The bloc\u2019s chief auditor has warned that rising repayments and rushed spending are squeezing budgets and increasing fraud risks<\/p>\n
The EU faces a growing budget squeeze after borrowing hundreds of billions for pandemic recovery and Ukraine. Rising repayment costs threaten future spending and rushed payouts raise fraud risks, its chief auditor has warned. Brussels is nevertheless seeking billions more for Kiev.
\nSpeaking to Rapporteur, Tony Murphy, president of the European Court of Auditors, described the budget situation as a \u201cpressure cooker,\u201d with EU debt potentially reaching \u20ac1 trillion (1.12trillion)bytheendof2027.Thebloc\u2019sdebtstoodat\u20ac739billion(825 billion) in 2025, up from \u20ac601 billion ($671 billion) a year earlier.
\n\u201cYou have to pay it back at some time. It\u2019s not free money,\u201d Murphy said. He emphasized that \u201cit\u2019s real money that has to be paid back.\u201d<\/p>\n
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However, concerns have repeatedly been raised about the EU getting back any of the billions it has spent on Ukraine, including its recent \u20ac90 billion ($100 billion) loan, which Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico recently slammed as \u201cgifts\u201d that Ukraine will \u201cnever pay back.\u201d
\nKiev is required to repay the loan only after receiving Russian reparations \u2013 something Moscow has vehemently ruled out. Ukraine\u2019s own former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has also acknowledged that such scenarios are \u201cjust fairy tales\u201d and that Brussels will never get its money back, which is being actively embezzled by Kiev.
\nThe EU, however, must still repay the money it borrowed. According to Murphy, servicing pandemic debt alone would consume 8% of the bloc\u2019s proposed 2028\u20132034 budget and governments have yet to agree on new revenue to cover the repayments, leaving Brussels with less money for other priorities.
\nThe squeeze comes as households and businesses continue to face high energy costs following Europe\u2019s break with Russian supplies, compounded by the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n
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Murphy also warned about how quickly money is being spent. He called the requirement to process \u20ac90 billion in remaining pandemic recovery payments by December \u201ccrazy,\u201d describing the impending payouts as a \u201ctsunami.\u201d
\nPressure to meet deadlines could also encourage weaker checks and more abuse, he said, as European prosecutors are already investigating hundreds of suspected fraud cases involving recovery funds.
\nDespite the crisis, Brussels is again looking for more money for Kiev after Vladimir Zelensky requested another \u20ac70 billion ($78 billion) for 2027, beyond existing commitments. European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday that the EU expects to cover roughly two-thirds, with a decision potentially coming in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The bloc\u2019s chief auditor has warned that rising repayments and rushed spending are squeezing budgets and increasing fraud risks The EU faces a growing budget squeeze after borrowing hundreds of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t