EU Auditors Report Difficulty Tracing Billions in COVID Recovery Funds

European auditors said Wednesday that they are unable to clearly trace how billions of euros have been spent from a fund established to help European Union countries recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Recovery and Resilience Facility was set up in 2020 as the 27 member countries closed borders, imposed lockdowns and worked to obtain vaccines.

At the time the bloc was experiencing its deepest recession on record. By January, the fund had reached an estimated 577 billion euros, equivalent to about 679 billion dollars. In a new report the European Court of Auditors said it is difficult to trace how countries allocated part of the money.

Thousands of recipients, including many businesses and large consortiums, are not identified. "Without this information, we cannot assess whether funds are fairly distributed, whether risks of concentration exist, whether EU money delivers value for citizens," said Ivana Maletic, the court member who led the audit.

"Transparency is not a technical issue. " The European Commission raised the money by borrowing on capital markets. It disbursed the grants and loans for projects intended to make economies more sustainable, environmentally friendly and digital. The payments were made only after recipients met certain conditions, a change from the previous system in which funds were usually released based on project costs.

Under the rules national governments must make public their biggest 100 beneficiaries. The auditors examined 10 EU countries and found that the top 100 recipients were almost exclusively national ministries, agencies and local or regional governments.