COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Annual overview with information on the results of the Union anti-fraud programme in 2023 Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 35th Annual Report on the protection of the European Union's financial interests and the fight against fraud - 2023
Date: 2024-07-25
Institutions: European Anti-Fraud Office, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU budget, EU programme, activity report, corruption, digitisation, fight against crime, financial control, fraud, fraud against the EU

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.7.2024  SWD(2024) 187 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Annual overview with information on the results of the Union anti-fraud programme in 2023 Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 35th Annual Report on the protection of the European Union's financial interests and the fight against fraud - 2023 {COM(2024) 318 final} - {SWD(2024) 188 final} - {SWD(2024) 189 final} - {SWD(2024) 190 final} - {SWD(2024) 191 final} - {SWD(2024) 192 final} - {SWD(2024) 193 final}  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1 

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

Context .................................................................................................................................... 2 

Implementation methodology .................................................................................................. 3 

Purpose and scope of this overview ........................................................................................ 4 

2  UAFP budget implementation in 2023 ............................................................................ 4 

Activities  to  prevent  and  combat  fraud,  corruption  and  any  other  illegal  activities 
2.1 
undermining the financial interests of the EU (as in the former Hercule III programme) .................. 6 

2.1.1 

Grants ...............................................................................................................................8 

a) 

b) 

Call for proposals for technical assistance ....................................................................10 

Call for proposals for training, conferences, staff exchanges and studies .....................11 

2.1.2 

Procurement ....................................................................................................................12 

a) 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

b) 

c) 

IT support: databases, IT tools and analyses of samples from tobacco seizures ...........12 

Databases ........................................................................................................................12 

Development of specific IT tools for data analysis with the JRC ..................................13 

Tobacco analyses (TOBLAB) ........................................................................................14 

Procured conferences .....................................................................................................15 

Procured digital forensics and analysts training ...........................................................15 

3  UAFP (Hercule component) - achievements in 2023 ................................................... 16 

3.1 
Examples of technical assistance projects funded under the Hercule III programme 
and the UAFP, finalised in 2023 ....................................................................................................... 16 

3.2 
Examples of training projects funded under the Hercule III programme and the UAFP, 
finalised in 2023 ................................................................................................................................ 18 

3.3 

Examples of procured access to external databases .............................................................. 21 

4 

IMS – implementation in 2023 ....................................................................................... 22 

4.1  Main activities ....................................................................................................................... 22 

4.2  What does the AWP involve? ................................................................................................ 24 

4.3  Maintenance and development .............................................................................................. 24 

5  AFIS – implementation in 2023 ..................................................................................... 24 

6  Communication ............................................................................................................... 24 

6.1 

6.2 

Informing potential applicants ............................................................................................... 25 

Dissemination of results ........................................................................................................ 25 

6.3  Workshop for grant beneficiaries .......................................................................................... 25 

6.4 

Visibility of EU funding ........................................................................................................ 26 

7  Feedback from programme participants ...................................................................... 26 

8  Ukraine association to the Programme ......................................................................... 27 

9 

Interim evaluation of the Programme ........................................................................... 28 

0 

 
 
10 Conclusions and way forward .......................................................................................... 28 

Annex 1: Grants and contracts awarded and finalised under the 2023 Financing 
Decision ................................................................................................................................... 30 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
1 

Introduction 

The fight against fraud to protect the EU’s financial interests is a shared responsibility between 
all Member States and the EU. It is thus in the interest of the EU, and of EU taxpayers more 
generally,  that  national  and  regional  authorities  are  sufficiently  equipped  to  carry  out  this 
important mission. This is why the EU has supported national anti-fraud capacities since 2004 
with  the  three  successive  Hercule  programmes,  now  succeeded  by  the  Union  anti-fraud 
programme (UAFP), established in 2021.   

1.1  Context 
The European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2021/785 setting up the 
UAFP on 29 April 20211. This legal act became applicable retroactively as of 1 January 2021.  

The UAFP combines the financing and implementation of three different, previously separated 
activities, but at its core, it builds on the success of the previous Hercule III programme. The 
UAFP provides a single framework, bringing together: 

(i) 
(ii) 

(iii) 

the Hercule funding part (financial support to technical assistance and training);  
the  Irregularity  Management  System  (IMS,  for  the  reporting  of  irregularities, 
including  fraud,  in  cases  related  to  the  shared-management  funds  and  the  pre-
accession-assistance funds, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility2); and,  
the  financing  of  the  Anti-Fraud  Information  System  (AFIS,  supporting  Member 
States in providing mutual assistance in customs and agricultural matters).   

This  single  framework  increases  synergies  between  its  strands  and  enables  an  efficient 
allocation  of  resources.  For  example,  it  provides  financial  flexibility  to  reallocate  funding 
within the programme’s three strands. 

An  annual  Commission  implementing  decision  sets  out  the  financing  of  the  UAFP  and  the 
annual  work  programme  (AWP).  This  single  legal  act  provides  for  funding  for  all  eligible 
actions supported by the programme, and for the financing of the AFIS and the IMS. 

The UAFP is based on Articles 33 and 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union (TFEU). It is set up for a period of 7 years, from 2021 to 2027, in line with the MFF laid 
down in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/20933.  

The UAFP pursues two general objectives. First, it aims to protect the EU’s financial interests. 
Second,  it  aims  to  support  mutual  assistance  between  the  administrative  authorities  of  the 
Member States and cooperation between these authorities and the Commission to ensure that 
the law on customs and agricultural matters is correctly applied. 

The programme pursues three specific objectives: 

1.  to  prevent  and  combat  fraud,  corruption  and  any  other  illegal  activities  affecting  the 

financial interests of the EU; 

2.  to  support  the  reporting  of  irregularities,  including  fraud,  with  regard  to  the  shared 
management funds and the pre-accession assistance funds of the EU budget; and, 

1 OJ L 172, 17.5.2021, p. 110-122. Link:  (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/785/oj). 
2 See Chapter 4 for more details, please see Chapter 4 of the present SWD. 
3  Council  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  2020/2093  of  17  December  2020  laying  down  the  multiannual  financial 

framework for the years 2021 to 2027 (OJ L 433433I, 22.12.2020, p. 11). 

2 

 
 
 
3.  to provide tools for information exchange and support for operational activities in the 

field of mutual administrative assistance in customs and agricultural matters. 

To implement the UAFP, the EU has allocated EUR 181 207 000 in current prices for the period 
from 2021 to 2027, as shown in Graph 1. 

Graph 1 – Budget allocation 

2021-2027 budget allocation

IMS - €7 m

AFIS - €60 m

Hercule - €114,2 
m

Hercule - €114,2 m

AFIS - €60 m

IMS - €7 m

1.2 

Implementation methodology 

The first component of the programme provides the Member States with targeted assistance in 
achieving their obligations to protect the EU’s financial interests. This component will support 
the purchase of specialised anti-fraud equipment and tools, specific training as well as targeted 
conferences and studies. 

The Commission implements this component by:  

1.  awarding grants following calls for proposals;  
2.  concluding public-procurement contracts following calls for tenders; 
3.  entering into administrative arrangements with the Commission’s Joint Research Centre 

(JRC); 

4.  reimbursing costs incurred by representatives from eligible countries who participate in 

training and operational activities; and, 

5.  offering  targeted  support  to  relevant  international  organisations  actively  helping  to 

protect the EU’s financial interests. 

The second component consists of (i) the operation and maintenance of the AFIS platform for 
the  exchange  of  mutual-assistance  information;  and  (ii)  supported  activities,  such  as  joint 
customs operations, courses, and preparatory or evaluation meetings for operational action.  

Under  the  third  component,  the  Commission  maintains  the  IMS  and  makes  it  available  to 
Member States to facilitate their compliance with the obligation (laid down in various sectorial 
pieces of legislation) to report detected irregularities.  

In practice, the programme is implemented under direct management. The European Anti-Fraud 
Office (OLAF) is the lead service for programme implementation. 

3 

 
 
 
The UAFP Regulation identifies four categories of eligible entities: 

1.  public authorities that can help achieve an UAFP objective and are established:  

i) 
in a Member State or an overseas country or territory associated with the UAFP; 
ii)  in a third country associated with the UAFP under the conditions specified in Article 

4 of the UAFP Regulation; or, 

iii) in a third country not associated with the UAFP under the conditions specified in 

Article 10(3) of the UAFP Regulation. 

