EXCLUSIVE: One of the cited examples is the now-closed Murcia-San Javier Airport, which obtained about €20 million (£17.2m) in EU funding for runway, taxiway and management infrastructure.
Murcia San Javier closed on January 14, 2019 (Picture: Wikicommons)
Tens of millions of euros in EU funding have been funnelled into “ghost” airports throughout Europe — and British taxpayers are nonetheless footing a number of the invoice years after leaving the bloc, it has been claimed. Frank Furedi, government director of MCC Brussels, blamed what he known as “the sellout Brexit deal” negotiated by the Tories and endorsed by Labour as making a scenario when the UK continues to be on the hook to Brussels for failed and failing infrastructure tasks.
The European Fee’s Monetary Transparency System (FTS) offers a public report of the EU funds, but it comprises a major structural hole concerning regional infrastructure. Whereas the FTS evaluation software tracks funds managed instantly by Brussels, it usually excludes “Shared Administration” tasks—the class liable for roughly 75% of EU spending, together with the event of regional airports.
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At Badajoz Airport, £5.3 million (€6.15 million) was spent regardless of there being no urgent want to take action (Picture: Wikicommons)
Mr Furedi highlighted a 2014 investigation by the European Court docket of Auditors which examined EU-funded airport tasks throughout a number of member states. It discovered repeated instances through which regional airports had been expanded regardless of weak demand, declining passenger numbers, or restricted long-term viability.
The explanation such “ghost” tasks proceed to hang-out the general public purse is because of the EU’s “drip-drip” reimbursement mannequin, referred to as the Reste à Liquider (RAL).
Beneath this method, the European Fee doesn’t pay for main infrastructure tasks in a single lump sum; as an alternative, it settles payments in instalments over a few years as work is accomplished. Regardless of the UK’s departure from the bloc, Article 140 of the Withdrawal Settlement legally binds British taxpayers to pay their share of those excellent commitments made in the course of the 2014–2020 funds cycle.
Mr Furedi mentioned: “British taxpayers proceed to pay for EU waste resembling this due to the sellout Brexit deal negotiated by the Conservatives, and Labour are completely satisfied to proceed giving the EU billions for years to come back. The EU’s report on funding so-called ‘ghost airports’ is a textbook case of bureaucratic self-importance tasks trumping widespread sense.”
“From Spain to Greece, we see the identical sample repeated: airports expanded regardless of falling passenger numbers and even shuttered fully after EU cash was spent. This isn’t funding – it’s institutionalised waste.”
The report highlighted a number of instances the place main infrastructure funding didn’t translate into sustained utilization. In some situations, airports had been later closed to business visitors or left considerably underused. One of the cited examples is Murcia-San Javier Airport, which obtained about £17.3 million (€20 million) in EU funding for runway, taxiway and management infrastructure.
£5.2million (€6 million) was spent at Vigo airport – with no discernible increase to passenger numbers (Picture: Wikcommons)
Auditors discovered delays in bringing services into operation and a 43% drop in passenger numbers between 2007 and 2013. The airport closed to business flights in 2019, with providers transferred to a close-by alternative facility.
Mr Furedi defined: “Murcia-San Javier is a putting instance – €20 million spent, just for passenger operations to be shut down fully just a few years later. If this occurred within the personal sector, there could be outrage and accountability. In Brussels, it’s enterprise as traditional.”
At Badajoz Airport, £5.3million (€6.15 million) was spent on terminal and runway upgrades. The Court docket of Auditors discovered no urgent want for enlargement, with low utilisation even at peak instances and a 68% fall in passenger numbers over the audit interval.
Mr Furedi added: “Even the place airports stay open, like Vigo or Badajoz, the proof exhibits dramatic drops in passenger numbers after enlargement. These aren’t engines of progress – they’re monuments to flawed Soviet model central planning proper on the coronary heart of the European Union.”
In Vigo Airport, £5.2million (€6 million) in EU funding was spent on the terminal. Auditors discovered the upgrades did not generate further passenger visitors, with utilization falling by greater than half between 2007 and 2013.
The report additionally highlighted important overlap with close by airports. Mr Furedi said: “The place funds are allotted, there’s little or no incentive to ask whether or not the venture is required or viable.”
Different airports referenced within the audit embrace regional services in Cordoba, Kastoria, Burgos and Crotone, in addition to bigger island airports resembling La Palma Airport and Fuerteventura Airport.
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The time period “ghost airports” is utilized by critics to explain regional airports that obtain substantial public funding however find yourself considerably underused, financially unsustainable, or in some instances later closed to business visitors. It isn’t an official EU designation however is broadly utilized in debates about infrastructure spending.
Mr Furedi noticed: “The deeper difficulty here’s a system that rewards spending for its personal sake. As soon as funds are allotted, there’s little or no incentive to ask whether or not the venture is required or viable.”
Monitoring newer EU spending at particular person airports is tough, as funding is usually channelled by nationwide or regional authorities fairly than instantly attributed to particular websites.
That makes transparency extra complicated in public databases maintained by the European Fee. The difficulty has additionally been tied to the UK’s ongoing monetary obligations underneath the Brexit Withdrawal Settlement, underneath which Britain continues to contribute to agreed EU commitments regardless of leaving the bloc.
Treasury figures counsel complete UK internet funds will attain round £25 billion by 2025, with an additional £5–10 billion anticipated thereafter.
In keeping with the newest HM Treasury figures launched in March 2026, the UK nonetheless faces roughly £5.3 billion in future excellent internet liabilities to the EU.
Which means as regional authorities in Spain or Greece submit closing “completion payments” for airports commissioned over a decade in the past, the UK continues to obtain bi-annual invoices to cowl its portion of the prices—successfully paying off the mortgage on European infrastructure lengthy after the British public voted to depart.
Mr Furedi warned: “British voters had been promised freedom from exactly this sort of waste after they selected to depart the European Union.
“But figures like Keir Starmer now appear intent on dragging Britain again in the direction of a system that has persistently did not ship worth for cash.”
Mr Furedi concluded: “Re-aligning with EU constructions dangers re-exposing the UK to the identical tradition of opaque decision-making and lack of accountability that produced these ‘ghost airports’ within the first place. EU decision-making screams beware to British taxpayers.”
The European Fee has beforehand defended its regional funding programmes, saying they’re designed to enhance connectivity and assist financial growth in much less affluent areas.
Nevertheless, critics proceed to level to the Court docket of Auditors’ findings as proof that some tasks did not ship worth for cash, abandoning underused infrastructure funded by public cash.
Specific.co.uk has contacted the European Fee for remark.
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