The plenary session of the European Parliament has expressed this Thursday its “great concern” about the “alleged misuse” of just over 17 million euros in European funds due to the plot investigated for possible illegal commissions in the purchase of masks during the pandemic and known as ‘Koldo Case’, after the name of one of those involved who served as an advisor to the then Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos.
The reference appears in an amendment promoted by the European People’s Party (EPP) to the annual report on the management of spending by the European Commission and which was passed in the session held in Brussels with 367 votes in favor, 230 against and 10 abstentions.
The text clarifies that it is concerned about the possible embezzlement of 14.6 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 3.1 million from the Solidarity Fund; while criticizing that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) received “relevant” information to investigate the case from an individual and not from the hands of the competent authorities.
In general terms, MEPs remind European governments that the rules of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office establish that they must “inform without delay” the European Public Prosecutor’s Office itself when they have “any suspicion of embezzlement” of funds from the community coffers.
In addition, they ask the European Commission to use “external experts” to carry out audits of the funds if they detect a “severe lack of capacity” on the part of the Member States that receive the resources and warn that in the ‘Koldo case ‘, the irregularities were not discovered by Brussels despite having audited the process.
They also advocate the need for “multi-step verification” to better protect funds when contract awards must be decided in crisis situations if the usual methods cannot be followed due to the emergency. In the amendment they also recall that “similar” situations have occurred in other partner countries where the misuse of European funds is being investigated, such as Portugal or the Czech Republic.
Since the plot of the ‘Koldo case’ was uncovered, it has been known that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the alleged fraud with common funds and the European Commission has also sent information to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) for it to deal with.
