion euros of unpaid bills. We must find a solution to make sure that the EU does not commit itself above what it can pay. Our main concern is to have a sustainable and effective budget for the future. This means paying serious attention to the way revenues are raised as well as ensuring sound expenditure.
"There is some good news for European citizens this year. The Court of Auditors estimates the overall rate of error in European spending for 2013 at 4.7%. This is still not satisfactory but it is a slight improvement compared to 4.8% for 2012. Moreover, the EU has spent 99% of the payments available in the budget (a total amount of €148.5 billion) which is a record. The President of the Court this morning said that in 2013, total spending of EU funds equalled 290 euros for every EU citizen, and 4.7% of that is more than 13 euros which we must safeguard and use well in future.
"The overall trend in the amount of irregularities is on the downturn particularly in the fields of agriculture and rural development, employment and social affairs, and external relations. The level in regional expenditure varied by just 0.1%. Of course, member states must do more to improve the way European funds are spent in order to bring down the highest levels of error and irregularity."
S&D Euro MP Jens Geier, who has been rapporteur for the Commission budget discharge in the past, stressed how important financial corrections are in enabling the Commission to put pressure on member states to improve things. He also called on the Court of Auditors to put more emphasis on performance and somewhat less on compliance in the future.
