Combating Fraud in the European Union and in Romania

The present research paper aims to evaluate the level of expansion and the impact of actions undertaken at European level to combat fraud against the European Union’s financial interests, a phenomenon that has been growing in the recent years, especially as a result of the latest financial crisis. In this respect, the paper analyses the results of the activities carried out between 2008 and 2015 by two competent institutions – one at the European Union’s level, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the other one at a Member State’s level, the Romania’s Anti-Fraud Department (DLAF) (as Romania is a full member of the European Union since 2007) – to detect, investigate and penalize fraudulent actions affecting European Union’s financial interests. More specifically, on the one hand, to assess the level of expansion of the EU’s actions to combat fraud, the research paper presents how evolved the numeric variation of new open investigations and those concluded by these institutions during the given period, and, on the other hand, to appreciate the impact of these actions, the indictment rate of the decisions taken by national authorities following OLAF’s recommendations is determined and the financial recoveries/implications are identified.