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DRAFT REPORT (2025/2238(INI))

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

CONT-PR-781476

Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Julien Sanchez

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This draft report on the protection of the EU's financial interests and the fight against fraud for 2024 takes note of the Commission's annual PIF report and endorses its recommendations, but finds them insufficiently ambitious. It calls for enhanced digitalisation, better detection and prevention, improved recovery data, and stronger cooperation among anti-fraud bodies. It expresses concern over rising fraud figures, VAT fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, and risks in RRF implementation, urging stricter safeguards and transparency.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes a resolution that takes note of the 2024 PIF report, endorses its recommendations but calls for more ambitious action, and sets out detailed recommendations on prevention, detection, recovery, and addressing main threats.

Key points

  1. Takes note of the 2024 PIF report and endorses its four recommendations, but considers them insufficiently ambitious, especially on transparency.
  2. Stresses that enhanced digitalisation, including national anti-fraud strategies and common digital tools, is essential for transparency and effective protection.
  3. Notes that reported irregularities in 2024 were slightly lower than 2023, but fraud cases increased sharply to 1,364, with financial amounts up 138.7%.
  4. Calls for better involvement of stakeholders and Parliament in designing funding schemes to prevent fraud, and for proactive detection using AI.
  5. Highlights that risk analysis contributed little to fraud detection in CAP, cohesion and fisheries, and that procedures are excessively long.
  6. Calls for more frequent checks and adequate resources for anti-fraud bodies, and for strengthening AFCOS activities.
  7. Regrets the lack of detailed data on recoveries following OLAF recommendations and calls for granular reporting.
  8. Notes the rise in VAT fraud cases and calls for digital reporting to reduce VAT fraud by up to EUR 11 billion per year.
  9. Calls for improved OLAF access to customs and tax data, and for greater transparency on corruption cases and final beneficiaries.
  10. Calls for examination of corruption in candidate countries before enlargement, and for measures to address conflicts of interest.
  11. Opposes replication of the RRF model without stricter safeguards and calls for a debt sustainability assessment and transparency on borrowing.
  12. Urges the Commission to implement ECA recommendations on remote management of humanitarian aid and to improve risk management.

Who is affected

  • Member States: must improve reporting, detection, and transparency, and face calls to publish more beneficiary data.
  • European Commission: asked to enhance digitalisation, improve recovery data, and strengthen controls on RRF and external aid.
  • OLAF and EPPO: cooperation and data access to be improved; OLAF needs better access to customs and tax data.
  • Candidate countries: corruption state to be examined before enlargement.

Figures and deadlines

  • 13,589 irregularities reported in 2024, 13,947 in 2023, 12,455 in 2022.
  • Fraud cases increased to 1,364 in 2024, up 26% from 2023; amounts rose to EUR 548.8 million, up 138.7%.
  • OLAF closed 246 investigations and issued 301 recommendations in 2024; recommended recovery amount EUR 871.5 million.
  • EPPO opened 1,504 investigations in 2024, with 2,666 ongoing; freezing orders for EUR 2.42 billion.
  • VAT fraud cases in EPPO: 1,287 in 2024, causing estimated loss of EUR 13.5 billion.
  • VAT compliance gap estimated at EUR 89.3 billion for 2022, representing 7.0% of total VAT liability.
  • 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