In a new report they say that together with other protective mechanisms under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and cohesion policy, the framework provides for the possibility of budgetary measures against such breaches in member states.

Hungary and Poland are currently affected by several rule-of-law-related budgetary measures, with impacts estimated at around €22 billion and €134 billion, respectively.

However, these amounts are not yet tangible, as they only represent the potential impact on future payments and commitments up to the end of the decade.

In other words, the direct budgetary consequences are so far much lower than these figures might suggest.

In the meantime, blocking EU funds may hamper the achievement of EU programmes and policy objectives, in cases where a government fails to fulfil its obligations.

Citizens may then be the first to feel the negative effects, warn the auditors. For example, students may no longer be able to take part in the Erasmus+ exchange programme.

For the single case in which measures were taken under the Conditionality Regulation (Hungary, 2022), the proposal to block money was duly justified.

However, for countries other than Hungary, the auditors could not always verify the reasons for using one tool rather than another.

They therefore conclude that the European Commission cannot transparently demonstrate that the EU’s financial interests are properly protected across all member states.

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Read also – European Court of Auditors: “procurement weaknesses are on the rise across (EU) agencies this year”

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