Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
Press briefing: Fraud in the EU’s €650 billion recovery fund – is it tackled effectively?
Press invitation
for 11 February 2026
Fraud in the EU’s €650 billion recovery fund – is it tackled effectively?
- Online press briefing: Wednesday 11 February at 10.00 a.m. CET
- Publication: Same day at 5.00 p.m. CET
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to invite you to an online press briefing on its upcoming special report on tackling fraud in the EU’s €650 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – at 10.00 a.m. CET on Wednesday 11 February 2026.
The purpose of the briefing is to provide a detailed overview of the audit, and to put its conclusions and recommendations into context. There will also be an opportunity to discuss the report with ECA Member Katarína Kaszasová and representatives of the audit team.
RSVP: Please let us know by 1.00 p.m. on Tuesday 10 February whether you intend to take part in the online briefing; we will then send you detailed instructions on how to connect. To allow for an informed discussion, confirmed participants can receive an embargoed copy of the report and press release upon request ahead of the briefing. Both documents will be published on the ECA website at 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday 11 February.
Background
The RRF was established in February 2021 as a one-off programme to help EU countries to recover from the pandemic and build resilient economies. It ends in August 2026, with payments to EU countries allowed until the end of the year. The Commission and EU countries have a joint duty to counter fraud affecting the bloc’s finances. In its 2024 annual report published in March 2025, EPPO reported that it had investigated 307 RRF fraud cases since the RRF started.
The auditors examined the effectiveness of RRF anti-fraud systems at the Commission and in four countries: Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Romania. They focused on the overall anti-fraud structure and on the national systems for preventing, detecting, reporting and correcting RRF fraud. They will make recommendations for the RRF and similar programmes, where payments are not linked to costs. The report comes against the backdrop of the current review of the EU’s anti-fraud framework.
Press contact
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu
Damijan Fišer – M: (+352) 621 552 224