On Thursday 18 January, the European Parliament approved by a large majority (446 votes in favour, 48 against, 66 abstentions) a resolution drafted by Maria Grapini (S&D, Romanian) assessing the level of protection of European funds in 2022 and the fight against fraud in the European Union. The text was adopted unopposed by the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) at the beginning of December (see EUROPE 13307/25).
MEPs are calling for the fight against corruption and irregularities to be stepped up, pointing to the low recovery of funds used irregularly by Member States in 2022 and an increase in fraud. They also aim to provide financial protection for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) as part of the European Recovery Plan.
The text recommends enhanced checks on funds allocated to aid in third countries, proposes the creation of an autonomous budget for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and encourages the participation of certain countries in strengthening the fight against fraud led by the Prosecutor's Office. It also urges the Commission to speed up the recovery of misappropriated funds.
On Wednesday, Parliament also approved a resolution on the transparency of EU funds granted to civil society organisations (see EUROPE 13330/7).
Link to the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/agh (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)