Press Release: Commission steps up its efforts in fighting fraud against the EU budget

In 2009 alone, Member States reported €280 million in suspected fraud cases involving EU funds. Although this represents less than 0.2% of the EU’s total budget, the Commission is determined to push the fight against fraud a step further.

In this context, the Commission today adopted its new Anti-Fraud Strategy to update and modernise its policies to fight against fraud. This Strategy proposes a set of measures to ensure that the Commission will manage or supervise EU funds, at all levels and in all sectors, with the best possible tools to prevent and detect fraud to the EU budget.

This new Strategy will cover the whole "anti-fraud cycle", i.e. from the prevention and detection of fraud at an early stage to investigations, sanctioning and recovery of misused funds. It will also cover both the revenues and expenditure sides of the EU budget, including the budget which is partly managed by EU Member States. An EU Action Plan to fight against smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol along the EU Eastern border accompanies the Strategy.

European Commission: Memo/11/454: Frequently Asked Questions: Commission's Anti-Fraud Strategy http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/454&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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