EEC (European Economic Community) Fraud: A Suitable Case for Treatment (From Global Crime Connections: Dynamics and Control, P 162-186, 1993, Frank Pearce and Michael Woodiwiss, eds. -- See NCJ-164444)

• NCJ Number: 164450
• Author(s): M Clarke
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This chapter documents the prevalence of agricultural fraud in the European Economic Community (EEC) and considers the impact of efforts to prevent it.

Abstract

Farmers, owners of slaughterhouses, wine merchants, exporters, and importers all play their part in a "scam" that costs taxpayers some 6 billion pounds per year. The fraud and abuse regards the misuse of agricultural subsidy funds. This occurs at three principal points: production, intervention (whether by storage or other means), and export (whether within or outside the EEC). Although fraud and abuse have been involved with a variety of commodities, the main areas of concern have been wine, olive oil, cereals, and beef. This chapter uses these commodities as examples of abuse and the difficulties and successes in containing it; it also illustrates how different commodities lend themselves to abuses at different points in the production, processing, and distribution cycle. Efforts at preventing such fraud and abuse have been obstructed by member states' concerns about encroachments on sovereignty. Although the EEC has promoted member state cooperation in curtailing fraud and abuses through more effective monitoring and administration, there is no means of enforcing such cooperation. 42 notes