The annual report from the European Union’s auditors in Luxembourg contains few surprises. Almost 4% of EU spending in 2011 was money paid out in error, a figure only slightly higher than in the previous two years – but still far above the 2% error threshold generally viewed as acceptable. 

The auditors put the blame primarily on member states, where most payments are actually disbursed, pointing out, among other things, that more than 60% of the errors they found in regional spending could have been spotted by national authorities before they authorised payments. MEPs tend to agree with this view.

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“I was shaken when I read just how lax the management and auditing systems are in the member states,” said Jens Geier, a centre-left German MEP who is leading the Parliament’s work on the report.

But this is not how the report is likely to play out politically. Never mind the member states’ responsibility for ‘better spending’ of EU funds: ‘better spending’ has become a rallying cry of those who are seeking deep cuts to the EU’s long-term budget for 2014-20, which is supposed to be agreed at a summit of national leaders later this month (22-23 November). The auditors’ report will provide them with additional ammunition as they argue for a leaner, meaner budget for the EU.

The European Commission’s attitude is unhelpful. “Error rate for EU spending below 4% for third year in a row” was the headline on its press release after the report was released on Tuesday. An error rate that is double the internationally-accepted norm is hardly something to crow about.

“I’m wondering if you and your fellow commissioners are living in the real world,” Bart Staes, a Belgian Green MEP, told Algirdas Šemeta, the European commissioner for audit and anti-fraud. Many national governments, not to mention ordinary taxpayers, will be wondering the same.

Toby Vogel