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The European Court of Auditors said in a report published on Monday that the simplification of rules in the next EU budget in the research sector could undermine the EU’s ability to control how allocated funds are spent.
The court, which is responsible for auditing how EU funds are raised and spent, has carried out an assessment of the next EU budget for competitiveness and research. Its budget, on paper, totals 409 billion euros, about one-fifth of the EU’s overall budget of 2 trillion euros for 2028-2034.
The audit report highlights that the research sector is particularly exposed to errors such as overcompensation and therefore requires simplification measures such as block funding to prevent misuse of funds.
“The European Commission’s intention to simplify the EU’s financial management should not come at the expense of accountability, effectiveness, efficiency and economy,” the court concluded.
The challenge of simplification
Since taking office for her second term as European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has promoted a “simplification” project – an effort to eliminate red tape and deregulate the EU’s rulebook to boost the region’s economic competitiveness.
In that spirit, the European Commission has put forward a series of new legislative proposals, known as the ‘Omnibus’, aimed at streamlining key EU legislative proposals, including those covering digital and environmental policy.
This approach was recently challenged by European Commission Vice-President Teresa Rivera. In a lecture he gave at the Bruegel think tank in early December, he argued that excessive simplification is unacceptable.
“Deregulation removes safeguards, imposes costs on the public and taxpayers, creates uncertainty and discourages investment,” she said.
Similar concerns have been expressed in the European Parliament, which is currently debating the architecture of the European Commission’s omnibus proposal.
In particular, EU lawmakers have warned that the use of “approximate values” in omnibus bill trends could reduce the EU’s monitoring capacity and make it difficult to establish how funds are being spent.
