The
Times reports,
Frauds against the European Union totalling more than half a billion pounds have been uncovered in the past year, according to official figures obtained by The Times, which show that fraud is far more widespread than had been thought.
The number of suspected cases has risen by nearly a fifth in just one year to 3,440, with fraud being discovered in almost all the institutions of the EU and all its funding programmes. In the last financial year alone, 252 cases of fraud were proven, leading to 230 cases being sent to court.
Four years ago, as the
Guardian reported at the time, the European Commission resigned en masse after a report uncovered massive fraud within the EU. That earlier report had damned the Commisioners.
The studies carried out by the committee have too often revealed a growing reluctance among the members of the hierarchy to acknowledge responsibility.
It is becoming difficult to find anyone who has even the slightest sense of responsibility. The temptation to deprive the concept of responsibility of all substance is a dangerous one. That concept is the ultimate manifestation of democracy.
Four years on and the problem is bigger than ever.
