EU embassies told to cut back on chauffeurs and parties after massive overspend

Overseas delegations could close after ministry told it must make cuts of £36m

The European Union’s foreign embassies have been told to cut back on parties and chauffeur-driven cars after a massive overspend.
The “severe austerity measures” being enforced on the European External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc’s foreign diplomacy arm, has also sparked security concerns, with no money to upgrade locks, reinforce windows or install cameras at some residences.
Eurocrats are mulling over the closure and sale of some of Brussels’ 145 worldwide delegations as part of an effort to balance the books, the Financial Times reported.
The EU’s de facto foreign ministry has been told it must cut €43 million (£36 million) – about five per cent – from its budget after breaching spending rules.
“We can no longer host and do outreach events,” an official said, while another said the EEAS was in “dire straits”.
A spokesman said: “We have reduced all the expenditure we possibly could, we operate with reduced car fleets, security equipment and office supplies.
“The mission and representation budgets have been cut in half since 2023 despite the crippling effects on our global outreach.”
The cuts have meant the EEAS’ annual reception at the United Nations General Assembly, a key event for persuading developing nations to side with the bloc on issues like Ukraine, has been shelved.
The Telegraph had previously reported that the bloc’s UN delegation was hoping to spend €20 million on a new residence in New York because its existing three-bedroom property was too small to host parties.
There have also been reports that diplomats posted overseas have been barred from buying stationery.
And while some embassies will be forced to close as a result of the cutbacks, some of the ambassadorial residences are being left empty because the EEAS cannot afford the necessary renovations, with top diplomats being forced to rent out properties elsewhere.
The EEAS’ spending crunch has been made worse by a decision by Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, to organise the traditional twice-yearly informal meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, instead of allowing Hungary to host the event as planned.
The bill for translation alone at the gathering will run beyond €70,000.
“It is a big hole that we now have to fill,” an official said.
In March, Stefano Sannino, the EEAS’ deputy secretary-general, said it was “heavily under-budgeted”.
He told the European Parliament that a 7.1 per cent increase in its budget to €880.2 million had failed to match inflation.
Its overspend was the largest in real-terms of any EU body, with all departments ordered to keep non-salary related spending increases within two per cent.
Between the end of 2021 and 2023, the EEAS’ budgets have jumped 23 per cent, with increased costs for office rental, security, electricity and communications.
Officials at the EU’s foreign arm have been lobbying Brussels to ensure it can “represent proudly and efficiently the values and interests of the EU worldwide”.
Meanwhile, the European Commission, the Brussels-based executive, is still free to send its officials around the world having not exhausted its budgets.