Eu in brief" "" "
The campaign against corruption, fraud and the poor management of Community funds is high on the agenda of the EU institutions. There are three points of major actuality at the present time: the scandal of Eurostat, the statistical office of the Commission, the magnitude of which continues to grow (the suspect contracts now amount to 450 million Euros); the accusations against OLAF (The EU Anti-Fraud Office) severely criticised for “incoherence and inefficiency” which is vigorously defending itself, underlining its “zero tolerance” in the over one thousand investigations conducted over the last twelve months; and the “anti-corruption: means and recommendations” report, with which the EP has urged member states to “define the essential elements of the crime of corruption at the European level”, also in view of the entry into force of the European arrest warrant”. The EP, in its report, also urges measures to prevent public-private conflicts of interests. These issues will be debated during the EP’s plenary sessions of November and December in Strasbourg.
