MEP Alexander Jungbluth (ESN) has submitted a written parliamentary question to the European Commission, pressing it on structural vulnerabilities in NextGenerationEU oversight after the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) 2025 annual report revealed 518 active cases and estimated damages of €5.07 billion linked to the recovery instrument. The question, filed on 8 April 2026, targets procurement fraud, false information, corruption, and misappropriation, particularly in green and digital transformation projects.
Jungbluth’s question contains three concrete asks: first, what specific vulnerabilities the Commission has identified in oversight, allocation, and audit mechanisms for NextGenerationEU, especially in high-resource areas like green and digital transformation, and what future measures will be taken; second, how the Commission ensures that green transformation projects—such as renewables, energy efficiency, and sustainable infrastructure—are not more vulnerable to fraud, market distortion, or inefficient use due to political prioritisation; third, whether the fraud cases indicate that NextGenerationEU’s design perversely incentivises misappropriation, and what conclusions the Commission draws for future EU budget direction.
The policy orientation is critical and reformist: Jungbluth challenges the Commission to acknowledge systemic flaws in NextGenerationEU’s architecture, suggesting that political prioritisation of green projects may create fraud risks. He implicitly advocates for stronger safeguards and a redesign of EU budget instruments to prevent misuse.
Under EU rules, the Commission must reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it shares the MEP’s concerns or defends the current framework, potentially influencing future budget oversight reforms.