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EU auditors warn eased EU budget rules could undermine oversight
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The simplification of rules in the upcoming EU budget in the field of research may put undermine the bloc’s ability to control how allocated funds are spent, the European Court of Auditors said in a report published on Monday.
The court, which is responsible for auditing how EU funds are collected and spent, has conducted an assessment of the next EU budget for competitiveness and research, which as written totals €409 billion – about one-fifth of the overall €2 trillion EU budget for 2028-2034.
The auditors’ report stresses that the field of research is particularly exposed to errors such as overcompensation, and that simplification measures such as lump-sum funding therefore need safeguards to keep funds from being misused.
“The Commission’s intention to simplify the EU’s financial management should not come at the expense of accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, and economy”, the court concludes.
The simplification agenda
Since beginning her second term as European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has pursued a project of “simplification”, an effort to cut red tape and deregulate the EU rulebook to make the bloc more economically competitive.
In that spirit, the Commission put forward a series of new legislative proposals called “omnibuses” with the aim to simplify major EU legislative proposals, for instance those covering digital and green policies.
This approach was recently challenged by European Commission vice-president Teresa Ribera. In a speech in early December at the think tank Bruegel, she insisted that simplification cannot be allowed to go too far.
“Deregulation eliminates safeguards, it puts costs onto citizens and taxpayers, creates uncertainty, discourages investment”, she said.
Similar concerns have been expressed in the European Parliament, which is currently debating the architecture of the Commission’s omnibus proposals.
Among other things, EU lawmakers have warned that the use of “approximations” in the omnibus legislation tendency might diminish the bloc’s oversight capacity and make it harder to establish how money is being spent.
new video loaded: Athletes and Protesters Criticize U.S. Policies at Winter Games in Milan
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transcript
Athletes and Protesters Criticize U.S. Policies at Winter Games in Milan
Displays of anti-U.S. sentiment have turned up at the Milan Winter Games. Vice President JD Vance was booed at the Olympics opening ceremony, and anti-ICE protesters took to the streets to demonstrate.
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I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens, as well as anybody, with love and respect. And I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S. So yeah, I just want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me.
By McKinnon de Kuyper
February 7, 2026
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U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff along with Jared Kushner and Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on a scheduled deployment Saturday.
The visit comes amid tensions with Iran as Witkoff said the service members were “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength,” and a day after the U.S. and Iran held talks in Oman to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
“We thanked the sailors and Marines, observed live flight operations, and spoke with the pilot who downed an Iranian drone that approached the carrier without clear intent,” Witkoff wrote on X. “Proud to stand with the men and women who defend our interests, deter our adversaries, and show the world what American readiness and resolve look like, on watch every day.”
The aircraft carrier left San Diego in November for the Indo-Pacific region and moved to the Middle East in January.
IRAN VOWS TO ‘TARGET US BASES’ IF AMERICAN FORCES LAUNCH AN ATTACK: REPORT
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew to the USS Lincoln on Saturday in the Arabian Sea. (CENTCOM/X)
“I join the American people in expressing our incredible pride in the Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group,” Cooper told the service members. “Their dedication to the mission and professionalism are on full display here in the Middle East as they demonstrate U.S. military readiness and strength.”
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to discuss Iran.
IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS NUCLEAR TALKS WILL CONTINUE AFTER US, TEHRAN NEGOTIATIONS HAD ‘A GOOD START’ IN OMAN
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew out to the USS Lincoln with Adam Cooper on Saturday, according to officials. (CENTCOM/X)
“The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles, and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said, referring to Tehran’s support for groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
The two leaders last met in September.
Trump described Friday’s Oman talks, which included Witkoff and Kushner, as “very good.”
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner greeting Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi ahead of U.S.-Iran talks, in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Friday. (Oman Foreign Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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“Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly,” the president told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Mar-a-Lago. “We have to see what that deal is.”
The EU’s special envoy to the Gulf told Euronews it’s high time to get a deal done as Brussels looks to bolster business ties with wealthy Arab nations. Free trade talks have stalled for two decades over political disagreements and conditions for market access.
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