EU Auditors Flag Procurement Weaknesses at 28 Agencies and €8.7 Million Recovery Risk at EIT

The European Court of Auditors has given clean opinions on the 2025 accounts of 42 of the European Union's 43 agencies while identifying procurement-control weaknesses at 28 agencies. The exception, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), received qualified opinions on both its accounts and payments. This is a mixed result: the EU watchdog says agency finances were generally managed according to the rules, but a favourable overall assessment does not erase specific contracting and grant-accounting problems.

The findings appear in the European Court of Auditors' Annual Report on EU Agencies for the 2025 Financial Year, published on 29 October 2026. The audit covers agencies working on aviation, border management, intellectual property, innovation and other areas. For the first time, the auditors issued an overall opinion on whether the agencies' revenue and payments, taken together, complied with applicable rules. The overall assessment was favourable.

The auditors nevertheless reported weaknesses at 28 agencies, mainly in public procurement. These findings concern tender procedures and financial controls; they do not mean every affected contract was corrupt or that all 28 agencies suffered financial losses. Independent reporting identifies the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Frontex among agencies asked to improve procurement planning. The EU Translation Centre, EU Drugs Agency, EU Intellectual Property Office and Eurojust were among bodies asked to strengthen checks during public tenders.

EIT's qualification is more specific. Auditors said its accounts did not properly reflect uncertainty over recovering €8.7 million owed by a Knowledge and Innovation Community partnership that entered liquidation in March 2026. The sum is an amount owed whose recovery is uncertain, not an established theft or definitive loss. Auditors also found material error in payments at beneficiary level, linked in part to how the institute disburses, validates and clears multiyear grants. They urged EIT to pursue recovery and introduce annual reporting and clearing procedures.

Across all 43 agencies, budget execution averaged 98% of available funds in 2025. High spending against budget does not independently demonstrate that procurement was competitive or programmes delivered intended outcomes. Conversely, a qualified audit opinion does not prove criminal wrongdoing: it indicates that specified accounting or payment problems are material to the audit opinion. The Court's overall clean opinion should therefore be read alongside, rather than in place of, its agency-specific recommendations.

The public-interest test is what happens after the audit. EU lawmakers can ask EIT to document recoveries and improve its grant-clearing controls, while following up whether the 28 agencies with identified weaknesses change their tender procedures. The findings concern the 2025 financial year and do not establish the results of any corrective action taken since then.

Primary record: European Court of Auditors, Annual Report on EU Agencies for the 2025 Financial Year, dated 29 October 2026. Separately originated reports from EU Law Live and AGERPRES corroborate the scope and the qualified EIT findings.