Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
The EU’s multi-billion euro COVID recovery fund: is it transparent and traceable?
Press invitation
for 6 May 2026
The EU’s multi-billion euro COVID recovery fund: is it transparen t and traceable?
- Online press briefing: Wednesday 6 May at 10.30 a.m. CEST
- Publication: Same day at 5.00 p.m. CEST
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to invite you to an online press briefing on its upcoming special report on the traceability and transparency of the €577 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the EU’s COVID recovery fund – at 10.30 a.m. CEST on Wednesday 6 May 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 Ivana Maletić and representatives of the audit team.
RSVP: Please let us know by 1.00 p.m. on Tuesday 5 May 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 6 May.
Background
The RRF totals €577 billion, and finances measures – reforms and investments – in areas such as the green or digital transitions. It is based on a novel ‘financing not linked to costs’ model, where disbursements from the EU budget to member states are based on satisfactory fulfilment of pre-defined milestones and targets. Traceability and transparency enable the flow of money to be tracked from source to destination, and to reveal where and for what purpose funds are spent.
At a time when the RRF model provides inspiration for the EU’s plans for its long-term budget of €2 trillion, the auditors want to get to the bottom of the model and find the answer to the perennial question: Is the RRF transparent and traceable? They have assessed the arrangements put in place by the European Commission and member states to ensure an appropriate level of traceability and transparency. To do so, they looked closely at a sample of countries, including Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain.
Contact:
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu