The annual report puts the error rate in EU budget expenditure at 3.8%

Omissions

• The 3.8% figure refers specifically to EU budget expenditure; payments from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (NextGenerationEU) are audited separately and are not covered by this error-rate estimate.
• Context the speaker did not mention: the error rate rose from 3.6% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025 and remains well above the ECA's 2% materiality threshold, which is why the ECA issued an adverse opinion on EU budget expenditure.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in brief"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 %)." / "Our estimate of the level of error in EU budget spending is at 3.8 % (2024: 3.6 %) which is above our materiality threshold. Since a significant proportion of our audit population is materially affected by error, we issue an adverse opinion on EU budget expenditure."
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — Annual reports concerning the 2025 financial year"In 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 ..."
• SecondarySofia Globe — European Court of Auditors: Estimated 3.8% of the EU budget was misspent in 2025"However, the estimated level of error in EU spending rose to 3.8 per cent, from 3.6 per cent in 2024."