One-Third of the EU Budget Goes to Cohesion Policy, but Lessons from the Past Must Guide Its Future, Says EU Court of Auditors

A third of the European Union’s total budget is allocated to cohesion policy, according to a press release issued by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The auditors are calling for policymakers to learn from past mistakes in both the design and implementation of cohesion funding and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), set up after the COVID-19 pandemic.

🔍 A Call for Simpler, More Strategic, and Performance-Oriented Policy

Strategic focus and performance, flexibility in programming, timely implementation, and simplified rules—these are the pillars repeatedly emphasized by the ECA to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the EU’s flagship regional development policy.

In a newly released review paper, the ECA presents a set of key lessons from past programming periods and the RRF experience, which should serve as a guide for the post-2027 EU cohesion policy.

"Cohesion policy is the EU’s main investment policy and often seen as a cornerstone of European integration. But its implementation is far from ideal," said Alejandro Blanco Fernandez, the ECA member responsible for the analysis.

💶 Cohesion Funding in Numbers

Between 1989 and 2023, the EU allocated over €1 trillion to cohesion policy. An additional €400 billion is planned by 2027, making it the world’s largest regional development policy.

While the European Commission reports that cohesion funds have helped reduce social and economic disparities, convergence across regions remains uneven. The ECA’s analysis highlights systemic weaknesses and offers concrete suggestions to boost the future policy's value added.

🧭 Key Recommendations from the Court

1. Keep the Policy's Focus Clear: Despite increasing demands, cohesion funding must stay anchored in regional development goals and convergence.
2. Enhance Performance and Monitoring: Recent attempts to make the policy more performance-oriented have fallen short. There is a strong case for better national and regional reforms, along with improved monitoring and evaluation.
3. Accelerate Fund Absorption: Funds often remain underutilized due to slow programming and delayed legal frameworks. The Court calls for earlier legislative adoption and adequate pre-financing mechanisms.
4. Simplify the Rules: Complex and often excessive regulation leads to bureaucratic burdens and higher error risks. Current safeguards are not enough to mitigate these issues.
5. Use RRF Lessons Wisely: Any future performance-based funding must learn from the challenges seen in the RRF, particularly regarding transparency, accountability, and effective fund recovery mechanisms.
6. Foster Synergies Across EU Instruments: Creating cross-policy synergies can strengthen overall EU impact and prevent fragmentation.

🌍 Responding to Crises and Regional Needs

Cohesion policy has often been used to respond to emergencies such as COVID-19 or the 2022 refugee crisis from Ukraine. While flexibility is valuable, the Court warns that this risks diverting funds from their core mission of addressing regional disparities.

The next programming period begins in 2028, and discussions about the policy’s future are already underway.

📘 About the ECA’s Analysis

The ECA document titled “EU Cohesion Policy: Lessons from the Past, Directions for the Future” (Review No. 04/2025) is not an audit report, but an analytical paper synthesizing previous audit findings, opinions, and thematic reviews related to the implementation of cohesion policy, with comparisons to the RRF experience.

The full document is available on the European Court of Auditors website.

📌 Background: EU cohesion policy is enshrined in Articles 174–178 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It aims to promote balanced development by strengthening economic, social, and territorial cohesion across the EU and reducing disparities between regions.

(Photo: Freepik)