The error rate in EU budget spending stood at 3.8%.

Omissions

• The 3.8% is an estimated overall error rate for EU budget expenditure in financial year 2025 (€176.3 billion of payments from the EU budget), based on a statistical sample; it is not a fraud rate and the ECA explicitly states that most errors are not fraudulent — context the speaker himself acknowledged.
• The aggregate figure masks wide variation between spending areas: the error rate for cohesion funding rose from 5.7% in 2024 to 6.6% in 2025, which the speaker did not mention.
• Payments linked to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (a further €40.1 billion) are covered separately from the general budget error rate.

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 %)."
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — News: Auditors: Homework to do on the EU's next long-term budget (annual report 2025)"An estimated 3.8 % of the EU budget was misspent in 2025; Irregular payments and weaknesses affect the COVID recovery mechanism"
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — Annual reports concerning the 2025 financial year"... spending areas are affected by error (the 'error rate'). 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"The error rate for cohesion funding rose from 5.7 per cent in 2024 to 6.6 per cent in 2025" — article reporting the ECA's estimate that 3.8% of the EU budget was misspent in 2025.