The European Commission has responded to a Bureau investigation into the allocation of structural funds.
The investigation, which was done in conjunction with the Financial Times, created the only complete database of all recipients of EU structural funding. It revealed some unexpected recipients of the money, including Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco and IBM.
Further analysis revealed that overly complicated rules and red tape were holding up the distribution of the money. Our research also revealed that hundreds of millions of Euros have been lost to fraud, with millions also ending up in the hands of the Italian mafia.
Questions were raised by eight MEPs following the investigation.
Commissioner Hahn for DG Regional Policy responded:
“The Commission welcomes the scrutiny as part of a public debate about the efficiency and effectiveness of cohesion policy. The Commission is aware of the habitual slower take-up at the beginning of a programming period. The most recent data shows, however, that the Commission made more cohesion policy payments in the 4th quarter of 2010 than ever before.”
They cited that the financial crisis and bureaucratic rules had held up the disbursement of funds. As a result of the investigation the Commission will now set up a number of initiatives to simplify access to funds.
In response to the mafia’s receipt of the money, the Commission commented that any organisation connected with illegal activities cannot receive EU funds.
Mr Hahn also said that whilst the money is primarily for creating new jobs and targeted at small and medium-enterprises, larger companies are allowed to use the funds for business development in the EU.
There was no response to queries about funds going to British American Tobacco or comment on the possibility of creating a centralised database of all recipients to improve transparency. The Bureau has approached the Commission to further query these issues and get clarification on their response to the mafia’s use of EU funds.
The Commission’s response can be accessed here: http://tiny.cc/2jos9
