Outrage as EU hands £3.5bn to authoritarian regimes – cash vanishes into black hole | World | News
Taxpayers have directly funnelled more than £3.5 billion to authoritarian governments in North Africa and the Sahel since 2014, an examination of the EU’s own Financial Transparency System (FTS) data has revealed. The revelation prompted Frank Furedi, Executive Director of MCC Brussels, to launch a blistering attack on what he called the “incompetence” of the bloc.
The payments, intended to curb migration and promote stability, have instead flowed to repressive regimes in Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Chad, with critics accusing Brussels of waste, poor oversight, and institutional negligence. Morocco, an authoritarian monarchy notorious for repressing political opposition, has received over €2 billion directly from the EU since 2014. Recent disbursements include €262 million in 2024, €224 million in 2023, €224 million in 2022, and €335 million in 2020.
Tunisia, increasingly authoritarian and accused of cracking down on dissent, has taken over €1 billion directly. Key payments include €151.9 million in 2024, €112 million in 2022, €183 million in 2021, and €205 million in 2020.
In Libya, over €500,000 has gone straight to the government since 2014, with amounts such as €38,000 in 2023 and €244,000 in 2022. However, tens of millions more have supported the European Union Integrated Border Management Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM), which aids the country’s security services. This includes €26 million in 2024, €24.8 million in 2023, €35 million in 2022, €8.7 million in 2021, and €10.1 million in 2020.
Chad, ranked among Africa’s most corrupt states, has received over €172 million directly since 2016, including €34 million in 2022. These direct payments are separate from the wider EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, which has faced repeated criticism for ineffectiveness.
Mr Furedi told Express.co.uk: “European taxpayers were told their money would tackle migration and instability — instead, billions disappeared into a black hole of waste, incompetence and fantasy projects.”
Mr Furedi highlighted examples of bureaucratic absurdity, such as supplying a blender to a school without electricity. He said: “The idea that Brussels handed a blender to a school without electricity perfectly captures the detached, bureaucratic absurdity at the heart of the EU machine.”
The overall approach, he said, “reads less like a development strategy and more like a catalogue of institutional negligence funded by European taxpayers.”
The EU launched the Trust Fund in 2015 amid the migration crisis, promising to tackle root causes through stabilisation projects. Yet much of the funding has taken the form of direct budget support — cash paid into government coffers with limited strings attached. Auditors have repeatedly warned of thin results, overstated impacts, and risks of money reaching abusive regimes.
Defenders argue the payments secure vital cooperation on border control, counter-terrorism, and returns, helping manage flows across the Mediterranean. EU officials highlight training, infrastructure, and economic programmes as necessary investments in long-term stability.
However, the scale of direct transfers to governments with poor records on corruption, human rights, and democracy has sparked growing alarm.
European voters grappling with domestic pressures — from strained public services to high migration — are questioning why billions are sent abroad with apparently meagre returns.
FTS data, while publicly available, can be fragmented and hard to aggregate fully, raising transparency concerns. Insiders describe a culture of announcing large headline figures while follow-up and measurable outcomes lag behind.
As fresh multi-billion commitments loom under broader EU external funding instruments, the revelations intensify calls for a fundamental overhaul. Taxpayers want to know whether this money is genuinely buying stability — or simply subsidising the very problems it claims to solve.
