31 May 2023

Raffaele Fitto, Italy's Minister for European Affairs, Southern Italy, Cohesion Policy, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, opened today's presentation of the training project on protection of EU's financial interests, a.k.a. 'Fraud Repression through EDucation (FRED2)'.

"The main purpose of FRED2", Minister Fitto stated, "is to bring together national and European institutions and universities, and the Anti-Fraud Coordination Services (AFCOs) of Member States such as Italy, Belgium, Finland and Greece, to share best practices on preventing and countering fraud against the EU budget, with the aim of creating a permanent "research observatory" where professionals, academics and practitioners can, on an ongoing basis, discuss issues such as risk-profile analysis, cooperation between national and European institutions, and information exchange."

FRED2 is the first project in Italy that aims to enhance cooperation between anti-fraud authorities and the academic world at national and EU level and is the result of the collaboration between the 'Impresapiens' Research Centre of La Sapienza University and the Guardia di Finanza Unit for repression of fraud against the EU. The Unit is established at the Department for European Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and operates as Technical Secretariat of Italy's AFCOS (COLAF – Comitato per la lotta contro le frodi nei confronti dell'Unione Europea).

In order to enhance the exchange of information, experiences, and good practices on fraud prevention and countering, also within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Project suggests setting up an academic-professional network operating as an "ad-hoc task force" to identify those behaviours and risk profiles that characterise distorted or illegal use of European funds.

"The exchange of skills and knowledge that FRED2 intends to nurture is a further opportunity to develop and enhance our strategy to prevent and counter offences detrimental to EU's financial interests," Minister Fitto added, "thus facing with renewed confidence the relevant complex work to ensure that our use of National Recovery and Resilience Plan resources is truly effective and useful to our Country, as well as inspired to legality protection and respect for rules".

"The Project is being launched at a very important time. As a matter of fact, alongside the reorganisation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan's governance, its enhanced coordination with Cohesion Policy, and adequate simplification, it is now necessary to develop useful dynamics to strengthen, first and foremost at a preventive level, controls and cooperation for ongoing monitoring of the Plan's regular performance".

Antonella Polimeni, Rector of La Sapienza University, confirmed the same view, "With the Project being presented today, La Sapienza is committed to strengthening cooperation with relevant anti-fraud authorities and some European university institutions. Networking is definitely important to best capitalise on our expertise, services, research and training activities in order to promote compliance in all the domains of our daily lives. This falls within the initiatives aimed at disseminating constitutional values and the culture of legality which La Sapienza University is carrying out through a structural approach, extensively involving the whole University community."

Key-speakers included General Stefano Screpanti, Commander of the Guardia di Finanza Unit for repression of fraud against the EU and Italy's AFCOS, established at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. General Screpanti described the tasks entrusted to Italy's AFCOS and illustrated the priorities and results of our national Anti-Fraud Strategy.