France owl against Italy on the Recovery Plan
The French newspaper Le Figaro warns Europe of possible fraud by the "Italian mafias"
The clouds on the operational difficulties of the Recovery Fund are gathering. After the warning of the executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis against fraud and failure to achieve the set objectives that would immediately block payments, today comes a threatening article in the French newspaper "Le Figaro" which titled " Europe: watch out for fraud with the funds of the Recovery plan ". It highlights the risk of fraud by the "Italian mafias" and puts us in the list of the countries most affected by investigations for fraud on the use of European structural funds. This will be another reason that threatens to block this instrument: in order to quickly spend around 200 billion in 6 years it will be necessary to loosen the checks and bureaucratic procedures. But this will inevitably mean attracting illicit appetites.
So of the two, one: either we will not be able to spend all the funds in good time or, if we proceed quickly, Brussels could block them due to the presence of fraudulent or corrupt episodes. Tertium non datur.
A dozen MEPs wrote to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 26 April. They fear that 20% of the funds allocated to Hungary under the post-Covid European recovery plan "will disappear into opaque and budget-free financing structures whose aim is to further destroy educational freedom and institutional autonomy in Hungary".
The following day, the country's parliament approved a law that places universities under the aegis of foundations controlled by the entourage of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, providing for the allocation of 2.8 billion euros from the EU aid envelope for to the "modernization" of education. “Orban's relatives, friends and family are enriched with EU funds. And the Commission turns a blind eye ”, complains German Greens MEP Daniel Freund, one of the signatories of the letter.
The 750 billion euros of the Next Gen EU have not yet been ratified, in particular by Budapest, which disputes the conditions linked to respect for the rule of law. But attempts at embezzlement or fraud are already emerging in Europe. The funds arouse greed, from the nepotistic governments of central Europe to the Italian mafias. A cause for concern for the Commission, which has just started the formal review of the Member States' national plans. Its vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, promises a "solid system that will ensure the correct use of EU funds". However, this remains to be demonstrated.
Hungary was ordered in 2017 to return around 200 million euros to the European Union for misappropriation of subsidies for the construction of a metro line. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is one of the main beneficiaries of agricultural policy subsidies in his country, through his Agrofert agrochemical empire, blocked due to the conflict of interest that emerged only from a recent Commission report demanding the reimbursement of 10 million EUR.
In Italy the mafias have already moved their pawns, taking control of companies weakened by the crisis, to appropriate the subsidies destined for the country, more than 200 billion euros. The Bank of Italy recorded a 7% increase in corporate financial transactions deemed questionable last year. A business for professionals: according to a report by the Italian Senate, a significant portion of the structural funds in Brussels for the poorest regions of the continent is already ending up in the hands of criminal organizations.
Behind a declared goal of "zero tolerance", the European Commission "lacks the political will" to act, according to Nicholas Aiossa of the NGO Transparency International. "It does not have sufficient resources" to combat the phenomenon and "does not use enough what it has".
Its action should be strengthened by the creation of a European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which should take office on 1 June. But only 22 of the 27 states are ready to unite: Ireland, Denmark and Sweden, as well as Hungary and Poland, are not part of it, weakening its reach.
The adoption, later this year, of the principle of conditionality on respecting the rule of law for receiving European subsidies should also, in theory, equip the institutions with the weapons to put pressure on the guilty countries. On condition of showing a firmness that must not be sacrificed on the altar of political compromises necessary for the functioning of the Europe of 27.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/la-francia-gufa-contro-litalia-sul-recovery-plan/ on Tue, 18 May 2021 09:47:57 +0000.