Brussels, 14/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 July, the European Commission adopted its annual report (2009) on protecting the financial interests of the European Union and the fight against fraud. The number of irregularities and cases of suspicion of fraud notified by the countries of the EU regarding expenditure for agriculture, cohesion, direct expenditure and pre-accession funds rose by 20.7% between 2008 and 2009, from 6,595 cases to 7,963. The financial impact of the irregularities and suspected cases of fraud in these four areas has shot up to €1.492 billion in 2009 (compared to €783.2 million in 2008). The number of reported cases of irregularities in the fields of own resources and direct expenditure fell considerably in 2009 compared to 2008.
The protection of the financial interests of the EU and the fight against fraud do not stop at the borders of Europe and the Commission is actively working in favour of international cooperation in this area, according to a Commission press release. Among the measures highlighted in the report are international negotiations for anti-corruption and anti-fraud agreements, intensive efforts to fight cigarette smuggling and the creation of a new database to prevent and detect infringements of the law in the fields of agriculture and customs, which may be detrimental to the revenue of the Union.
Own resources. The number of cases of irregularities notified in 2009 (traditional own resources) fell by 23% compared to 2008 (4,648 cases in 2009, compared to 6,075 in 2008), and the estimated amount fell by 8.5% (€375 million in 2008 as against €343 million in 2009). Suspected cases of fraud represented around 19% of the cases of irregularities reported, with a financial impact estimated at €99 million. TVs and monitors, clothing and, of course, tobacco remain the most-quoted goods in the registered cases of fraud or irregularities.
Expenditure, global analysis. The cohesion policy and pre-accession aid constitute a proportion of irregularities “which far exceeds their share of resources within the overall budget, thus demonstrating that they remain the sectors in which the management and control systems still need to be improved”, reads the report.
Agricultural expenditure. In 2009, the member states notified 1,621 new cases with a total affected amount in the region of €125 million. A 43% increase in notified cases was noted compared to 2008 figures, with the sums in question themselves up 23%. The launch of the IMS (Irregularity Management System) is one of the explanations behind this increase, as it has allowed a larger number of users to make communications. Spain notified the most cases (404) and Italy the highest sums of money (€54 million). The “sugar”, “pork meat, eggs and poultry”, “cereals”, “rural development” and “fruit and vegetable” sectors saw the highest irregularity rates.
Cohesion policy. In 2009, 4,931 irregularities were notified, worth a total of €1.22 billion. This was a significant increase, both for the number of irregularities notified (+23%) and the irregular sums (+109%). The ERDF remains the most-affected fund in terms of suspected cases of fraud (0.29%). Of the member states, Italy, Poland, Estonia and Slovakia reported the highest rates of suspected fraud.
Pre-accession fund. In 2009, 706 new cases of irregularities worth in the region of €117 million were reported. Five member states (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) and Turkey reported suspected cases of fraud in 2009. The number of suspected fraud cases was 262, with a financial impact of €57 million. The highest number of suspected fraud cases was reported by Bulgaria. Suspected cases of fraud detected in the framework of the SAPARD programme (which supports agricultural development and rural development in the candidate countries) were highest by some margin.
Expenditure directly managed by the Commission. The number of recovery orders regarding cases of irregularities and suspected fraud in this field rose to 705, with an estimated financial impact of €27.5 million, €1.5 million of which relating to 15 notified suspected fraud cases. The irregularities notified for the external actions sector represent 4.4 million and the field of internal policies 23.1 million. (L.C./trans.fl)