The estimated error rate for EU budget spending increased to 3.8% in 2025 from 3.6% the previous year.

Omissions

• The 3.8% figure relates specifically to EU budget expenditure (€176.3 billion of the €216.4 billion total payments in 2025); the Recovery and Resilience Facility (€40.1 billion) is covered by a separate ECA opinion and is not included in that error rate.
• The ECA stresses that the error rate is an estimate of payments not complying with EU rules, not a measure of money 'wasted', lost to fraud, or of the effectiveness of spending.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2025 EU audit in brief (annual reports on the 2025 financial year)"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 — 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 ..."; press headline "An estimated 3.8 % of the EU budget was misspent in 2025"
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — 2024 EU audit in brief"Our estimate of the level of error in EU budget spending is at 3.6 % (2023: 5.6 ...)"
• SecondaryThe Brussels Times — 'The devil in the details: How the EU misspent 3.8% of the 2025 budget'"The estimated level of error in EU spending rose to 3.8 % in 2025, from 3.6 % in 2024."