International Cooperation

The OLAF Report 2019

2019 marked 20 years since the creation of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). As the OLAF report 2019 shows, the Office has been working hard to investigate and stop increasingly complex cross-border fraud schemes affecting humanitarian aid, the environment, agricultural and regional development funds. From uncovering corruption to halting smuggling and counterfeit products, OLAF has made a real difference in protecting the EU budget and European citizens in many domains.

The report identifies the main trends that have emerged or continued in 2019:
• collusion and manipulation of procurement;
• cross-border schemes that make detection more difficult;
• frequent targeting of projects in third countries;
• continued targeting of research funding;
• fraud that harms the environment;
• smuggling and counterfeiting, involving complex cross-border networks.

OLAF's investigative performance in 2019 in numbers:
• OLAF concluded 181 investigations (including one into the use of EU funds in Austria), issuing
254 recommendations to the relevant national and EU authorities;
• OLAF recommended the recovery of €485 million to the EU budget;
• OLAF opened 223 new investigations. OLAF received 1095 items of information from public and
private sources in the EU Member States regarding fraud or misconduct.
OLAF continues to invest in the cooperation with national authorities of EU Member States and international partners alike. In this spirit, OLAF worked on a number of new arrangements with international bodies and EU and non-EU national authorities over 2019. An Administrative Cooperation Arrangement with the European Court of Auditors was signed. OLAF was instrumental in the adoption of the new European Commission Anti-Fraud Strategy in April 2019.
OLAF’s success is a crucial asset for Europe as the eyes of fraudsters turn towards the 2021-2027 budget with its 1.8 trillion euro designed to power Europe’s recovery from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.