No Action Lead service Action taken (state of play) Status Due date

1 Provide strategic analyses that can feed into fraud risk assessments and fraud prevention activities of the Commission services and the Member States. Data sources for these analyses would include: oclosed OLAF investigations; ocases reported by the Member States through the Irregularities Management System (IMS). OLAF Support: JRC In June 2020, OLAF shared an internal analysis on fisheries funds with relevant Commission services. An OLAF internal paper on COVID-19 related risks (based on OLAF’s investigations) was circulated to Commission services in October 2020, and an analysis on irregularities and fraud in EU funding of health infrastructure was finalised in June 2021. Other analyses are ongoing. Done, and continuous 2020, and then continuous

2 Promote the analytical use of IMS data (also by the Member States) to improve methods and deployment of resources in the field of fraud prevention, detection, investigation and correction. This action should be supported by a built-in analytical tool to be developed by OLAF. OLAF Support: REGIO, AGRI, EMPL, MARE, HOME, JRC OLAF regularly promotes the analytical use of IMS data with users in the Commission services and Member States. An IMS built-in analytical tool has been developed and was put into production in February 2021. It is now available to IMS users and offers a number of tailored analyses, which can be further developed on OLAF’s own initiative or on request. OLAF intends to deliver training on the built-in analytical tool in the second half of 2021. Done, and continuous 2020, and then continuous 2021

3 Closely monitor Member States’ reporting of irregularities by carrying out respective checks and/or external evaluation, with a view to improving and harmonising the quality and completeness of the data reported in the IMS. OLAF (coor-dination), REGIO, EMPL, MARE, AGRI, HOME OLAF monitors all relevant information from audits by Member States and Directorates-General (DGs) to make sure that irregularities are reported in the IMS. The relevant Commission services conduct system audits, to check if monitoring and reporting of irregularities is general practice. This reporting is done in the context of regular correspondence with Member States (on, for example, implementation of the operational programmes and audit reports). OLAF is planning a study on IMS in the second half of 2021 to assess the use of IMS and users’ needs, with a view to improving the quality and completeness of data reporting in the IMS. Done, and continuous 2021, and then continuous

4 Exploring possibilities to strengthen IT-based fraud prevention and detection (as regards risk scoring and controls for double-funding, (self-) plagiarism, etc.) by: oestablishing and disseminating a Commission-wide inventory of existing IT tools; Coor-dination: OLAF/ JRC Support: BUDG, DIGIT, SJ, spending services The EC Data Inventory has been established and disseminated across the Commission. Partially done 2020, and then continuous

oexamining ways to enhance the interoperability of these tools, where possible across management modes, share them among interested services and/or enrich them with data coming from several sources; The Commission is striving to enhance the interoperability of its IT tools, also to prevent and detect fraud. To maximise use of the Commission’s IT resources, OLAF is in contact with data owners to obtain the most efficient type and level of access.

oanalysing needs and potential for new developments, working towards the most cost-effective balance between corporate and local tools. The Commission is extending existing tools to provide a robust, scalable and adaptable analysis of big data.

Review and improve the ARACHNE risk scoring tool. Continue to promote its use among Member State authorities, supported by an external legal opinion as necessary. EMPL Support: REGIO, AGRI, OLAF, JRC, SJ The Commission constantly assesses Member States’ suggestions for improvement and considers them whenever the need for updates to ARACHNE arises. ARACHNE is promoted by the Commission in the context of setting up national control systems to implement the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and also for the shared management funds.

Explore possibilities for an extended use of ARACHNE and other risk scoring tools in all management modes. Coor- dination: OLAF/ EMPL Support: JRC; RTD, DIGIT, BUDG, SJ, spending services In the interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, cooperation in budgetary matters and sound financial management, as well as new own resources, including a roadmap for introducing new own resources, the Commission is required to make available an integrated and interoperable information and monitoring system, including a single data-mining and risk scoring tool. The final RRF Regulation stipulates that the Commission will make ARACHNE available for Member States, although not compulsory. In the absence of a legal obligation for Member States to use ARACHNE, the Commission will continue to encourage Member States to use this data-mining tool and will reflect further on what else can be done to enhance the quality and interoperability of the data on beneficiaries and final recipients of EU funding.

5 Examine possible scope, tools and working methods for the exchange of audit results among services and for exploiting audit results for analysis and early detection of risks. OLAF Support:

RTD, DIGIT, BUDG, spending services Shared management Commission services share audit reports with OLAF, with the aim of automatically extracting significant information for anti-fraud purposes. Partially done 2020-2021

Explore an extended use of specific applications of audit tools (MAPAR) on audit procedures and developing analysis of findings. REGIO Support: RTD, DIGIT, OLAF, BUDG, spending services MAPAR records the findings of the audits performed by DG REGIO and DG EMPL. The existing Launchpad reports capturing the information available in MAPAR were further developed during 2020. These reports can capture the audit findings, their acceptance, frequency and financial impact, the applied assessment criteria and the Key Requirements assessments.

6 Encourage cooperation with academia and practitioners by organising/contracting/co-financing conferences and studies on selected topics. OLAF In the context of the Hercule funding programme, OLAF has encouraged cooperation with academia and practitioners. In 2020, the Hercule programme provided grants to 12 projects involving academia and practitioners, contributing to data collection and analysis and the development of anti-fraud studies. Done, and continuous 2020, and then continuous

7 Map and review channels for exchanging fraud-related information between services, other EU bodies, Member States (including exchanges with Eurofisc), non-EU countries and international organisations. OLAF Support: BUDG, SJ, JRC, spending services The inventory is being established. Ongoing 2020, and then continuous