2.  research  and  educational  institutes  and  non-profit  making  entities  that  can  help  to 
achieve the objectives of the UAFP and have been established and operating for at least 
1 year:  
i) 
ii)  in a third country associated with the UAFP under the conditions specified in Article 

in a Member State; 

4 of the UAFP Regulation; or  

iii)  in a third country not associated with the UAFP under the conditions specified in 

Article 10(3) of the UAFP Regulation. 

3.  any legal entity created under Union law; or, 
4.  any international organisation. 

1.3  Purpose and scope of this overview 

Article 12(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/785 obliges the Commission to report annually on the 
performance of the programme to the European Parliament and to the Council as part of its 
annual report on the protection of the EU’s financial interests – fight against fraud. Article 12(3) 
also  stipulates  that  when  discussing  the  UAFP,  the  European  Parliament  may  make 
recommendations for the AWP, and that the Commission must duly take these into account. 

To this end, this overview covers: (i) information on actions for which financial commitments 
were made under the 2023 Financing Decision and AWP4, adopted on 7 February 2023; and 
(ii) the results of  actions  finalised in  2023  but  for which financial commitments  were made 
under the Hercule III programme and the Union anti-fraud programme in previous years.  

The  overview  also  contains  information  on  AFIS  and  IMS  activities  for  which  financial 
commitments were made under the same 2023 AWP.  

2  UAFP budget implementation in 2023 

To implement the UAFP in 2023, the budgetary authority had allocated EUR 24.80 million in 
commitment appropriations and EUR 25.34 million in payment appropriations. The programme 
is financed under item 03.03 of the EU budget, as shown in Table 1 (split by year). 

C(2023) 813 final of 7 February 2023. 

4 

 
 
 
 
Table 1: Financial programming in 2021-2027 

2021 

2022 

2023 

2024 

2025 

2026 

2027 

(in EUR) 

Total 

24,055,021 

24,371,021  24,852,023  25,508,023  26,353,026  27,404,026  28,678,028 

Programme 
total 
181,221,168 

Table 2 shows the commitments made under the available budget for 2023, broken down by 
the programme’s three components. 

Table 2: Available budget and commitments made in 2023 

TYPES OF ELIGIBLE ACTIONS (2023) 

BUDGET 
(EUR) 

COMMITTED 
(EUR) 

COMMITTED 
(%) 

COMPONENT 1: PROTECTION OF THE EU’S FINANCIAL INTERESTS 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

Grants: technical assistance 

Grants 

9 650 000 

10 799 791 

IT databases 

Procurement 

1 754 329 

1 086 206 

IT tools and tobacco analysis  

Procurement 

758 000 

719109 

ANTI-FRAUD TRAINING 

Grants: anti-fraud training 

Grants 

900 000 

Procured conferences  

Procurement 

1 200 000 

890 031 

839 035 

Digital forensics and analyst training  

Procurement 

1 400 000 

1 023 649 

111.9%5 

61.9%6 

94.9%  

98.9% 

70% 

73.1% 

TOTAL COMPONENT 1  

15 662 329 

15 510 2427 

99.03% 

IT studies, development and maintenance 

Procurement 

3 995 000 

3 682 429 

COMPONENT 2: AFIS PLATFORM 

Production services 

Technical  assistance,  training,  coordination 
and quality-control services 

Acquisition,  maintenance  and  updating  of 
software  and  hardware,  and  related  IT 
services 

Procurement 

2 420 000 

1 547 146 

Procurement 

405 000 

526 401 

130% 

Procurement 

1 150 856 

878 400 

76% 

92% 

64% 

5   Unused  funds  initially  earmarked  for  procured  activities  were  allocated  to  this  budget  category  in order  to 

accomodate the award of three additional grants from the reserve list. See also footnote 6. 

6  Following  a  successful  tender  publication,  the  obtained  price  for  one  of  the  commercial  databases  was 
significantly  inferior  then  the  forecasted  amount.  The  available  remaining  budget  was  used  for  the  award  of 
Technical Assistance grants, where many applications highly scored were put on the reserve list (due to lack of 
available funding). 
7    EUR 152 421 were transferred to DG COMM an DG DIGIT for communication and IT-support annual fees. 
5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
to 

Funds  co-delegated 
the  Directorate-
General  for  Taxation  and  Customs  Union 
(DG TAXUD) 
Contingency 

TOTAL COMPONENT 2 

8 227 888 

COMPONENT 3: IMS TOOL 

1 336 126 

8 227 888 

Procurement 

257 031 

257 386 

100% 

Procurement 

Procurement 

Procurement 

Procurement 

0 

0 

959 783 

959 770 

0 

0 

0 

0 

100% 

0% 

100% 

0% 

0% 

Hardware and software 

Development and maintenance 

Production services 

Support and training 

Contingency 

TOTAL COMPONENT 3 
GRAND TOTAL 

959 783 

959 770 

24 850 000 

24 679 900   

100% 

99.39% 

2.1  Activities to prevent and combat fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities 
undermining  the  financial  interests  of  the  EU  (as  in  the  former  Hercule  III 
programme)  

In 2023, the UAFP’s third year of implementation, the available commitment appropriations 
for the programme’s first strand (formerly ‘Hercule’ actions) were used to: (i) finance granted 
projects; and (ii) conclude specific contracts  (procurement) and  administrative arrangements 
for providing  access  to  commercial databases, specialised  IT tools and specific training and 
conference events, in line with the activities included in the adopted AWP for 20238.  

The commitment amounts earmarked for the 2023 granting cycle (approximately EUR 10.55 
million) were implemented by signing contracts  for the awarded grant  files and paying  pre-
financing.  

Following  a  successful  publication  and  evaluation  of  the  2023  technical  assistance  call  for 
proposals, amounts not spent under procured databases and procured conferences  have been 
transferred to this specific call, where a large reserve list had been established.  

Payments under the grant agreements and under some of the procurement contracts signed in 
2023 will be reported at a later stage than the present report, since these payments will only be 
made in the course of 2024 and in the following years. 

8  Commission Implementing Decision, C(2023) 813 final of 7.02.2023. 

6 

 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
Graph 2: Breakdown of the UAFP’s (Hercule component) planned budget and achieved 
commitments in 2023 by type of financial support (mainly grants and procurement)  

Graph 3 provides a breakdown of the planned budget and commitments for 2023 by type of 
action. Technical assistance actions under Regulation (EU) 2021/785 encompass: (i) technical 
assistance  for  grant  activities;  and  (ii)  IT  support  (databases  and  IT  tools).  Training  actions 
include: (i) grant activities under calls for proposals for training, conferences, staff exchanges 
and studies; and (ii) procured conferences and specialised training. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Graph 3: UAFP (Hercule component) budget and commitments in 2023 of eligible actions 

2.1.1  Grants 
Grants are direct financial contributions to finance an action intended to help achieve an EU 
policy objective. The overall UAFP budget allocated to grants in 2023 was EUR 10.55 million. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Following  calls  for  proposals  inviting  applicants  to  submit  proposals  for  actions  that  help 
achieve the programme’s objectives, grants are evaluated and awarded. The beneficiary of a 
grant  becomes the legal  and economic owner of the goods or services purchased with  grant 
financing.  

In March 2023, the Commission published two calls for proposals on its Funding and Tenders 
Portal.  

The two calls covered the following topics:  

1.  technical assistance, with an indicative budget of EUR 9.65 million; and 
2.  training,  conferences,  staff  exchanges  and  studies,  with  an  indicative  budget  of 

EUR 0,9 million.  

The deadline to submit applications was 4 May 2023 for technical assistance (TA) and 11 June 
2023 for training (TRAI). The Commission received a total of 103 applications originating from 
18  Member  States.  First,  each  application  was  assessed  on  its  eligibility  or  on  a  possible 
exclusion.  Then,  a  dedicated  evaluation  committee  with  Commission  expert  staff  members 
assessed the content of each application. The committee evaluated the following four award 
criteria:  

1.  conformity with the objectives of the UAFP; 
2.  quality of the proposal; 
3.  value for money; and 
4.  added value for the protection of the EU’s financial interests. 

The  evaluation  process  was  finalised  end  2023  and  all  the  applicants  were  informed  of  its 
outcome by the end of December 2023.   

