The European Commission on September 19 decided to register a European Citizens’ Initiative entitled “Stop fraud and abuse of EU funds”.
The proposed Citizens’ Initiative calls for the application of enhanced controls and stricter sanctions in member states which are not part of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to protect the Union’s financial interests.
According to a Commission press release, the initiative only concerns the legal admissibility of the proposal. Brussels still has to analyse the substance at this stage.
The registration of this Initiative will take place on September 27, starting a one-year process of collection of signatures of support by its organisers. Should the initiative receive one million statements of support within one year, from at least seven different member states, the Commission will have to react within three months.
The Commission can decide either to follow the request or not, and in both instances would be required to explain its reasoning.
