Fraud affecting the EU budget fell by 35% in 2011
The European Commission published a report which shows that the EU budget fell by 35% in 2011, and this fall responds to stronger measures and better controls implemented for EU funding; there are also a number of technical explanations for the drop in fraud rate in 2011. In total, €295 million in EU funds were affected by fraud, or 0.2% of the budget.
The European Commission announced that fraud affecting the EU budget fell by 35% in 2011. In particular, in cohesion policy, there were 41% fewer cases of suspected fraud compared to 2010, while in agriculture reported fraud cases fell by 66%. According to the Commission, this fall is due to stronger measures and better controls implemented for EU funding. In June 2011, the Commission adopted its new Anti-Fraud Strategy.
€295 million in EU funds were affected by fraud, or 0.2% of the budget, which must be recovered in line with EU rules. The recovery of EU funds affected by irregularity and fraud has also improved, with the Commission reclaiming around €2 billion in financial corrections and recoveries last year. Member States have also made some improvement in terms of recoveries from the final beneficiaries, in particular in the area of pre-accession assistance.
In its report, the Commission underlines the need to further reduce fraud affecting the EU budget, and makes a number of recommendations to Member States which could help achieve this. It also stressed that the recent Commission proposal on the protection of the financial interests of the EU by criminal law could considerably help in the recovery of funds, as well as in deterring fraudsters.