EU fraud, Colaf report: 554 Italian reports for 67.5 million. Foti: 'Cutting-edge anti-fraud system, the numbers prove it'

Five hundred and fifty-four reports were forwarded to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), for a total amount of EUR 67.5 million. Of these, 485 related to irregularities - 87.55% of the total - and 69 to ascertained fraud, 12.45%. These are the Italian figures that emerge from the 2024 Report of Colaf, the Committee to Combat Fraud against the European Union, presented on 5 March at the Multifunctional Hall of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

The Committee is chaired by the Minister for European Affairs, the NRP and Cohesion Policies Tommaso Foti, who in his presentation strongly asserted Italia's role. "Today we are presenting an important report that gives an account of the work carried out by Colaf, which for more than thirty years has been carrying out an important guiding and coordinating action at the national level among all the Authorities that protect the financial interests of the European Union," said the minister. Then the lunge: "As the facts show, Italia is in the vanguard in this action and the numbers clearly and significantly attest to this".

Foti insisted on the strategic value of the Committee, describing it as a structural guarantee and not just a connecting body. "The fact of being able to count on such a prestigious and high-level body, with functions not only of connection but also and above all of monitoring and verification, is the best guarantee that there is constant preventive and subsequent control over the proper use of national and EU resources, so that they are used for the purposes for which they were intended and are not instead used in an irregular or fraudulent manner," he added. And he closed by reiterating the direction: 'A constant commitment to guarantee the legality and correct use of European funds'.

The context for the Italian data is European. According to the European Commission, in 2024, 13,589 irregularities and frauds were detected in the entire Union, a decrease of 2.6% compared to the previous year, for a total amount of EUR 1.84 billion. The report particularly emphasises the role played by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (Eppo) and Olaf, defined as institutions of fundamental importance in anti-fraud action and in the prevention-prevention duo, reference models at EU level.

The 2024 Report also marks an institutional step. It is the first to be drawn up by the Committee in the enlarged composition envisaged by Decree-Law 19/2024 - an expansion that extends the scope of supervision and strengthens the capacity for coordination between the authorities involved.