Graph 4 gives an overview of the total value and number of grants for technical assistance and 
training awarded in 2023, by Member State. The graph shows that grants have been awarded to 
applicants stemming from 14 Member States.  

9 

 
 
 
Graph 4: UAFP (Hercule component) commitments (in EUR) and number of grants in 
2023 by Member State and by activity sector 

a) 

Call for proposals for technical assistance 

The 2023 budget for technical assistance grants was EUR 9.65 million. It was available to fund 
actions proposed by national and regional authorities for the following types of activities: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

purchasing  and  maintaining  investigation  and  surveillance  tools  and  methods 
used in the fight against irregularities, fraud and corruption perpetrated against 
the financial interests of the EU, including specialised training needed to operate 
the investigation tools; 
purchasing  digital-forensics  hardware  including  equipment  and  software, 
mobile forensic tools and computer forensic collaborative systems used in the 
fight against (fraudulent) irregularities, fraud and corruption detrimental to the 
EU’s financial interests;  
purchasing  data-analytics  technologies  and  data  including  the  acquisition  and 
maintenance  of:  (i)  commercial  specialised  databases;  (ii)  data-analysis 
platforms  capable  of  running  analyses  in  big-data  environments,  risk  and 
predictive  analyses,  and  data-mining  tools;  and  (iii)  systems  supported  by 
artificial intelligence used in the fight against irregularities, fraudulent activities 
and corruption detrimental to the EU’s financial interests; and 
purchasing  equipment  for  the  detection  of  illicit  trade9  to  strengthen 
beneficiaries’  operational  and  technical  capacity  to  detect  smuggled  and 

9  OLAF, in close cooperation with DG TAXUD, ensured that there was no overlap with projects submitted for 
support under the new Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI). 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
counterfeited goods, including cigarettes and tobacco, imported into the EU with 
the intention of evading value added tax, customs duties and/or excise taxes.  

By the deadline of 4 May 2023, the Commission received 83 applications from 16 Member 
States. The total (cost) of the proposed actions was EUR 36.7 million and the requested funding 
(UAFP financial support) amounted to EUR 29.6 million (three times the available budget). 
Following the evaluation committee’s recommendation, limited by the budget available to the 
programme,  the  authorising  officer  decided  to  award  grants  for  23  actions  and  to  place  10 
proposals on a reserve list (see Table 1 in Annex I).  

The overall amount of funding awarded to technical assistance grants under the 2023 budget 
was EUR 10.8 million for 26 projects from 11 Member States. In addition to the 23 proposals 
initially  awarded,  the  authorising  officer  decided  to  award  three  additional  grants  from  the 
reserve list, using unused funds initially earmarked for procured activities. Grants were awarded 
for  the  purchase  of  investigation  equipment  (including  forensics  equipment),  data-analysis 
systems, IT tools and detection equipment. The UAFP grants financed 80% of the eligible costs 
of the actions.  

Table 1 in Annex I provides an overview of the beneficiaries, project titles, grant amounts, and 
co-financing rates. 

To  best  describe  the  implementation  of  technical  assistance  grants  in  2023,  a  selection  of 
examples of finalised projects is presented in Chapter 3. 

b) 

Call for proposals for training, conferences, staff exchanges and studies 

The  UAFP  provides  grants  to  beneficiaries  for  organising  targeted  specialised  trainings, 
conferences and staff exchanges, as well as for carrying out legal studies. These activities aim 
to  strengthen  cross-border  cooperation  and  networking  activities  between  experts  and  to 
facilitate the exchange of best practices on protecting the financial interests of the EU.  

The following four types of activities were proposed for funding, with an indicative budget of 
EUR 0.9 million: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

specialised training sessions to improve investigation and data-analysis abilities 
by  acquiring  new  skills  and  knowledge  of  specialised  methodologies  and 
techniques; 
conferences,  workshops  and  seminars  to:  (i)  facilitate  the  exchange  of 
information,  experience  and  best  practices,  including  in  the  field  of  data 
analysis; (ii) create networks and improve coordination between Member States, 
candidate  countries,  other  third  countries,  EU  institutions  and  international 
organisations;  (iii)  facilitate  multidisciplinary  cooperation  between  anti-fraud 
practitioners and academics on protecting the EU’s financial interests, including 
support to associations for European criminal law and for the protection of the 
EU’s financial interests; and (iv) raise the awareness of the judiciary and other 
legal professionals of this matter; 
staff  exchanges  between  national  and  regional  administrations  (including 
candidate  and  neighbouring  countries)  to  help  further  develop,  improve  and 
update staff’s competences in protecting the EU’s financial interests; and 

11 

 
 
4. 

developing comparative law studies and organising activities to raise awareness 
among the judiciary and other branches of the legal profession on protecting the 
EU’s  financial  interests,  including  the  dissemination  of  relevant  scientific 
knowledge through periodical publications. 

The call received 21 applications from ten Member States. The total amount of requested grants 
was EUR 3.3 million.   

Seven  applications  were  selected  for  an  award  under  this  call,  for  an  overall  amount  of 
approximately EUR 0.9 million within the available budget. Four applications were put on a 
reserve  list,  which  were  not  awarded  due  to  insufficient  additional  funding  available.  One 
applicant  withdrew its  proposal.  All  applications received a co-financing  rate of 80% of the 
eligible costs. 

Grants were awarded for, amongst others: (i) organising training for enhancing the capacity of 
customs  authorities  in  fighting  fraud  against  the  EU  budget  and  cigarette  smuggling, 
implementating the Whistleblowing Directive to combat fraud and corruption for protecting the 
financial interests of the EU; (ii) staff exchange between customs authorities of five countries 
surrounding the Adriatic Sea; and (iii) carrying out studies on professional privileges, such as 
the professional secrecy of lawyers, in administrative investigations carried out by OLAF and 
criminal investigations on financial crimes, developing new legal and computational tools to be 
used  by  OLAF  and  EPPO  to  prevent  and  detect  financial  crimes  affecting  the  EU  budget, 
challenges in the prevention and fight against fraud in new EU funds such as the Recovery and 
Resilience Facility.   

Table 4 in Annex I  gives an overview of the awarded grants and the corresponding co-financing 
rates. 

2.1.2  Procurement 

About 32% of the 2023 budget allocated to the first component of the UAFP (EUR 5 112 329) 
was allocated to fund activities by concluding procurement contracts linked to the protection of 
the EU’s financial interests. 

In 2023, the Commission concluded specific contracts under existing framework contracts for 
technical assistance support and training activities. The purchased equipment, tools and services 
were made available to UAFP beneficiaries (mainly Member State authorities). 

a) 

IT support: databases, IT tools and analyses of samples from tobacco seizures 

i. Databases 

In  2023,  the  overall  amount  committed  to  procured  contracts  was  EUR 1  086  206.  The 
programme provides funds for the procurement of subscriptions to commercial databases, on 
behalf  of  law  enforcement  authorities  in  Member  States,  to  support  operations  and 
investigations, in particular in the area of protecting the EU’s financial interests.  

The  Commission  procures  and  manages  the  access  to  these  databases  enabling  substantial 
economies of scale and a common data framework. Relevant staff are trained to ensure optimal 

12 

 
 
usage. OLAF staff also uses these databases for operational activities jointly undertaken with 
their Member State partners and for their own investigations10.  

In 2023, the programme provided Member States with access to commercial databases, such as 
worldwide trade  statistics, detailed company information  and global vessel movements.  The 
databases were highly used by customs and other law-enforcement authorities, supporting both 
investigations and risk analyses. Table 3 in Annex I gives an overview of the contracts awarded 
in 2023.  

ii. Development of specific IT tools for data analysis with the JRC 

In 2023, OLAF and the JRC continued working together under the administrative arrangement 
for Customs Anti-Fraud Enabling technologies (CAFET)11.  

CAFET is part of a wider effort to provide knowledge to and facilitate the work of Member 
States’ customs services to use data and analytical approaches effectively and efficiently in their 
anti-fraud  activities.  In  line  with  the  objectives  of  the  Union  Anti-Fraud  Programme,  the 
ultimate beneficiaries of this project are customs authorities in the Member States. In 2023, the 
UAFP allocated EUR 507 465 under the CAFET umbrella. 

