Increasing risk of “misuse of EU funds and a waste of EU taxpayers’ money” through double-funding because of “unprecedented amounts of money available under the EU’s post-pandemic recovery programme,” European Court of Auditors warns

There is an increasing risk of double-funding, where EU money could be handed out twice for the same action. This is the worrying conclusion of a report published today by the European Court of Auditors. The unprecedented amounts of money available under the EU’s post-pandemic recovery programme, which has seen the first wide-scale use of a new funding mechanism that is not based on actual costs incurred, can overlap with financing from the traditional EU budget. However, the control mechanisms in place are not sufficient to properly mitigate the increased risk of double funding.