EU funds to ‘New Europe’ need better management

Allegations of misuse underline need for better targeting and oversight

 
The irony was palpable when posters saying “Stop Brussels” appeared on line 4 of the Budapest metro during a “national consultation” organised by the Hungarian government in April this year.

Line 4 was completed in 2014, of course, thanks to funding from the EU. But an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, alleged “serious irregularities — fraud and possible corruption” in relation to the line, and recommended that the European Commission should recover €228m of funds that were allegedly misused.

Many have since called into question whether European taxpayers should continue to subsidise governments, such as those in Hungary and Poland, which refuse to comply with the bloc’s common decisions — regarding the refugee relocation scheme, for example — and which also seem to be backsliding from fundamental principles of the rule of law.

It is conceivable that a freeze of EU funds would make Viktor Orban and Jarosław Kaczynski double down on their anti-Brussels mobilisation, rather than bring them closer to the mainstream of European politics. However, that does not mean that business should continue as usual.

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EU funds to ‘New Europe’ need better management

Πηγή:American Enterprise Institute