The CAFET project consists of several work packages: 

Work package 1: Automated Monitoring Tool (AMT)  

By  linking  a  subset  of  Eurostat’s  COMEXT  database  with  information  from  customs 
declarations  and  the  Commission’s  tariff  database  (TARIC),  the  AMT  algorithm  identifies 
patterns and long-term trends in EU imports. The AMT provides estimates of ‘cleaned average’ 
prices by product code, from a given exporting country into the EU and, in some instances, 
these  estimates  can  be  further  broken  down  by  Member  State.  Any  import  that  deviates 
substantially from these long-term trends is flagged as anomalous.   AMT results are shared 
with users in interactive, read-only displays (dashboards) providing the results of predefined 
queries on the COMEXT-subset.  

The average number of accesses to AMT-Theseus per month in 2023 (28 000) shows a constant 
interest of the users in the tool (there were 20 000 in 2022 and 19 000 in 2021).  165 new users 
accounts for Member States have been created in 2023.    

In  2023,  technology  transfer  of  AMT-Theseus  took  place  to  OLAF  AFIS  server  and  AMT-
Reports database.   

Work package 2: Container-movement analytics  

Container-movement analytics and analyses of potential origin fraud (ConTraffic) have been 
further consolidated and developed. In the first ten months of 2023, ConTraffic averaged 70 
user logins per month. Most of the users were from Belgium, Spain, Finland, The Netherlands, 
Greece, Ireland, Croatia and the European Commission.  

10   The use of databases made by OLAF staff is paid from the administrative budget of the Commission.    
11   Originally funded by the Hercule III programme, the initial AA was signed at the end of 2017 between OLAF 
and  the  JRC  to  provide  ‘scientific  and  technical  support  in  advancing  the  EU’s  customs  anti-fraud  data-
analytics capacity’. The current AA runs from 2021 to 2023 and consists of five work packages. 

13 

 
 
 
Checks  on  potential  origin  detected  that  about  1,5%  of  the  analysed  goods/items  had  a 
mismatching origin. Based on these mismatches, OLAF identified over 200 possible signals of 
anomalies and communicated these to  Member States’ customs services.  Out of the signals, 
about 23% turned out to be fraud cases for a potential value of over 120 000 EUR. In 2023 
origin analysis was developed in AFIS. The new application, called Container Origin System 
(COS) is operational since December 2023. Also in 2023, a TARIC duty calculator module was 
developed and implemented. 

Work package 3: Tobacco track and trace analytics (T&T)  

Analysis carried out in 2023 highlighted the border areas in which retailers take advantage of 
the  significant  tobacco  taxation  gap  between  neighbouring  Member  States,  registering 
important  increases  in  the  supply  of  products  and  exceeding  the  consumption  capacities  of 
potential consumers estimated for their areas. 

Work package 4: e-Commerce   

Data availability remained a problem in 2023, and no analysis was undertaken under this work 
package.  

Work package 5: Other analytical tools and exploratory work   

This work package brings together activities related to the development of smaller analytical 
tools or new analyses of potential interest, based on experience from previous administrative 
arrangements,  and  based  on  interaction  with  Member  States  as  well  as  OLAF  operational 
activities.   

In 2023, research continued into the possibility to analyse and compare the textual descriptions 
of  imports  with  their  declared  commodity  codes,  in  order  to  identify  potential  cases  of 
misdescription fraud.  

Outreach 

CAFET is intended to support the analytical activities of Member State authorities and OLAF 
to combat fraud. It continues work on well-known and to some extent already researched fraud-
control  problems,  such  as  undervaluation  (via  AMT)  and  misdescription  of  origin  (via 
container-movement analysis). However, it has also continued new research into problems such 
as illicit tobacco trade and product misdescription fraud, which have been identified as priorities 
by Member States.  

In  March  and  April  2023,  four  webinars  were  organised,  starting  to  re-engage  after  the 
pandemics  with  Member  States  analysts  and  customs  officers  on  the  more  mature  projects 
(AMT and Container-movement analytics). 181 participants from 26 Member States and the 
Commission attended these events. As in previous years, progress updates were provided at the 
regular meetings of the Expert Group on Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters. 

iii. Tobacco analyses (TOBLAB) 

In order to help Member States in their efforts to combat the illicit trade in tobacco products, 
OLAF takes the view that Member States’ authorities should have access to independent state-
of-the-art specialised testing facilities of tobacco products for investigative purposes.   

14 

 
 
 
For that purpose, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Geel (Belgium) set up in 
2016  a  laboratory  for  the  analysis  of  tobacco  products,  TOBLAB,  financed  by  the  previous 
Hercule III programme.  

A  close  cooperation  between  TOBLAB  and  Member  States’  customs  laboratories  and  law 
enforcement authorities is considered as leading to the most efficient and cost-effective use of 
the testing facilities needed.  

Member  States  and  OLAF  can  submit  requests  for  analysis  of  tobacco  products  using  a 
dedicated  IT  application  (ToSMA)  administered  by  OLAF  on  the  Anti-Fraud  Information 
System (AFIS) platform. In the period from 13 July 2022 to 12 July 2023, the JRC processed 
115 requests from 10 Member States for analysis of seized cigarettes and raw/fine-cut tobacco 
samples. It was possible to draw connections between cigarettes seized in various places in the 
EU at various moments (57 samples could be connected to previous seizures).  

The  JRC  maintains  a  repository  of  commercially  available  cigarettes  purchased  at  licensed 
tobacconists across the world. The repository now contains more than 1100 tobacco products 
from more than 70 countries. 

The annual Administrative Agreement (AA) with the JRC in Geel was renewed in 2023 for a 
three years period with programme funding for a first year amounting to EUR 229 222. 

b) 

Procured conferences 

The  programme  also  finances  high-level  conferences  and  training  activities  focused  on  the 
protection of the EU’s financial interests, organised by the Commission (OLAF). Nine high-
level events took place, financed by the 2023 programme budget. The overall budget available 
for procured conferences was EUR 1.2 million for 2023.  

Table 5 in Annex I provides an overview of the events that took place under the 2023 budget. 

c) 

Procured digital forensics and analysts training  

The digital forensics and analysts training (DFAT), organised by OLAF aims to strengthen law-
enforcement  agencies’  ability 
including  cigarette  smuggling  and 
counterfeiting. It provides improved detection skills to extract and use data from digital devices.  

to  combat  fraud, 

This annual training helped create a network of certified digital-forensics specialists in all the 
Member States and candidate countries, starting back in 2007. 

Investigations related to EU funds have become more complex, with more data that need to be 
processed. This has led to a growing need to train digital analysts. To address this need, courses 
for analysts were added to the original digital-forensics training (DFT) since 2018. The aim is 
to improve digital forensics investigations by ensuring that data are processed in a way that 
strengthens the quality, accuracy and efficiency of investigations related to EU funds. 

Financed  by  the  2023  budget,  one  physical  training  sessions    was  organised  (in  September 
2023) with 110 participants from Member States and candidate countries. The various subjects 
proposed  covered  the  most  requested  by  Member  State  authorities,  such  as  advanced 
‘Windows’ forensics, open-source intelligence, operational analysis, etc. The 2023 budget of 
EUR 1.02 million has been committed for this activity under the 2023 programme budget. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3  UAFP (Hercule component) - achievements in 2023 

Since the first grants for the UAFP were awarded only in March 2022 (due to the late adoption 
of  the  programme’s  legal  basis  in  2021),  a  limited  number  of  tangible  results  are  already 
available.  Consequently,  this  section  provides  an  overview  of  the  main  results  achieved  by 
beneficiaries  implementing  grants  awarded  under  the  now  closed  Hercule  III  programme  as 
well as under the current UAFP, and of the outcomes of the procured projects financed by the 
UAFP and finalised in 2023.  

Beneficiaries report on the outcomes of grant projects in the final technical report they submit 
with  their  final  payment  requests.  Final  technical  reports  also  describe  issues  encountered 
during the implementation of the action, such as delays or staff changes. The reports set out 
how these issues were resolved and list possible impacts on the outcome of a project.  

Beneficiaries  of  UAFP/Hercule  technical  assistance  grants  are  requested  to  submit  a  final 
implementation  questionnaire  one  year  after  the  grant  contract’s  closing  date.  This 
questionnaire  contains  information  on  the  results  achieved  by  using  the  equipment  and  the 
beneficiary’s  assessment  of  the  equipment’s  contribution  to  achieving  the  programme’s 
objectives.  

