The European Court of Auditors published today a special report analysing the EU co-financing of municipal waste management infrastructures. It has examined whether the EU funding for municipal waste management infrastructure projects was effective in helping Member States achieve EU waste policy objectives. The Court stressed that the EU makes a substantial contribution to waste management infrastructures. In fact, the EU has allocated €10.8 billion, during the 2000-2013 period, to these projects. Nevertheless, the Court found “that the effectiveness of EU structural measures funding for municipal waste management infrastructures was limited.” The EU funding is not, therefore linked to the achievement of EU waste policy objectives. This is another ECA’s report that shows the EU budget wastes millions of taxpayer’s money.
The Court has noted that there has been “some improvements in the management of waste”, nevertheless it has concluded that “the effectiveness of structural measures funding for municipal waste management infrastructures was hampered by the poor implementation of supporting measures.” According to the Court “The implementation of these supporting measures was not a condition for receiving an EU grant.” The Court also found weaknesses in EU waste regulatory framework and EU guidelines.
