On 3 July, the Court of Auditors issued a special report on the roll-out of the circular economy in the EU, entitled "Circular economy: slow transition by member states despite EU action".

The report notably dives into a number of measures taken by the European Commission to promote circular design and finance the transition. Between 2016 and 2020, the EU made over EUR 10 billion available for the Member States to invest in green innovation and help businesses go circular. Member States have spent a large part of the money on managing waste, as investments are still required to comply with the Waste Framework Directive, and have not channelled sufficient money towards promoting circular design or sustainable production processes.  

The report provides recommendations on monitoring and investments. These recommendations are currently being addressed by the Commission which will take them into account when developing future circular economy policies.