EU reveals increase in aid fraud
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The EU's anti-fraud squad reports an increase in serious abuses of its international aid project.
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Bulgaria's gross external debt as of end-July increased by 16.8% to EUR 12.238.8 billion from EUR 10.476.2 billion on last Dec.
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Tens of millions of pounds have been overpaid through benefit errors or fraud, according to a new report.
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Democrats in Congress have increased their scrutiny of a trade pact and an aid package after claims of abuses.
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Investigators study claims that European Commission cleaning contracts were faked in a four-year fraud.
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The UK loses five times more to VAT cheats in one year than any other EU country, according to a report.
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BRUSSELS, Jul 20 (IPS) - African governments are worried that funds from the  European Union (EU) to help them increase their countries'  share of world trade could be at the expense of other forms of  development aid.
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The European Commission pledged an  additional 350 million euros ($462 million) over three years on  Thursday to relief efforts for the devastating Dec. 26 Indian  Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
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An  EU fact-finding team reports a "worrying" increase in reports of torture and abuse in Turkey.
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The European Commission is to warn Greece about publishing false information about its public finances.
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The European Union's heavy fishing off West Africa may be causing a rise in poaching of Africa's wildlife as hungry Africans seek alternative protein, a new study suggests.
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BRUSSELS, Aug 29 (IPS) - The European Union's only directly elected  body is demanding increased aid for basic health and education in  poor countries before it approves next year's budget for the  27-nation bloc.
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The European Union's aid programme is criticised for being slow, inefficient and poorly targeted by think tank Open Europe.
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Global body has misused tens of millions in its peacekeeping mission over the past 3 years.
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(InfoWorld) - The European Commission has warned its member states to beef up their efforts to cut spam, spyware and malicious software, after research showed that up to 85 percent of all e-mail received in the European Union is unsolicited.The findings come four years after the EU adopted anti-spam legislation in the form of the e-privacy directive. "It is time to turn the repeated political concern about spam into concrete actions to fight spam," Viviane Reding, the commissioner for Information Society and Media, said in a statement on Monday.If there is no improvement by this time next year, Reding will consider introducing new legislative measures to fight the scourge, she said.She pointed to the Netherlands as an example of how the current legal regime can be used to cut spam. Hollandâs spam-busting unit, known by the initials OPTA, has just five full-time staff and â¬570,000 (US$747,000) worth of equipment, and has succeeded in cutting spam by 85 percent. âI'd like to see other countries achieving similar results through more efficient enforcement,â Reding said.Finland was also singled out for praise. A filtering system there has cut the amount of spam to 30 percent of all e-mail, from 80 percent two years ago, the Commission said.âWe encourage other countries in the Union to develop similar filtering means,â said Martin Selmayr, Redingâs spokesman, at a press conference Monday.The Commission is urging other countries âto lay down clear lines of responsibility to use the tools available under E.U. law effectively." Better cooperation with enforcement authorities from other countries, including countries outside the Union, is essential to defeat the spammers, the Commission said.The U.S. remains the single biggest source of spam, accounting for 22 percent of all spam received in the EU, the Commission said. China is the second largest source, accounting for 13 percent. France and South Korea rank joint third at 6 percent.The U.S. and the EU have agreed to tackle spam through joint enforcement initiatives, the Commission said.Last year, Ferris Research estimated spam to cost â¬39 billion worldwide, while fellow researcher Computer Economics calculated malicious software to cost â¬11 billion worldwide.The Commission's latest communication on spam is available here in several languages.
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Labor costs in the 13 nations that use the euro rose 2.2 percent in the first three months of 2007 compared with a year ago, the European Union's statistics agency said Thursday.
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The French finance ministry has launched &quot;an investigative procedure&quot; to probe value-added-tax (VAT) fraud between European Union countries that could involve billions of euros annually.