Directorate General for Audit of European Funds

EUTAF is Hungary's statutory audit authority for EU structural funds, reconstituted as an autonomous body in 2023 following EU conditionality requirements. Personnel costs at 64.8 percent of expenditure are appropriate for a knowledge-intensive audit function whose product is professional judgement. Compressing salaries below market-competitive levels shifts the institution toward lower-qualified staff — the capture risk conditionality was designed to address. Each credibility improvement has material return against the EUR 18 billion in EU funds currently frozen for Hungary.

EUTAF's operational expenditure covers IT systems, legal databases, on-site audit travel across a geographically dispersed portfolio of EU-funded projects, and training costs. The 2021–2027 programming period sustains a growing audit workload through the mid-2030s. A nominal freeze reflects a legitimate efficiency question rather than identified waste: EUTAF should achieve real-terms cost stability through digital audit tooling and remote verification where EU guidelines permit, rather than receiving unconstrained nominal growth. We do not know the current cost-per-audit ratio relative to comparator EU audit authorities; that data should inform a future review.

Employer social contributions are the statutory levy on EUTAF's personnel base, mechanically determined by the social contribution tax rate. At 14.0 percent of personnel costs, the ratio is consistent with the statutory rate structure. No independent policy reduction is possible; the classification follows directly from the Keep on personnel. Any change requires either a reduction in staffing — which the EU audit-authority independence requirements rule out — or a statutory rate change not proposed here.