Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
The EU’s next long-term budget: a golden opportunity for greater impact and accountability
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- Commission plans a simpler, more focused and impactful EU long-term budget
- Auditors present a list of opportunities for a budget focused on results
- Transparency and accountability must be ensured also by means of an independent external audit
Press release
Luxembourg, 16 June 2025
The EU’s next long-term budget: a golden opportunity for greater impact and accountability
The EU’s policymakers now have an opportunity to learn from the past by designing the EU’s new long-term budget to ensure that it is more focused and impactful, and delivers on EU policy priorities. In a timely analysis of lessons learnt from the past, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) highlights opportunities to improve key areas in the post-2027 multiannual financial framework. These include EU budget simplification, flexibility and financing, and ensuring proper accountability through an independent external audit of all spending under the next multi-year financial plan.
In February 2025, the Commission issued a communication on “ The road to the next multiannual financial framework (MFF)”, which outlines current policy challenges and priorities after 2027. The auditors reviewed the document, and identified opportunities based on their knowledge and audit experience of EU budgetary revenue and expenditure. Their insights aim to contribute to the ongoing debate on the next long-term budget.
“Reaching an agreement on the next long-term EU budget will require striking the right balance between spending priorities and the resources available to finance them. We identified various opportunities for EU revenue and budgetary design and rules, and believe they can contribute to the decisions to be taken,” said Jan Gregor, the ECA Member responsible for the review.
There is an opportunity to define and systematically consider the EU’s added value in financing decisions, and so increase the focus on results. The EU’s next long-term budget will also need to cover a growing list of demands, including repaying the money borrowed for the NextGenerationEU instrument that was used in the COVID recovery. From 2028, the related principal and interest to be repaid in this area over the next long-term budget is estimated at €25-30 billion per year. The EU’s financial needs will require stable and simplified revenue streams; any new borrowing should therefore involve mitigating risks and preparing a clear repayment plan.
The auditors have long advocated consolidating the EU’s financial landscape and simpler spending rules, which could lead to more efficient spending while reducing the risk of irregularities and alleviating the administrative burden. However, they caution that simplification must not come at the expense of accountability. Policymakers should carefully consider the broader implications of streamlining the rules, particularly where this could lead to ambiguity or reduce oversight.
A future EU budget that can deliver on EU policy priorities requires a stronger link between EU funds that support reforms to deal with recurring structural challenges in the member states. Based on their audits of the COVID recovery funds, the auditors highlight several lessons where financing is not linked to costs. Such lessons include the need for a clear link between funding and results. Where this is not possible, such a system should not be used. Other lessons include the need for full traceability of funding, and clear supervision and oversight responsibilities to ensure proper accountability and transparency.
Independent external audits are essential to ensure proper accountability. The auditors thus call for a clear mandate for the ECA to audit all spending under the next EU budget. This includes checking EU funds down to final recipient level, as well as the power to audit bodies established outside the EU legal order to implement EU policies. A full audit trail is necessary to ensure transparency, accountability and better decision-making.
Background information
The EU’s long-term budgets, which currently cover a seven-year period, are known as multiannual financial frameworks (MFFs). The Commission submits a proposal for the EU’s long-term budget to the European Parliament and Council. The MFF sets the EU’s spending priorities and limits, and plays a vital role in shaping the EU’s ability to respond to emerging and ongoing challenges.
ECA review 03/2025 “Opportunities for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework” is available on the ECA website. It is not an audit report, but a review based on the ECA’s expertise and previous audit work on EU budgetary revenue and expenditure. It also aims to support the Commission’s preparations for its proposal for the next MFF, which is expected to be presented in July 2025. We plan to present our views on that proposal in the second semester of 2025.
Press contact
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu