The European Court of Auditors' 2025 opinion reports an error rate of 3.8%, again above the 2% materiality threshold

Omissions

• The 3.8% figure applies to EU budget expenditure (payments) accepted in the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025; the ECA also audits Recovery and Resilience Facility spending separately (€40.1 billion of the €216.4 billion in total 2025 payments), where it found irregularities and weaknesses.
• The error rate rose from 3.6% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025, so the increase is modest and comparable with the previous year; the speaker presents it as a persistent failure without noting the small year-on-year change.
• The ECA's estimate is a statistical estimate of the level of error, not a quantified amount of misspent money; 'error' also includes non-compliance with rules rather than only fraud.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — News: 'Auditors: Homework to do on the EU's next long-term budget' (annual reports 2025)"An estimated 3.8 % of the EU budget was misspent in 2025"; the release covers the ECA's 2025 annual reports and notes irregularities affecting the COVID recovery mechanism.
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — '2025 – EU audit in brief' (AR-2025-AIB)"Our estimate of the level of error in EU budget spending is at 3.8 % (2024: 3.6 %) which is above our materiality threshold."
• PrimaryEuropean Commission — press release IP-26-2065 (Polish version): 'Budżet UE nadal przynosi Europie korzyści w 2025 r.'"Szacowany przez Trybunał poziom błędu wynosi 3,8 %, co jest porównywalne z poziomem z ubiegłego roku, który wyniósł 3,6 %" (the Court's estimated error rate is 3.8%, comparable to last year's 3.6%).
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors — Special report 22/2025: Financial corrections in Cohesion policy"In our annual reports, we consistently find the error rate to be above the 2 % materiality threshold in the area of Cohesion policy" — confirming the 2% materiality threshold referenced in the claim.