Press Release: Protecting taxpayers’ money: Commission proposes to strengthen use of criminal law against fraudsters

Misuse of EU funds for criminal purposes puts the EU's objectives of generating jobs and growth and improving living conditions at stake. With public finances under pressure throughout the EU, every euro counts.

The European Commission, has therefore proposed new rules to fight fraud against the EU budget by means of criminal law to better safeguard taxpayers' money. The Directive creates a more harmonised framework for prosecuting and punishing crimes involving the EU budget so that criminals no longer exploit differences between national legal systems. The Directive provides for common definitions of offences against the EU budget and for minimum sanctions, including imprisonment in serious cases, and for a common level playing field for periods within which it is possible to investigate and prosecute offences (ie. statutes of limitation). This will help to deter fraudsters, provide for more effective legal action at national level and make it easier to recover lost funds.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Memo/12/544: Questions and Answers: Proposal to protect financial interests of the EU http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/544&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: Speech/12/550: Viviane Reding: Protecting the EU's financial interests through criminal law http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/12/550&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: Speech/12/548: Algirdas Šemeta: Statement following Commission proposal to protect financial interests of the EU http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/12/548&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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