TAE’s statement on the EU proposal on the protection of financial interests

TAE supports Commissioner Reding’s proposal to protect the Community’s financial interests.
Simplified rules are required.
The administrative burden must be taken into account.

The European Taxpayers’ Association supports Commissioner Viviane Reding’s proposal for the criminal-law protection of the European Community’s financial interests. At the same time, however, the associated bureaucratic burden must not be overlooked.

The establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office to combat fraud and the misuse of EU funds would fulfil a demand that the European Taxpayers’ Association has been making for decades. “Subsidy fraud and other acts causing financial detriment to the European Community know no borders. In our view, the fight against the waste of public funds and fraud is just as important as the fight against tax evasion. In both cases, damage is caused to the state and society, which must be punished,” said Rolf von Hohenhau, President of the European Taxpayers’ Association. “Our main objective is to prevent subsidy fraud and other acts causing financial detriment to the European Community from the outset, to avoid errors and to ensure that infringements are consistently punished.

Both OLAF and the European Court of Auditors are doing excellent work.”

Simplifying the current regulations – and, by extension, their interpretation and application – would make an enormous contribution to reducing bureaucracy, simplifying controls and preventing errors and fraud. “Complex, disparate and, in some cases, contradictory regulations create loopholes that encourage fraud,” says the European Taxpayers’ Association (TAE).

“When implementing this proposal from the European Commission, particular care should be taken to avoid the development of unnecessary parallel structures, excessive bureaucracy and overly complex regulations. More staff and more regulations do not necessarily mean more control and efficiency. Bureaucracy-related costs place a burden on businesses, the economy and, ultimately, taxpayers’ pockets. If bureaucracy is necessary to better protect the financial interests of the European Community, it must be reduced to the same extent elsewhere,” said the TAE President.

Further information:

TAE Munich office, Michael Jäger:
Telephone: 49 89 12600820;

TAE Brussels office, Walter Grupp:
Telephone: 32 2 7387112