An external audit of the European Parliament has revealed shortcomings in the control of expenditure, with the amount of misused funds estimated at around €1.5 million during the 2024 elections.
According to Report, based on external audit documents and those from the European Parliament’s finance department, which were reviewed by Politico, European political parties and their associated funds misused around €1.5 million during the 2024 election campaign (for the European Parliament elections – ed.), which points to persistent shortcomings in the system for monitoring and disclosing information on EU funds.
The findings of the internal audit point to recurring violations across all political groups, blurring the line between error and abuse.
The sum of €1.5 million represents only a small fraction of the €74 million in grants allocated from the EU budget. However, the underlying patterns in this situation – ranging from procedural breaches to potentially fictitious expenditure – point to a more systemic problem within the European Parliament’s financial architecture.
“Among the many reasons for reclassifying expenditure, there could have been an attempt to fraudulently misuse public funds,” believes Louis Druno, founder of European Democracy Consulting.
