Brussels, 21/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - As signalled in EUROPE on 16 May (p.9), the European Commission's Annual Report 2000 on the Protection of the Communities' Financial Interests notes that compared with the previous year, there has been a significant rise in the total number of cases of fraud and irregularities and also in the amounts involved from virtually all areas of the EU's budget. The report highlights that the problem of recovering sums paid fraudulently or in an irregular manner...