In 2022, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) protected EU taxpayers’ money amounting to 600 million euros, recommending the recovery of over 426 million from fraud and irregularities in the EU budget and safeguarding an additional 200 million euros. OLAF also prevented numerous cases of smuggling, counterfeiting, and customs fraud, assisted in implementing EU trade protection measures, and continued to devise policies to prevent and combat new forms of fraud. As every year, OLAF investigated suspicions of breaches of duty by staff and members of EU institutions. Last year, OLAF concluded a total of over 250 cases.
The published OLAF report for 2022 provides insight into the main trends and operations of the past year, from combating counterfeiting and smuggling to protecting EU funds, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the fraud prevention mechanism to safeguard EU financial aid to Ukraine. The report was presented for the first time in an interactive virtual format.
– The knowledge, expertise, and operations of OLAF yield tangible results – we protect both the budget and EU citizens. Protecting EU taxpayers’ money intended for infrastructure and digitalization, seizing 531 million cigarettes that were illegally traded, international action against counterfeit honey, and returning nearly 3 billion EUR to the EU budget from a customs value reduction case are just some examples of OLAF’s successful work and scope. Prevention remains the most effective way to combat fraud. OLAF aims to ensure that EU financial aid and investments in member states and third countries are spent as intended. We are convinced that cooperation is the key to our success. Therefore, OLAF strengthened cooperation with national authorities, international organizations, and EU partners throughout 2022. OLAF’s ability to connect the dots and provide a broader picture remains our unique and recognizable quality that adds value in the fight against fraud in the European Union and beyond,” emphasized OLAF Director General Ville Itälä.
Protection of EU Funds
Similar to previous years, OLAF’s investigations into the spending of EU funds included allegations of collusion, manipulation in public procurement procedures, conflicts of interest, and inflated invoices. An increasing number of digitally perpetrated frauds confirms a trend that OLAF has observed in recent years. In 2022, OLAF established an ad hoc expert group focused on developing IT tools to combat fraud for the purposes of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility and began investigating cases of possible misuse of funds from that mechanism.
