"Greater impetus" is needed at the European level to implement an effective strategic framework to manage the risks of fraud affecting the European budget, the Court of Auditors said on Thursday 10 January.
It added that it seemed “obvious” that the European Commission should “intensify its fight against fraud affecting EU-funded expenditure by clarifying and strengthening the responsibilities of the various parties involved in the management of the fight against fraud”.
In its report on the fight against fraud against the EU budget, the Court of Auditors recalls that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is currently the main EU body with competence in this area. It contributes to the design and implementation of the Commission's anti-fraud policy and conducts administrative investigations in cases of fraud against the Union budget. A European Public Prosecutor's Office, which will become operational in 2020, will be empowered to prosecute criminal activities against the EU's financial interests in 22 Member States, the auditors emphasise.
The report points out that the Commission does not have exhaustive information on the extent, nature and causes of fraud. The Commission “has not yet made any assessment of undetected fraud”, the authors of the report also regret.
Investigations and recovery. The Court of Auditors considers that the length of OLAF's investigations “reduces the chances of being able to initiate proceedings”. As a result, OLAF investigations lead to prosecutions of suspected fraudsters only “in about 45% of cases”, the Court laments. It also criticises shortcomings in the recovery of unduly paid EU funds: between 2012 and 2016, only about 15% of the total recommended amount was actually recovered.
The creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office is a step in the right direction, “but the current regulation poses several risks. Probably the most serious of these concerns that detection and investigation, which will be carried out primarily by the Member States’ investigators under the authority of the EPPO”, according to the Court. And it also deplores the fact that the regulation does not establish “any mechanism enabling the EPPO [...] to urge Member States authorities to allocate resources to the proactive work necessary for the investigation of fraud in EU spending”.
Nothing new, according to Mr Oettinger. “There is nothing really new [in the Court of Auditors' audit on fraud]”, comments European Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger. He believes that most areas of improvement have long been identified and addressed or are about to. “The new European Public Prosecutor's Office will not need to rely upon traditional instruments of EU law for cooperation among judicial authorities of different Member States”, says the Commissioner. The Prosecutor's Office will investigate, prosecute and bring to judgement crimes against the EU budget in the Member States, the Commission assures, concluding, “We have zero tolerance for fraud and corruption with EU funds”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)