The European Commission has published its 2025 annual report on protecting the EU budget, setting out new figures on irregularities and recovery of funds and outlining planned changes to the bloc’s anti-fraud system.
The report — known as the PIF Report, short for the Protection of the European Union’s Financial Interests — for the first time assesses what it calls the full “anti-fraud cycle”, from prevention and early detection through to investigations, prosecutions, recovery and reporting, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) said.
In 2025, authorities recorded 13,010 irregularities linked to EU funds, involving €2.1 billion, the report said. Of these, 986 were classified as fraudulent irregularities, involving €274.3 million.
The number of reported irregularities fell by 7.6% compared with 2024, while the amounts involved rose by 12.8%.
The number of reported fraud cases also declined compared with the previous year.
Over the past 10 years, OLAF and the European Commission prevented more than €658 million from being unduly spent.
Recoveries and longer investigations
Where follow-up has been completed on OLAF’s financial recommendations over the past decade, recovery rates were above 96%, according to figures included in the report.
The Commission is recommending wider use of risk analysis and IT tools such as Arachne+ to strengthen detection.
It also called for suspected fraud cases to be systematically referred to prosecutors and reported to the Commission in a timely way.
Investigations remain lengthy and complex, and stronger coordination is needed between administrative, investigative and judicial authorities to improve recovery of fraudulently obtained EU funds.
Better information sharing after cases enter judicial proceedings was also listed as a priority.
The report sets out Commission plans to modernise the EU’s anti-fraud architecture ahead of the next Multiannual Financial Framework — the EU’s long-term budget plan — including mandatory national anti-fraud strategies, stronger reporting obligations for member states and a review of the legislative framework for EU anti-fraud bodies.
A Commission communication on the EU’s anti-fraud architecture is expected in 2026 and could lead to legislative proposals affecting cooperation between OLAF, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and other bodies.
