EU budget spending excluding recovery grants totalled EUR 176.3 billion last year, with an estimated 3.8% error rate

Omissions

• The claim omits that total EU payments in 2025 were €216.4 billion, i.e. the €176.3 billion figure deliberately excludes the €40.1 billion of RRF grants — a legitimate but selective presentation that makes overall EU spending look smaller.
• The claim does not mention that the error rate rose from 3.6% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025 and remains well above the ECA's 2% materiality threshold, nor that the ECA issued an adverse opinion on EU budget expenditure for a seventh consecutive year.
• The ECA annual report for the 2025 financial year was published in October 2026; the data period (calendar year 2025) precedes the session date of 21 October 2026, so the MEP could have known it, but the exact publication day should be verified against the session date.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — Annual reports concerning the 2025 financial yearIn 2025, EU payments totalled €216.4 billion: €176.3 billion in spending from the EU budget, and a further €40.1 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in briefExcluding RRF grants of €40.1 billion, EU budget spending in 2025 totalled €176.3 billion representing 1.9 % of the EU member states' total ... Our overall estimated level of error for budget expenditure accepted in the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025 is 3.8 % (2024: 3.6 %).
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — press release 'Auditors: Homework to do on the EU's next long-term budget'An estimated 3.8 % of the EU budget was misspent in 2025 · Irregular payments and weaknesses affect the COVID recovery mechanism