Auditors Say Erroneous EU Spending Has Become a ‘Concerning Trend’

The EU’s spending watchdog estimated that at least 9.03 billion euros ($9.87 billion) of the union’s budget in 2023 was spent erroneously, in a report released on Thursday. Representing an “error rate” of 5.6 percent, this marks a rise from 4.2 percent in the previous year and 3 percent from two years before. The allowable threshold for the “error rate” is 2 percent. The European Court of Auditors (ECA), which published the annual review, labeled the increase a “concerning trend,” in a statement. The ECA said the rise was largely due to errors made in the spending of cohesion funds—EU cash handed out to bolster poorer regions....