The reported implementation results illustrate how the purchased technical equipment, such as 
detection tools, enabled the beneficiaries to seize substantial amounts of smuggled cigarettes, 
counterfeit goods and tobacco products. National authorities reported that equipment to support 
investigations,  such  as  communication  equipment,  cameras,  IT  tools  and  forensic  soft-  and 
hardware,  facilitated  the  lawful  gathering  of  evidence  during  operations  supporting 
investigations aimed at protecting the EU’s revenues, expenditures and assets. 

Beneficiaries of grants for training activities (conferences, seminars and training sessions) also 
carried out participant surveys to measure the relevance, quality and overall user satisfaction of 
the event. The findings of these surveys are included in the final technical report submitted at 
the end of the action. 

Training activities finalised in 2023 concerned a wide range of disciplines and topics, such as: 
(i)  specialised  training  sessions  on  forensic  examination  of  mobile  devices;  (ii)  specialised 
training sessions in the field of data analysis and confiscation measures for the execution of 
convictions  in  relation  to  financial  crimes;  (iii)  training  on  special  toolkits  of  investigation 
techniques  for  fraud  offenses  affecting  the  EU  financial  interests;  and  (iv)  workshops  for 
strengthening regional cooperation and multidisciplinary approach in preventing, detecting and 
investigating fraud and corruption affecting the EU financial interests in the Baltic region. 

Most  of  the  training  projects  were  targeted  at  representatives  of  law  enforcement  agencies 
(police, customs, anti-corruption bodies) and legal professionals. Also, academics, educational 
institutions and non-governmental organisations participated in some of the projects. 

3.1 

Examples  of  technical  assistance  projects  funded  under  the  Hercule  III 
programme and the UAFP, finalised in 2023 

16 

 
 
 
 
Below are examples of technical assistance awarded grants that were finalised in 2023.  

The Regional Police Headquarters in Olsztyn, Poland, received a grant in order to fight mainly 
the tobacco-related crimes. The specialised equipment was used to identify camouflaged tobacco 
production sites and bottling of illegally produced alcohol sites. Within the framework of the 
project 33 successful operations were already reported by the beneficiary. As a result, more than 
1.5 million pieces of illegal cigarettes, 798 kilograms of tobacco and 477 litres of illegal alcohol 
were seized and a loss of almost 1 million EUR to the EU budget on account of customs duties, 
excise duty and VAT was prevented. 

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance received a grant for the detection of counterfeit 
goods  that  illegally  enter  the  territory  of  the  Italian  State,  in  particular  cigarettes  of  foreign 
manufactured tobacco, imported into the union with the aim of evading  VAT, custom duties 
and/or excise duties. The equipment acquired has increased the effectiveness and the speed of 
the beneficiary’s investigations. As a result, assets of a total value of 703.4 million EUR were 
seized, in particular, 3 600 kg. of drugs, 1.9 million items (clothing, accessories, vehicles) and 
more than 600 000 EUR in cash. 

The equipment purchased by the Portuguese Customs is in operation since December 2020. In 
2023, 9 677 containers and trucks were controlled, namely from high-risk countries, according 
to  the  risk  indicators  established  at  national  and  Union’s  level.  Since  the  installation  of  the 
equipment,  significant  seizures  of  tobacco  and  drugs  have  been  made  (cigarettes:  12  million 
units, drugs: 1 million kg.). 

The Irish Revenue Commissioners have received a grant for the purchase of a mobile x-ray 
container scanner. The equipment has facilitated the identification of anomalies in containers 
and trucks. During seven investigations, the routine profiling of trucks and trailers, led to the 
discovery and seizure of 5.8 million cigarettes of a total value of almost 4 million EUR and of 
drugs of a total value of 0.8 million EUR. 

The Czech General Directorate of Customs purchased equipment related to voice detection 
and decoding. The acquired software helps to detect illegal activities in the field of customs, 
excise duties, taxes on tobacco products, mineral oil taxes and smuggling and distribution of 
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. It enables the Customs Administration of the Czech 
Republic to analyse audio recordings made by operational groups in the framework of actions 
carried out to combat fraudulent activities detrimental to the financial interests of the Union, in 
particular in the area of counterfeiting and smuggling of tobacco and tobacco products. 

The  acquired  tool  speeds  up  the  process  of  processing  and  evaluating  voice  recordings  and 
reduces the time required to analyse large amounts of data. 60 members of staff were trained. 

The  Hellenic  Police  reinforced  the  operational  capacity  of  several  of  its  departments.The 
equipment purchased includes: unmanned aerial vehicles with the corresponding training for 
pilots,  mobile  phone  locators,  portable  radios  with  digital  transmission  system,  wireless 
monitoring system, with day and night tracking capability, handheld thermographic cameras 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
and a mobile command centre. The project aims to combat the import of tobacco transported 
from/to North Africa by ships approaching the southern coast of Crete and carried in trucks.  
The tools will be used to combat fraud against the EU’s financial interests by enhancing the 
operational and investigative capacity of the Greek services. 

The Customs Department of the Republic of Lithuania renewed its automated number plate 
recognition system (ANPRS) equipment installed in the eight customs border crossing points 
at the external borders with Belorussian Republic and Russian Federation. The system is used 
in  the  daily  work  of  the  Lithuanian  Customs  and  other  law  enforcement  institutions  of  the 
Republic of Lithuania have appropriate access to the collected information. 

The Ministry of Finance of Croatia completed a project to purchase specialised equipment 
and tools needed for thorough inspection of transported goods at the EU external borders and 
within Croatia.  

The  equipment  was  distributed  to  39  border  crossings  and  12  mobile  units  and  customs 
officers  were  trained.  The  enhancements  contribute  to  a  more  rapid,  effective  and  safe 
customs  controls  using  modern  risk  management  techniques,  reduced  time  for  manual 
customs  control,  increased  seizures  of  tobacco,  cigarettes  and  counterfeit  goods,  better 
prevention of smuggling of cigarettes and of illicit trade in counterfeit products at the EU’s 
external borders. 

3.2 

Examples of training projects funded under the Hercule III programme and the 
UAFP, finalised in 2023  

An overview of the training events finalised in 2023 (for which grants had been awarded under 
the  Hercule  III  programme  and  under  the  UAFP)  is  given  in  Annex  I,  Tables  6  (Training, 
conferences and staff exchange) and 7 (Legal training and studies). 

Examples of projects for training and conferences that ended and were reported on in 2023: 

The Lithuanian Police Forensic Science Centre organised two specialised training sessions 
in  forensic examination  of mobile devices. The fast-changing  IT sector is showing a new 
trend towards moving from desktops and laptops to mobile devices, such as smartphones. 
With  the  mass  adoption of  mobile  devices,  digital  evidence  is  more  prevalent  in  criminal 
cases than ever before. 

The  training  was  attended  by  18  law  enforcement  officers  and  forensic  specialists  (from 
Lithuania,  Latvia,  Estonia,  Croatia  and  a  non-EU  neighbouring  country)  in  November  - 
December 2022. 

An overall objective of the project was the strengthening of the capacity of the participant 
countries’ forensic laboratories in carrying out mobile device examinations and the upgrade 
of the competencies of IT forensic specialists and investigators. Also, the two-week training 
aimed to create a network between IT forensic specialists and to share acquired knowledge 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
and skills in complex cases. A best practice guide was produced and made available to the 
participating institutions. 

The  Academy  of  European  Law  (ERA)  conducted  a  training  project  “Preventing  and 
detecting fraud: Special toolkits of (new) investigation techniques to better protect the EU 
financial interests”, including two conferences, between July 2022 to December 2023.   

The main objective of the project was to demonstrate how cooperation at horizontal level 
between EU bodies  involved in  the protection of the  EU's financial interests (e.g. OLAF, 
EPPO, Eurojust, Europol and ECA), and cooperation at vertical level of these bodies with 
national authorities is key to set up a multi-tiered system to protect EU financial interests.  

The conferences debated ideas on how to improve the EU's fight against fraud and corruption 
by  enhancing  transnational  and  multi-disciplinary  cooperation.  The  international  and 
European legal frameworks (with a special emphasis on the role of OLAF) were presented 
by  the  speakers  and  discussed  with  the  audience,  which  consisted  mainly  of  lawyers, 
prosecutors and anti-fraud investigators. The conferences were practice oriented focusing on 
concrete domestic experiences and made the link between the domestic experiences and the 
implications that such cases had or could have in the future on the EU budget. 

