MEPs have approved the European Commission’s management of the EU budget for 2024, while warning that rule of law problems in some member states are affecting the use of EU funds.
The sign-off — known as granting “discharge”, a formal step in Parliament’s oversight of how EU money is spent — passed in plenary by 389 votes to 255, with three abstentions, the European Parliament informed on Wednesday.
In separate votes, Parliament granted discharge to all EU bodies except the Council, which again had its discharge postponed because it has not cooperated with MEPs.
MEPs also backed a resolution accompanying the Commission discharge by 418 votes to 207, with 14 abstentions.
Concerns over rule of law and transparency
The resolution cited “rule of law backsliding”, systemic corruption and attacks on fundamental rights in several member states, and said these issues have a direct impact on the sound management of EU funds, according to the European Parliament.
MEPs called on the Commission to go beyond monitoring and use available tools, including the full suspension of EU funds.
Parliament noted a reduced error rate in EU spending — meaning the share of payments not made in full compliance with EU rules — from 5.6% in 2023 to 3.6% in 2024, but said this did not necessarily mean financial management had improved.
It said the change could be linked to the end of COVID-19 emergency spending and a relatively low level of budget implementation in 2024, while cohesion spending still had an error rate of 5.7% in 2024, down from 9.3% in 2023.
MEPs also raised concerns about the lack of “reliable and complete” information on final recipients of funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) — the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund — and called for a list of final recipients and contractors to be published in a harmonised, machine-readable format.
Daniel Freund, the rapporteur for the Commission discharge, said Parliament wanted the Commission to provide “a complete list of final recipients” by 31 December or face possible legal action.
