Approximately 6.6 billion euros ($8.9 billion) in European Union funds were misallocated or lost to inefficient expenditure schemes last year, according to the bloc's official auditors on Tuesday, marking a 0.9 percentage point rise from the previous year and the third year in a row that inefficient spending have rose.

The European Court of Auditors, which is responsible for checking the finances of the EU's institutions, said it found irregularities affecting 4.8 percent of total spending last year, up from 3.9 percent in 2011.

Rural development had the highest percentage of erroneous spending at 7.9 percent, totalling more than 1 billion euros, while regional policy took second place with nearly 3 billion euros at 6.8 percent; and agriculture saw the most significant jump in error rate, from 2.9 percent in 2011 to 3.8 percent.

The auditors' report stressed that "errors" was not a euphemism for fraud, but rather "misapplication or misunderstanding of the often complex rules of EU expenditure schemes."

"Europe's citizens have a right to know what their money is being spent on and whether it is being used properly," said Vítor Caldeira, the president of the European Court of Auditors. "They also have a right to know whether it is delivering value, particularly at a time when there is such pressure on public finances."

"I can't think of any other organisation that has an audit like ours," added European Court of Auditors spokesman Aidas Palubinska to BBC, further saying that the audit was done in the interest of transparency.

More than half the errors found during the audit could have been corrected by national authorities before submitting their claims to the European Commission, noted Caldeira.
"The overriding message is that member states still need to step up their game," claimed European Commission spokeswoman Emer Traynor. "They are first in line for choosing and managing the projects, and they are still not doing enough to protect EU funds."

The audit found that Spain, Greece and Italy accounted for 80 percent of the errors. Some of the most common errors included receiving aid for a plot of land designated as "permanent pastures", yet having areas within the plot that are filled with dense forests or roads.

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