Examples of projects for legal training and studies that ended and were reported on in 2023: 

The Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences conducted the legal 
research project “Vertical and horizontal cooperation in combatting organised fraud in the 
EU”.  It  aimed  to  examine  the  legal  and  practical  aspects  of  cooperation  in  combating 
organised fraud, particularly detrimental to the EU budget, between institutions both on EU 
and  national  levels.  The  project  focused  on  six  EU  Member  States  (Lithuania,  Poland, 
Slovakia,  Romania,  Germany  and  Italy).  It  entailed  a  study  of  the  legal  framework  and 
practical  challenges  related  to  the  cooperation  of  relevant  national  law  enforcement 
authorities  with  EU  bodies  (EPPO,  OLAF,  Europol  and  Eurojust),  as  well  as  to  the 
cooperation of these national authorities with their counterparts in other EU Member States 
and non-EU countries in combating offences affecting the financial interests of the EU (the 
so called ‘PIF offences’). 

The project has been an opportunity to present to the specialised public, including practising 
lawyers, judges, academics, law enforcement officers and prosecutors, the challenges of the 
vertical and horizontal cooperation of law enforcement institutions within the EU in the area 
of  the  protection  of  the  EU  financial  interests.  It  has  offered  an  opportunity  to  exchange 
experiences between professionals dealing with this issue.   

The  research  identified  best  practices  and  recommendations  for  improvement  that  could 
contribute  to  more  effective  cooperation  between  EU  institutions  and  national  law 
enforcement institutions in combating PIF offences, in particular organised fraud. The results 
of  the  research  will  raise  awareness  of  the  need  to  improve  cooperation  between  EU 
institutions and national law enforcement authorities, will address challenges related to this 

19 

 
 
 
 
cooperation indicated by national law enforcement officials and will disseminate knowledge 
on the evolving EU institutional framework in combatting PIF offences.  

Firstly, the findings were presented during a conference in December 2022 in Warsaw, and 
secondly,  the  national  reports  are  presented  in  a  book  to  be  published  in  open  access 
(https://inp.pan.pl/en/research/vertical-and-horizontal-cooperation-in-combatting-
organized-fraud-in-the-eu-vehocoincof/). The added value of the book lies in addressing the 
emerging legal framework and practice related to combatting organised fraud in the Member 
States after the establishment of the EPPO. 

The University of Miskolc  in  Hungary  carried out  a practice-oriented comparative study 
that  aimed  to  analyse  the  most  relevant  questions  of  the  external,  internal  and  criminal 
investigation of irregularities and offenses  affecting the financial interests of the EU with 
special  focus  on  the  role  of  OLAF,  EPPO,  Eurojust  and  Europol.  The  project  involved 
academics and practitioners from eight countries and examined the national regulations and 
practices (Austria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania).  

To share the results of the comparative work and best practices, the project team organised 
an international opening conference, three international workshops, an international Summer 
Academy  training and a  closing conference with  a book presentation, from  April 2021 to 
March 2023. The Summer Academy was organized with the National Office for the Judiciary 
and was attended by more than 150 participants in person and online comprising practitioners 
(judges, prosecutors, lawyers, officers of tax and customs administrations, police forces or 
other law enforcement agencies, local or regional authorities) and academics.  

The project raised awareness of the practitioners involved in protecting the financial interests 
of  the  EU  by  organizing  training  courses  and  disseminating  studies  on  these  topics.  The 
project contributed to the reinforcement and development of a network among practitioners 
and  academics  and  the  improvement  of  cooperation  between  EU  institutions  and  national 
authorities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the EU. 

The results of the research and the international conferences and workshops were published 
in the book ‘External, internal and criminal investigation of the criminal offenses affecting 
the  financial  interests  of  the  European  Union’  on  the  project  website:  https://euinv.uni-
miskolc.hu/files/20573/Hercule_tanulmanykotet_fedel_beliv_1_502old.pdf.   

The study presents best practices in the different Member States and recommendations which 
could  contribute  to  the  improvement  and  development  of  the  national  and  EU  legislation 
relating to the protection of the financial interests of the EU.  

The University of Bologna in Italy conducted the legal research project “Financial Interests 
of  European  Scale  (FIES):  Assessing  the  Effectiveness  of  Preventive  Administrative 
Approach”.  The  study  focused  on  the  role  of  European  and  national  authorities  in  the 
prevention  of  fraud  and  other  illegal  activities  and  on  the  cooperation  mechanisms,  when 
managing  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESI  Funds)  involving  private 
financing  such  as  Public-Private  Partnerships  (PPP)  and  other  financial  instruments.  The 

20 

 
 
 
 
study  also  focused  on  the  effectiveness  and  impact  of  preventive  measures  adopted  by 
managing authorities (in Italy and France).  

The  study  shows  the  need  to  enhance  coordination  and  cooperation  between  European 
institutions  and  national  managing  authorities  by  proposing  a  harmonized  anti-fraud 
preventive system based on EU common standards leveraging on risk assessment and risk 
management methodologies. Consequently, it proposes a new approach to the prevention of 
fraud  and  other  illegal  activities  as  efficiency  gains  in  managing  authorities'  activities  to 
protect the financial interests at stake. 

For this purpose, the study offers a series of risk assessment macro indicators or ‘alert signals’ 
(e.g. bias, fair proceeding, impartiality features) to detect potential damages to the EU budget. 
It also defines risk indicators of irregularities, fraud or corruption that may be relevant for 
the  authorities  involved  in  managing  ESI  funds  through  PPP  contracts  or  other  financial 
instruments.  It  also  proposes  anti-fraud  preventive  administrative  measures  to  be 
implemented by managing authorities.    

The study (‘FIES Study Final Report’) is available on the University of Bologna’s website 
(https://site.unibo.it/fies/en)  and  also 
the  publisher’s  website 
(https://www.editorialescientifica.com/shop/e-book/financial-interests-of-european-scale-
fies-detail.html). 

in  open  access  on 

3.3 

Examples of procured access to external databases   

In 2023, the Commission procured access to commercial databases for use by law-enforcement 
authorities  of  the  Member  States.  Databases  containing  trade  information,  company  data  or 
vessel  movements  provide  essential  operational  information  for  autonomous  or  joint 
investigations carried out by Member States with OLAF. These databases also provide input 
for risk analyses and intelligence used by customs authorities to target checks. 

Member-State customs services use a commercial database of worldwide trade statistics.  

The database is used primarily to find indications that goods that are subject to anti-dumping 
or  countervailing  measures  may  have  been  transhipped  in  a  third  country  by  replacing  the 
container, the exporter and the country of origin of the goods.  
In this way, the database can support investigations into transhipment, evasion of anti-dumping 
or countervailing duties, misdescription of country of origin, exporter or container swapping, 
and undervaluation.  
One Member State reported using the database reports as an indicative and comparable index, 
mainly to identify undervaluation fraud involving goods.  
Another Member State sees this database as useful in discovering trading patterns for importers 
and exporters by “Harmonised System” (HS) Code . 

Member State customs authorities use a database on vessel information and movements in 
combination  with  other  databases,  to  support  risk  analysis  and  intelligence  related  to 
worldwide commercial vessel operations. It is regularly used to check the actual routes of 

21 

 
 
 
 
vessels to cross-verify the origin of the goods in containers, for instance when fraud in the 
form of evasion of anti-dumping and/or countervailing duties is detected.  
The database also contains ownership information of a vessel.  
The  database  is  also  used  in  the  customs-clearance  phase  to  detect  potentially  suspicious 
cases of import transactions. Moreover, it is regularly used to monitor vessels transporting 
cargo containers directed to the EU customs territory to help identify risky shipments (e.g. 
related to the smuggling of tobacco products) and to set corresponding risk profiles. 
In  2023,  use  of  the  above  database  helped  ensure  vessels’  compliance  with  applicable 
legislation. One Member State reported that, in regard of the container ships, three judicial 
proceedings were opened in 2023. Even though it is not directly linked to the programme’s 
objectives, the database also played part in seizures of over 7 tonnes of cocaine  (with a value 
of around EUR 700 million).  

