Romania, Bulgaria Near Top of EU Fraud Report

Romanians and Bulgarians tried to defraud the European Union of 45.8 million euro of funds last year, according to the European Commission report, “Fight Against Fraud 2013”, released last week.

Romania reported 109 false claims, worth 36.6 million euro, while Bulgarian officials uncovered 97 false claims worth a total of 9.4 million euro, the statistics show.

The two Balkan countries came second and third in the fraud stakes, though well behind Italy, which was responsible for a hefty 302 fraudulent claims, amounting to 68.5 million euro.

Altogether, 1,609 claims were reported as fraudulent last year – including suspected and established scams – involving 309 million euro in EU funds.

For Romania and Bulgaria, the key weaknesses were identified in claims for agricultural funds and rural development.

The findings will add to Romania and Bulgaria’s images as among the most corrupt countries in Europe.

According to Transparency International's annual index, released in December, Romania and Italy were third equal as most corrupt countries in Europe. Only Bulgaria and Greece were deemed even worse.

Romania is, meanwhile, the country with the lowest absorption rate of European funds in the EU. It used only 32 per cent of the money it was entitled to access under the 2007-2013 budget.

Bulgaria has an absorption rate of around 37 per cent, according to official data.