§ Mr. BiffenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the established and estimated amount of fraud in the application of the common agricultural policy for the latest available three years.
§ Mr. CurryIt is not possible to estimate the extent of fraud in the common agriculture policy since, by definition, undetected fraud cannot be measured. The following table gives details of the number of cases of EAGGF guarantee funded irregularity—the definition of which goes wider than fraud—which were reported by member states to the European Commission in the years 1988, 1989 and 1990.
No. of cases Value (£m) Percentage of CAP expenditure 1988 386 103 0.53 1989 745 100 0.56 1990 819 98 0.49 Source: EAGGF Guarantee Report 1990