European Commission delivers its views on the 2022 EU budget

Article summary

The European Commission has delivered its opinion on the 2022 EU budget, as part of its Integrated Financial Accountability Reporting (IFAR). It noted that a strong and flexible budget allowed the EU to lend support to Ukraine and other Member States with €15.4bn in the wake of the Russian invasion and dedicated €119.4bn to EU’s climate commitments resulting in 22 million and 19 million citizens benefitting from flood protection and fire related measures respectively. The Commission further notes that the European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) report for the budget details different conclusions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) since the assessments conducted by the Commission and the ECA vary. While the Commission and the ECA align on the assessment for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) grant payment targets, the Commission disagrees with the ECA’s findings of limited instances of irregular RRF payments. Finally, in 2022, the Commission has achieved its objective to ensure that the level...