A database with information on companies is considered an important tool in investigations 
carried out by Member States’ customs authorities related to fraud undermining the financial 
interests of the EU.   
One  particularly  useful  characteristic  of  this  database  is  that  it  enables  Member  State 
authorities to create risk profiles and to verify certain information on companies, company 
structures and beneficiary owners, also against other sources of data/information. They may 
trace  companies  and  gather  intelligence  to  support  relevant  customs  investigations  of 
particular interest.  
For example, in 2023, one Member State customs authority notified its criminal investigation 
bodies on cases where estimated potential duties avoided were over 10 million EUR.     
Several Member States reported that the database was further useful and consistenly used in 
connection  with  EU  sanctions  regime  against  Russia.  One  Member  State  reported  the 
prevention of suspected sanctions circumvention connected to numerous exports of drilling 
and mining equipment to middlemen in Kazakhstan, valued over 1 million EUR. 
The database was also used to determine the customs debt on suspicious import consignments 
using a specific customs procedure (CP 42). This procedure allows importers to obtain a VAT 
import  exemption  when  goods  are  imported  from  outside  the  EU  into  a  Member  State. 
However, this can be misused to evade customs duties and VAT by subsequently transporting 
the goods to another Member State.    

4 

IMS – implementation in 2023 

4.1  Main activities  

To protect the EU’s financial interests, EU law (see below) requires Member States managing 
EU spending under shared management and countries benefiting from pre-accession assistance 
to notify the Commission of any irregularities (including suspected and proven fraud) detected 
in areas where the EU provides financial support.  

To facilitate the reporting of irregularities, the IMS has been developed and put at the disposal 
of the Member States and other beneficiary countries. This dedicated electronic system is being 
used by 34 countries.  

22 

 
 
 
 
Member  States,  candidate  countries  and  other  non-EU  countries  have  set  up  a  hierarchical 
reporting structure with multiple levels of responsibility. Around 750 reporting organisations, 
covering over 3 000 IMS users, are responsible for the timely reporting of irregularities.  

The reporting workflow includes multiple hierarchical levels and various roles within the same 
level  to  ensure  that  several  quality  checks  are  performed  before  the  reports  are  sent  to  the 
Commission. 

Reporting authorities have responsibilities in one or more of the following fields: 

FIELD 

EU FUND 

Agriculture 

European  Agricultural  Guarantee  Fund 
(EAGF),  European 
Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development  (EAFRD),  European 
Agricultural  Guarantee  and  Guidance  Fund  –  Guidance  Section 
(GUID) 

Home Affairs 

Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  (AMIF),  Instrument  for 
Financial  Support  for  Border  Management  and  Visa  Policy  (BMVI) 
Internal Security Fund (ISF) 

Cohesion 

Fisheries 

Cohesion Fund (CF), European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), 
European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF),  European  Social 
Fund (ESF), European Social Fund plus (ESF+), Just Transition Fund 
(JTF) Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) 

European  Fisheries  Fund  (EFF),  European  Maritime  and  Fisheries 
Fund  (EMFF),  Financial  Instrument  on  Fisheries  Guidance  (FIFG), 
European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) 

Most deprived 

Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) 

Neighbourhood 

Cross-border Cooperation – European Neighbourhood Policy (CBC-
ENP) 

Instrument  for  Structural  Policies  for  Pre-Accession,  Poland  and 
Hungary:  Assistance  for  Restructuring  their  Economies  PHARE),  , 
Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development 
(SAPARD), Transition Facility, Turkish Instrument for Pre-Accession 
Assistance (TIPAA),  Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance 2007-
2013  (IPA),  Instrument  for  Pre-accession  Assistance  2014-2020 
(IPAII), Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance 2021-2027 (IPAIII) 

Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) 

Pre-accession 

Recovery, 
Resilience 

23 

 
 
 
Reporting authorities provide information on: 

−  who committed the irregularity/fraud (persons involved); 

− 

− 

the support measure such as fund, programme, project, budget line; 

the financial impact (expenditure and irregular/fraudulent amount); 

−  how the irregularity/fraud was committed; 

−  when the irregularity/fraud was committed; 

−  where the irregularity/fraud was committed; 

−  how the irregularity/fraud was detected; and 

−  what administrative, judicial or penal follow-up sanctions were imposed. 

4.2  What does the AWP involve? 

The 2023 AWP has a budget of EUR 959 783 dedicated to maintenance, IT development, and 
studies. The full available amount for 2023 was committed. 

4.3  Maintenance and development 

In 2023, eight releases were developed, allowing IMS-users  to manage and monitor EDES-
hits,  case summary, description of codes,  to improve the B2B services and fix a number of 
identified issues.  

5  AFIS – implementation in 2023 

Under  the  programme’s  third  strand  (AFIS),  one  platform  releases  –  consisting  of  several 
combined application releases –, forty-four releases for the new version of the Import, Export 
and Transit directory and several other application releases and fixes were developed in 2023, 
totalling more than one hundred and ten releases. Among these were several major releases: 

1.  a new version of the Import Export and Transit directory that  allows users to perform 
advanced  searches,  define  alarms  and  export  data  (e.g.  in  Excel  format)  on  imports, 
exports & transits; 

2.  two  new  versions  of  the  Container  Status  Message  directory  implementing  visual 
analytics for container trips and the new Container Origin Signals module, which signals 
potential origin fraud; 

3.  an  improvement  to  the  anti-fraud  analytics  platform,  providing  extended  computing 
resources, improved access, added data sources and enabling OLAF analysts to combine 
customs & trade data from different sources and perform advanced analysis. 

In 2023, AFIS also supported 13 joint customs operations. 

6  Communication 

The successful implementation of the programme and the achievement of its objectives require 
a  structured  approach  to  inform  potential  beneficiaries  on  funding  opportunities  as  best  as 
possible. 

On an annual basis, the Commission also disseminates information on the achievements and 
the results of the actions that received funding, for example by means of this document. 

24 

 
 
On information, communication and visibility, Article 15(2) of the UAFP Regulation states: 

‘The Commission shall on a regular basis implement information and communication actions 
relating  to  the  Programme,  to  actions  taken  pursuant  to  the  Programme  and  to  the  results 
obtained. Financial resources allocated to the Programme shall also contribute to the corporate 
communication of the political priorities of the Union, insofar as those priorities are related to 
the objectives referred to in Article 2.’ 

6.1 

Informing potential applicants 

For the anti-fraud component (Hercule), the full texts of the calls’ documents and the related 
templates are made available on the Commission’s Funding and Tenders Portal.  

Potential applicants were also informed about the publication of 2023 calls via emails sent to 
the Delegates of the Working Party on Combating Fraud of the European Council (GAF), the 
members of the Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Fraud Prevention (COCOLAF), 
the  Anti-Fraud  Coordination  Services  (AFCOS),  the  network  of  associations  for  European 
criminal law and for the protection of the EU’s financial interests, and to the Expert Group on 
Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters (EMAC). 

6.2  Dissemination of results 

Disseminating the results of technical assistance projects (Hercule) is not always possible since 
most  of  the  achievements  relate  to  investigations  for  which  information  often  cannot  be 
disclosed.  

The  results  of  training  activities  were  disseminated  by  distributing  electronic  and/or  paper 
reports  summarising  the  events.  Some  beneficiaries  posted  the  recorded  event(s)  and  the 
projects’  outputs  on  their  websites  or  created  dedicated  websites  to  disseminate  results  and 
conclusions.  

For the IMS, there is, in particular, the follow-up that is given to IMS notifications, either by 
the reporting Member State or by the Commission services involved in the financial follow-up 
of identified financial irregularities or cases of fraud detrimental to the EU’s financial interests. 
OLAF  reports  within  the  Commission  on  the  performance  of  the  tool  and  the  received 
notifications. It also reports annually to the European Parliament and the public.  

There  is  no  specific  dissemination  of  results  stemming  from  the  use  of  the  AFIS  platform, 
except for the annual activity reporting by OLAF and the programme statements disseminated 
by  the  Commission.  In  this  reporting,  the  (yearly)  number  of  information  items  on  mutual 
administrative assistance made available in the relevant AFIS applications is communicated as 
a performance indicator. 

6.3  Workshop for grant beneficiaries 

In  April  2023,  a  dedicated  workshop  was  organised  for  beneficiaries  of  Union  Anti-fraud 
programme training grants. The event took place in Freiburg, Germany and was hosted by the 
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL).  

