For 2021, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has recommended the recovery of more than half a billion euros for the EU budget after fraud investigations, according to the OLAF report published on Wednesday 8 June.
The 2020 report referred to the recovery of €293.4 million.
In 2021, OLAF concluded 212 investigations, issuing 294 recommendations to the relevant national and European authorities. OLAF recommended the recovery of €527.4 million for the EU budget and opened 234 new investigations, following 1,110 communications received and analysed by its experts.
In 2021, OLAF’s investigations revealed a number of new trends in fraudulent activities, such as problems affecting environmental and biodiversity projects.
Last year, OLAF identified fraud patterns also observed in previous years and linked to EU funds in other important sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and regional policy. These patterns include double financing, creating artificial circumstances to obtain EU funds, collusion, conflicts of interest, manipulation of tenders, money laundering, undervaluation of customs duties, smuggling, and counterfeiting.
Link to the OLAF 2021 report: https://aeur.eu/f/1yw (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)