Hail the Euro! Too bad that its birth was overshadowed by the row over the Presidency of the European Central Bank. No such fuss accompanied yesterday's report on EU fraud, a subject which will rightly concern EU taxpayers much more. But for all the pious words about cracking down on this fraud it is difficult not to conclude that Brussels burns while the fiddle goes on. For a start, the authors of yesterday's report readily accept that their estimate of the amount of money going into the wrong pockets is conservative, the real figure being nearer the sum arrived at by the EU's own financial watchdog recently: an appalling 2.5% of the annual Union budget. True, investigators have had success in busting some ingenious scams.
But too many organised crime gangs (frequently based in Eastern European countries whose governments want a share of the legitimate European political action) are cashing in on EU fraud. It truly is a scandal which seems to be getting horribly out of hand. The EU's dubious culture hardly helps. It is against smoking, yet subsidises the tobacco industry in member states which cynically export to the Third World. It pledges to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, yet sits back as Italy, in particular, defrauds or knowingly mis-spends EU farming funds. It doles out transport subsidies but guarantees no proper freedom of movement. Mr Blair promotes a squeaky-clean agenda. It is about time it was applied to Brussels, if for no other reason than to give some credibility to what has been a hugely disappointing British Presidency of the EU.
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