EU borrowing has increased eightfold in just five years, according to the European Court of Auditors

Omissions

• The precise wording in the reporting based on the ECA's 2025 annual report is 'almost eightfold in five years', not an exact eightfold multiple; the claim rounds this up slightly.
• The multiple is measured against a very low 2020 base (EU borrowing of roughly €90 billion before the large-scale NextGenerationEU/SURE issuance), so a large percentage/multiple increase partly reflects the small starting point; the absolute figure rose to around €739 billion.
• The ECA's own primary publication states the underlying facts (outstanding EU borrowing up more than 20% in 2025; reliance on capital markets over the past five years) and projects that outstanding EU loans could exceed €900 billion by 2027, almost ten times the 2020 level, but the exact 'eightfold' multiple is explicitly present only in secondary reporting of the ECA's annual report.
• The MEP's framing attributes the eightfold figure to the Court of Auditors; the figure is consistent with ECA data but the exact multiple appears in press coverage of the ECA report rather than being a headline sentence in the ECA 'EU audit in brief' summary found here.
• The Swedish-language report of the plenary debate (Europaportalen, October 2026) reproduces the quote but is same-session parliamentary material and was therefore not used as evidence.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in briefOutstanding EU borrowing increased by more than 20 % in 2025. In the past five years, the Commission has increasingly relied on capital [markets]...
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2024 EU audit in brief (Swedish version)By 2027, outstanding EU loans could exceed EUR 900 billion, which is almost ten times higher than the 2020 level (translated from the Swedish original: 'År 2027 kan EU:s utestående lån komma att överstiga 900 miljarder euro, vilket är nästan tio gånger högre än 2020 års nivå').
• SecondaryEU Perspectives — 'EU debt has grown eightfold in five years. Taxpayers will feel it'EU debt grew almost eightfold in five years to €739bn and could hit €1tn by 2027, auditors warn. Interest costs run far above plans.
• SecondaryEunews — 'Court of Auditors: EU in debt, loans will impact upcoming multi-year budgets'The EU budget exposure resulting from this borrowing stood at EUR 342 billion as of the end of 2024, representing a 14.8 percent increase from [the previous year], with the Court of Auditors warning that rising EU debt will weigh on upcoming multiannual budgets.