A European Parliament committee today called on the European Commission to make greater use of artificial intelligence mechanisms and advanced data analysis tools to detect fraud in the use of European funds.
These recommendations are in a resolution approved today by the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee, with 15 votes in favor, 12 against and one abstention.
In the resolution, MEPs say that, in 2024, 1,364 cases of fraud related to European funds were reported by the European Union (EU) or Member States, which would have cost around 548 million euros.
In this context, MEPs consider that it is necessary to “strengthen the protection of the EU’s financial interests”, particularly with a more comprehensive use of artificial intelligence systems.
“Artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis are among the tools that must be used effectively to optimize fraud detection, using them proportionately and with adequate human supervision”, reads the resolution.
In addition to this greater use of digital tools, MEPs also call for a review of measures related to VAT fraud, which they describe as “one of the most damaging crimes, which often involves organized crime networks operating across borders”.
Among the related measures to deal with this issue, MEPs are calling on the European Commission to increase the current limit of 10 million euros from which the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) can investigate cases of VAT fraud.
The European Parliament committee also highlights that criminals are “increasingly using artificial intelligence and digital tools to falsify documents, manipulate public procurement procedures and commit identity theft”.
In this context, they call for the development of an “EU initiative to develop artificial intelligence tools for fraud detection”.
Finally, in cases where the misuse of European funds is effectively detected, MEPs consider it necessary to ensure that this money is recovered.
Currently, they say, “the main obstacles in recovering the money are due to lengthy judicial and administrative procedures, restrictive conditions for recovering the funds and very strict limited deadlines”.
MEPs also argue that “greater transparency” is needed in spending related to EU programs, “including a comprehensive publication of the final beneficiaries” of the Recovery and Resilience Plans (PRR).
Quoted in the statement, the rapporteur of this initiative, French MEP Julien Sanchez, from Patriots for Europe, states that the objective is to define “specific objectives for institutions to fulfill their duty to combat fraud, resolve current problems in control systems and improve cooperation between national and European authorities”.
“The fight against fraud and the protection of the EU’s financial interests is not an option, it is a necessity to protect European taxpayers’ money”, it reads.
This resolution is based on data released by the European Commission in its annual anti-fraud report and must now be voted on by all MEPs in the April plenary session of the European Parliament.
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