Hunt fraudsters down!
To the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union
Petition
Around €1 billion in public money is uncovered each year by the European Anti-Fraud Office - but real losses are far higher. Every euro recovered from fraud means more funding for energy bills, hospitals, schools. Yet oversight has not kept pace with expanding EU spending. As the EU negotiates its next budget, there is an opportunity to change this.
We call on leaders to increase OLAF’s funding and strengthen its investigative capacity in the next EU budget. Recovering stolen public money is one of the most direct ways to protect citizens’ wallets.
Why is this important?
You paid for vehicles that save lives. Instead, someone bought himself a castle.
Our taxes meant for better farming paid for luxury villas for businessmen. [1]
A huge amount of public money is stolen from us. [2] But chasing fraudsters isn’t a job for bureaucrats. It takes high spirits. Someone brave.
Klement, a trusted ‘sheriff’ with real experience taking on the toughest mafia types, is now in charge of anti-fraud. His motto: ‘Hunt like dog packs: close the circle, then bite'. [3]
But to make sure our money isn’t stolen away from things we care about, Klement needs real backing for him and his team.
The EU only sets its budget every seven years. And this is happening right now. A rare chance to make sure there’s a well-funded, ambitious team to recover our money and stop fraud.
Powerful politicians are already pushing for more resources to crack down on fraudsters: but they need to know how important this is for people.
If we don’t speak up now, money that could make life better for us will end up in the pockets of mafia types. The window to shape the budget is closing. Take action to stop criminals stealing.
References:
https://www.politico.eu/article/farm-fraud-slovakia-state-agency-fake-guesthouse/
[2] The European Anti-Fraud Office uncovers around €1 billion a year in misused EU funds, but adding VAT fraud - estimated at a minimum of €12.5 annually - shows the real scale of losses is much higher. https://anti-fraud.ec.europa.eu/media-corner/news/olaf-investigations-find-over-eu12-billion-affected-fraud-and-irregularities-2024-06-18_en
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2026/782637/EPRS_BRI%282026%29782637_EN.pdf
Average EU household energy bills amount to around €1,000 - €2,000/year on average https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20251029-2
[3] https://www.euractiv.com/news/europes-new-fraud-sheriff-wants-the-eu-watchdogs-to-hunt-as-a-pack/