EU aid fund: Funds from corona aid are being drawn down only slowly

According to the European Court of Auditors, not even a third of the funds from the EU's Corona aid fund have been used so far. The reasons for this range from inflation to administrative overburdening.

At first things got off to a good start with the help from the Corona reconstruction fund, says the Court of Auditors' report, especially quickly because of the pre-financing that was possible. But now we are gradually running out of time, says the report.

The EU has 724 billion euros available over six years as Corona reconstruction aid, partly as loans, partly as direct financial aid. However, only 213 billion euros of this had been paid out by the end of last year, reports the European Court of Auditors. That is not even a third. Time is running out, because the fund is due to be closed in summer 2026.

From inflation to supply chain problems

The reasons for the slow take-up vary from country to country, according to the Court of Auditors. Sometimes it is due to inflation, sometimes to raw material shortages, sometimes to problems in the supply chain. Projects therefore have to be recalculated or changed, or they have been cancelled altogether. In such a case, the Commission has no way of reclaiming the funds that have already been paid out.

The Court of Auditors says that this needs to be addressed again. It also criticises the Commission for not systematically monitoring whether and when the money actually gets to where it is supposed to go. By autumn last year, this was only about half of the actual funds in autumn.

Sometimes, however, the administrations simply cannot keep up with the applications or they do not really know what should be included in the application and what can be funded from the Corona funds. After all, there are more EU funding pots and the Corona Fund is a new pot with a different mechanism.

Relief fund for more promising Plan

The EU set up the Corona aid fund to cushion the effects of the pandemic and support promising projects. Investments in ecological change and digital infrastructure in particular are being promoted. The huge €724 billion package is being financed by bonds that the EU has raised on the capital markets.

Spain will receive the lion's share with 77 billion euros and Italy with around 70 billion euros in direct aid alone. Germany is entitled to 28 billion euros. This will be used, for example, to set up private charging stations or digitalise public administration.