National and European integrity institutions will be able to analyze data on projects with European funding without intermediaries, in order to prevent and sanction possible fraud, the Minister of European Investments and Projects (MIPE), Dragos Pîslaru, announced on Monday.
”It's official: we have signed collaboration protocols with the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Department for the Fight against Fraud (DLAF), giving these institutions full and direct access to the MySMIS database of projects funded by European money, managed by the ministry I lead. Any suspicion of fraud or irregularity in an EU-funded project can now be investigated without any delay or bureaucratic slowdown. Investigators have the full trail of the money - from contracting to final payment. This means faster, better-informed investigations and, above all, better control of public money”, wrote Pîslaru in a Facebook post, cited by Agerpres.
According to him, MySMIS is the system that contains all relevant data on cohesion projects financed by European funds: beneficiaries, contracts, payments, indicators, implementation status.
”From now on, public prosecutors and control structures will be able to see in real time what is happening with these projects, without intermediaries, without delays and without administrative opacity. European money is public money, and every euro stolen or misused means fewer hospitals, fewer schools, less infrastructure for people. Those who work correctly will continue to have the support of the state; those who try to steal will face a state that cooperates closely with national and European integrity institutions. As minister, I am not only interested in how much money we absorb, but also in how we use it. This is why I insisted that the MEIP fully open the data to the institutions that have the task of investigating fraud with EU funds: EPPO, DNA and DLAF”said Pîslaru.
The minister emphasized that this is the direction he intends to further strengthen, by increasing transparency, reinforcing control where necessary and applying a policy of ‘zero tolerance towards any attempt to defraud with EU funds’.
Prosecutors and control structures will be able to see in real time what is happening with EU-funded projects
The minister emphasized that this is the direction he intends to further strengthen, by increasing transparency, reinforcing control where necessary and applying a policy of 'zero tolerance towards any attempt to defraud with EU funds'.
Dragos Pîslaru