Brussels, 14/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission published the results of a Eurobarometer survey on public awareness to fraud in general, as well as on fraud to the detriment of the EU and of its budget in the 15 Member States (EU15) and the 13 acceding and candidate countries (CC13). The results of the study show that those taking part in the survey are particularly concerned by corruption (55% in the EU15 and 69% in the CC13), fraud linked to the quality of food and farm products (46% in the EU15 and 57% in the CC13) and commercial fraud (39% in EU15 and 58% in the CC13). Citizens are more concerned about wrongdoing in national and local governments and institutions (36% in the EU15) than about wrongdoing in EU institutions. As concerns fraud against the EU and its budget, more than half the respondents disagree with the statement that fraud against the EU and its budget happens very rarely. There is wide consensus that defrauding the EU and its budget is harmful both for the vast majority of citizens who are honest and for the national economy. European Union citizens trust the police force to fight against fraud, while citizens from accession and candidate countries look more to the EU itself. Both groups agree that fighting fraud should be a political priority and the EU has a role to play. However, a majority of citizens feels fairly badly informed about the fight against fraud against the EU and its budget. Also, Elisabeth Werner, Spokesperson for Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer, said on Wednesday that the Commission needs to keep citizens better informed about actions taken to tackle EU fraud and the successes in the fight against such fraud.
Plenary session of the European Parliament