§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has he made of the cost to the UK taxpayer of fraud in the European Union. [20479]
§ Ruth KellyThe European Commission is responsible for publishing statistics on fraud and irregularities against the EC budget. Its latest report including figures for detected irregularities was published in May 2001, entitled "Protecting the Community's financial interests and the Fight against Fraud", and is available on the internet. Details of the developments described in the Commission's report are also set out in the Government's July 2001 "Statement on the 2001 EC Budget and Measures to Counter Fraud and Financial Mismanagement", Cm 5173.
Care should be taken in interpreting the statistics because the Commission's report does not distinguish between cases of fraud and irregularities. Errors arise when, for example, payments are made outside prescribed time limits or using the wrong exchange rates. Moreover, increases in the level of detected errors may be attributed to improved detection and notification of cases by member states.