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REPORT (2025/2238(INI))

On the protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2024

A-10-2026-0080

Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Julien Sanchez

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This resolution concerns the protection of the EU's financial interests and the fight against fraud, based on the Commission's 2024 annual report. It calls for improved transparency, digitalisation, and cooperation among anti-fraud authorities. It expresses concern about rising fraud and irregularities, particularly in VAT, corruption, and conflicts of interest, and urges stronger prevention, detection, and recovery measures. It calls for enhanced oversight of EU funds, including under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and for better protection of revenue and external spending.

Committee position. The Committee on Budgetary Control proposes a resolution that endorses the 2024 PIF Report but considers its recommendations insufficiently ambitious, and calls for stronger action on transparency, digitalisation, and cooperation.

Key points

  1. Calls on the Commission to improve the quality and analytical value of data in the PIF Report and to explore periodic reporting formats for effective parliamentary scrutiny.
  2. Urges Member States to adopt a proactive stance in safeguarding EU financial interests and to strengthen information exchange with EU bodies.
  3. Stresses that the rule of law conditionality mechanism must be applied consistently and proportionately, based on technical and legal findings.
  4. Calls for enhanced digitalisation, including interoperability of national and EU systems, to improve fraud detection and transparency.
  5. Notes the increase in reported irregularities and fraud cases in 2024, and calls for strengthened risk analysis and harmonised control practices.
  6. Calls for sufficient resources for the EPPO and for systematic integration of budgetary impact into future PIF reports.
  7. Calls for improved cooperation and information sharing between OLAF, EPPO, Eurojust, Europol, and national authorities, and for addressing legal and operational gaps.
  8. Calls for harmonised indicators to assess the budgetary impact of anti-fraud policies and for better recovery and sanction mechanisms.
  9. Calls for integrating anti-fraud considerations into programme design and for deploying AI and advanced analytics for fraud detection.
  10. Calls for improved interoperability of the IMS with other tools like ARACHNE and EDES, and for mandatory use of ARACHNE+ in the future.
  11. Calls for action to improve risk analysis and whistleblower reporting, and to accelerate procedures for closing irregularity cases.
  12. Calls for strengthened protection of whistleblowers and for the Commission to address gaps in the Whistleblower Directive's implementation.

Who is affected

  • Member States: must adopt and update national anti-fraud strategies, improve reporting, and cooperate with EU bodies.
  • EU institutions and bodies (OLAF, EPPO, Europol, Eurojust): need to enhance cooperation and information sharing.
  • Beneficiaries of EU funds: face increased transparency requirements, including publication of final recipients.
  • Non-EU countries receiving EU funds: must demonstrate capacity to prevent fraud and corruption, with stronger oversight.

Figures and deadlines

  • 13,589 irregularities reported in 2024, compared to 13,947 in 2023 and 12,455 in 2022.
  • Fraud cases increased to 1,364 in 2024, 26% more than in 2023, with amounts of EUR 548.8 million.
  • EPPO opened 1,504 investigations in 2024, with freezing orders for EUR 2.42 billion.
  • OLAF closed 246 investigations and issued 301 recommendations in 2024, with recommended recovery of EUR 871.5 million.
  • VAT fraud cases in 2024: 1,287, causing estimated loss of EUR 13.5 billion, 53% of total estimated loss.
  • EU debt could exceed EUR 900 billion by 2027, almost 10 times higher than in 2020.
  • RRF grants paid in 2024: EUR 55,896 million; loans: EUR 29,446 million.

Legal basis: Articles 310(6) and 325(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union