In 13 audited amendments to Recovery and Resilience plans, milestone requirements were modified after payment requests had already been submitted

Omissions

• The correct unit is milestones and targets, not amendments: the ECA reviewed 32 modifications of 20 milestones and targets that were part of 18 CID amendments in eight Member States, and in 13 of the 20 analysed milestones and targets the change came after the payment request had been submitted.
• The claim compresses the ECA's sample (20 milestones and targets, 18 amendments, 8 Member States) into '13 audited amendments', which overstates the number of plan amendments affected.
• The underlying audit material is the ECA's 2025 annual report cycle ('2025 – EU audit in brief'), published in October 2026, i.e. immediately before the plenary session; the MEP could have known it.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in brief (PDF)We reviewed 32 modifications of 20 milestones and targets that were part of 18 CID amendments in eight member states. In 13 analysed milestones and targets ...
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in brief (publication page)We reviewed 32 modifications of 20 milestones and targets that were part of 18 CID amendments in eight member states. In 13 analysed ...
• SecondaryEUobserver — EU let member states rewrite targets after they had sought recovery fund payment, auditors findOf 20 milestones and targets the auditors examined, 13 were amended after the member state had already submitted its payment request.