UK taxpayers still fork out '£41bn to cover EU's waste' despite Brexit

UK taxpayers have paid £41 billion since Brexit to cover Brussels' waste, a leading Eurosceptic has warned, with a report by the European Court of Auditors exposing £5.2 billion (€6 billion) in errors across the EU's 2024 budget. Frank Furedi, executive director of the think tank MCC Brussels, described the auditing report this week as having "the status of a fantasy document".

The European Court of Auditors' annual report, published on October 9, calculated a 3.6% error rate in the £145.5 billion (€167.9 billion) audit population - equivalent to £5.2 billion (€6 billion) misspent - out of the £166 billion (€191.1 billion total budget expenditure. Mr Furedi said: "Despite Brexit - and despite millions voting to leave - the hard-working British taxpayer has already paid £40.9 billion to Brussels since leaving the EU with another £8.1 billion to come. How can taxpayers be expected to accept funding Brussels' waste right through to 2065?"

The European Court of Auditors' annual report, published on 9 October, calculated a 3.6 per cent error rate in the £145.5 billion (€167.9 billion) audit population - equivalent to £5.2 billion (€6 billion) misspent - out of the £166 billion (€191.1 billion) total budget expenditure.

Scaled to the full Budget, the errors could amount to £5.9 billion (€6.8 billion). The court issued its sixth consecutive adverse opinion, declaring that "the Budget expenditure accepted in the accounts for the year ended December 31, 2024 is materially affected by error". This stemmed from 5.2 % inaccuracies in high-risk, reimbursement-based schemes covering £100 billion (€115.7 billion), based on a sample of just 812 transactions.

The report detailed numerous instances of waste. In a Belgian Horizon Europe project, a beneficiary claimed costs for 215 maximum personnel days, but records showed 55.5 days of absences for annual leave, sick leave and other reasons, making the claim ineligible.

A Polish European Social Fund initiative to improve access for disabled students committed to an online education platform and library system, but these were either non-operational or unfit for purpose, depriving beneficiaries and rendering the costs ineligible.

In Greece, an EU financial instrument loan for small and medium-sized enterprises funded the purchase of a private property with a swimming pool, leased below market rate to the recipient's main shareholder - a breach of rules against real estate and indirect consumer financing.

France's £45.88 million (€52.9 million) Internal Security Fund aircraft, designed for Schengen border surveillance, was deployed outside the area for nearly a third of its flight time, including monitoring migrant crossings in the English Channel, resulting in a non-quantifiable error.

At Greek Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund facilities on Samos and Kos, £45.88 million (€52.9 million) in third interim payments covered substantial damage to furniture and fittings, with firefighting equipment relocated to inaccessible spots within two years.

Unaudited areas added to the concerns: £1 billion (€1.2 billion) in Budget support to third countries merged directly into national budgets, beyond the court's reach.

Multi-donor projects relied on the Commission's "notional approach", presuming compliance without specific checks. EU borrowing is projected to exceed £780 billion (€900 billion) by 2027, driven by NextGenerationEU and SURE.

The bloc has mobilised over £113 billion (€130 billion) for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Mr Furedi said: "The auditors only audited to 812 transactions, a tiny amount. That means that the authors have no idea of the scale of waste, error and of course frauds. Matters are made worse by the fact that many of the auditors have neither auditing qualifications nor any professional auditing experience. Half of Brussels' auditors aren't auditors at all - they're failed politicians marking their own homework."

An analysis of the court's 27 members as of 8 October 2025 showed 59 per cent (16 of 27) are former politicians, 44 per cent (12 of 27) lack auditing experience, and 48 per cent (13 of 27) have no serious qualifications. Germany's former president, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, faced accusations in 2022 of misusing EU expenses.

Mr Furedi said: "If a private company's accounts showed £5 billion of error and fraud, the directors would be in handcuffs - yet in Brussels, they just shrug and demand more money. Six years in a row the EU's auditors gave a negative opinion on EU spending - and still the gravy train rolls on."

Mr Furedi said: "We voted Leave - but because of Tory incompetence hard working British taxpayers are paying Brussels till 2065! Taxpayers have already forked out £40.9 billion since Brexit - and there's another £8.1 billion to go! And Labour is more than happy to continue paying it when that money is needed in the UK."

The UK's £40.9 billion in payments since the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020 - citing HM Treasury's European Union Finances Statement 2024 - form part of a £49 billion Withdrawal Agreement settlement, with £8.1 billion remaining, mainly pensions until 2065.

Pre-Brexit, net contributions averaged €13 billion annually.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's July EU "reset", expanding youth mobility and defence cooperation, has drawn criticism for increasing exposure without spending oversight. The UK has pledged £4.5 billion to Ukraine in 2025, separate from EU channels.

The Commission blamed errors on decentralised management across 27 member states, noting a fall from 5.6 % in 2023. It is committed to simpler rules and better data to meet the 2% threshold for a clean opinion.

In February, MCC Brussels proposed an "EU DOGE" task force to cut waste, modelled on US efficiency drives.

Nine years after the referendum, Mr Furedi's comments highlight persistent financial ties to a system the auditors deem fundamentally flawed.