The  event  brought  together  around  40  university  professors  and  lecturers  specialised  in  the 
protection  of  the  Unions’s  financial  interests  and  in  European  criminal  law,  either  in  their 
capacities as beneficiaries of Hercule/UAFP grants for legal studies, or as representatives of 
many  national  associations  for  European  criminal  law  and  for  the  protection  of  the  EU’s 

25 

 
 
financial interests (PIF Associations). In addition, the workshop was attended by 21 Member 
States representatives. 

The event provided the stage for sharing the findings of 20 projects (both finalised and ongoing) 
financed by the UAFP and the previous Hercule III programme and share best practices and 
lessons learnt in the implementation of this type of research-based grants.  

Besides  the  added-value  of  the  high-level  academic  content  presented,  the  participants  also 
warmly welcomed this OLAF initiative as it enabled networking and future cooperation. 

6.4  Visibility of EU funding 

On information, communication and visibility, Article 15(1) of the UAFP Regulation states: 

‘Except  where  there  is  a  risk  of  compromising  the  effective  performance  of  anti-fraud  and 
customs operational activities, the recipients of Union funding shall acknowledge the origin of 
those funds and ensure the visibility of the Union funding, in particular when promoting the 
actions  and  their  results,  by  providing  coherent,  effective  and  proportionate  targeted 
information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.’ 

Equipment purchased under grant projects for technical assistance is often labelled with logos 
or stickers referring to EU/Commission funding (except for covert equipment and operations). 
When possible, beneficiary organisations disseminate information about purchased equipment 
on project websites or press releases, mentioning the support from EU funding. 

Under the training type of actions, all beneficiaries of grants  were requested to  mention  the 
support from the UAFP (or Hercule for previous grants), where applicable: 

1.  in  every publication (title page) or related material  developed (e.g. studies, booklets, 

newsletters and leaflets); 

2.  in electronic information (e.g. websites, audiovisual material, videos and software); 
3.  at information events (conferences and seminars); and 
4.  by creating a link from their website to the programme’s site.  

This  aspect  of  EU-support  visibility  is  not  applicable  to  AFIS  and  IMS  components,  as  no 
similar grant projects are implemented. 

7  Feedback from programme participants  

As indicated in Section 3, beneficiaries of UAFP/Hercule grants for training, conferences and 
seminars  carry  out  surveys  among  the  participants  to  collect  information  on  the  perceived 
quality and relevance of the event attended. According to the final reports received in 2023 for 
the training grants, a total number of 220 participants attended training activities co-financed 
by Hercule.  

The  Commission  received  170  filled-in  questionnaires,  which  reflected,  in  the  assessments 
done, a high level of satisfaction. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, with  
93% of the participants assessing the events as excellent or good. Participants appreciated the 
opportunities for cooperation and exchange of information offered by the training events and 
considered that the activities had a practical impact on their daily work.  

Based  on  the  feedback  results,  it  can  be  concluded  that  the  events  have  largely  met  their 
objectives and have helped increase awareness on the risks to which the EU’s financial interests 
are exposed.     

26 

 
 
For  technical  assistance  grants,  the  beneficiaries  provide  feedback  on  the  programme  in  the 
final  technical  report.  The  satisfaction  question  concerns  the  suitability  of  the  purchased 
equipment and tools for the needs of the organisation. In 2023, more than 95% of beneficiaries 
reported an excellent level of satisfaction and about 5% reported a good level of satisfaction. 

For the use of the IMS tool, the Commission (OLAF) holds a yearly survey on the satisfaction 
rate expressed by the users on the use of the tool and the support received. The latest IMS users’ 
feedback concerning 2023 usage showed a satisfaction level of 91%. 

For  the  AFIS  platform,  used  for  information  exchange,  there  is  no  specific  reporting  on 
feedback from participants or beneficiaries. OLAF has the task to keep the platform up to date 
and running. OLAF registers as a performance indicator the number of information items on 
mutual administrative assistance made available in the relevant AFIS applications: the Customs 
Information  System,  the  Customs  File  Identification  Database,  and  the  Mutual  Assistance 
System. 

8  Ukraine association to the Programme 

OLAF has a long-standing cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities both on the expenditure 
side of the EU budget (protection of EU funds) and on the revenue side (customs cooperation). 
OLAF has been supporting Ukraine’s anti-fraud authorities to help strengthen and improve the 
country’s  structures  to  deal  with  fraud  and  corruption  and  to  protect  current  and  future  EU 
funding. 

In 2023, OLAF received an association request from the Ukraine, being the first third country 
expressing  such  interest  in  relation  to  the  Union  Anti-fraud  Programme.  An  association 
agreement covering the participation of Ukraine in the programme has been negotiated between 
the Commission (represented by OLAF) and the competent authorities of Ukraine, and has been 
signed in March 2024. 

For  the  upcoming  years,  the  Ukraine  can  benefit  mainly  from  the  first  component  of  the 
programme,  which  provides  the  Member  States  and  associated  countries  with  targeted 
assistance in achieving their obligations to protect the EU’s financial interests.   

Funded by the programme’s 2023 budget, a three-day training for Ukrainian law enforcement 
specialists was organised in Brussels, in February 2024. The 40 participants came from all the 
relevant national authorities: the State Audit Service (SAS), the Economic Security Bureau of 
Ukraine (ESBU), the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Prosecutor-
General’s  Office,  the  State  Customs  Service,  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  the  Specialised  Anti-
Corruption  Prosecutor’s  Office  (SAPO)  and  the  Secretariat  of  the  Cabinet  of  Ministers  of 
Ukraine (SMUK). 

The event  focused on  strengthening OLAF’s cooperation with  the Ukrainian authorities and  
providing capacity building, for example on the use of open source research for investigations 
and interviewing techniques. The programme included practical, hands-on sessions with case 
studies and interactive workshops.  

27 

 
 
 
9 

Interim evaluation of the Programme 

Article 13.2 of Regulation 2021/785 on the establishment of the Union anti-fraud programme 
of 29.4.202112 states: ‘The interim evaluation of the Programme shall be performed once there 
is sufficient information available about the implementation of the Programme, but no later 
than four years after the start of the implementation of the Programme’.  

As the Programme started with retroactive effect on 1 January 2021, the four years period of 
the Regulation elapses on 31 December 2024. 

The study on the interim evaluation started in May 2023 and has been performed by an external 
contractor, covering the period January 2021 to January 2023. The contractor’s final report has 
been submitted on 17 May 2024.  

The available data and information in relation to projects funded by the Programme, including 
the financing of AFIS and IMS, has been collected and provided to the contractor, which has 
also performed targeted surveys and conducted interviews with stakeholders.  

The study report is a supporting and reference document for the drafting of the Report from the 
Commission and its accompanying staff working  document on the interim evaluation  of the 
Programme. The results of the study and the evaluation by the Commission (OLAF)  should 
allow for a better design of the future generation of the Programme, as the final evaluation of 
the current Programme is only expected four years following the end of the Programme (ending 
in December 2027). 

10 Conclusions and way forward  

The UAFP continues to play an important and effective role in protecting the financial interests 
of the EU.  

On  the  anti-fraud  component  (Hercule),  the  tangible  results  outlined  in  the  chapters  above 
demonstrate that the funding provided to Member States authorities was crucial in preventing 
and combating fraud, corruption and other illegal activities undermining the financial interests 
of the EU. In concrete terms, this means that the programme helped protect taxpayers’ money 
from being diverted from its initial purpose.  

The programme continues to adapt to the evolving anti-fraud priorities with a stronger focus of 
support  on  the  expenditure  side.  This  shift  in  focus  reflects  both  the  stringent  needs  for 
prevention  and  investigation  related  to  the  increased  EU  budget  and  its  new  forms  of 
expenditure (the Recover and Resilience Facility, the Ukraine Facility, etc.) as well as the new 
available EU funds dedicated specifically for Member States’ customs authorities (under the 
Customs Control Equipment Instrument).  

The programme is also aligning more strongly with the Commission’s anti-fraud strategy. This 
strategy was revised in 2019 and places a much larger focus on the collection and use of data 
for anti-fraud purposes. The programme’s Hercule component will continue to aim at building 
the necessary capacities in Member States to develop, use and share databases and business-
intelligence tools. 

12 OJ L 172, 17.5.2021, p. 110-122 

28 

 
 
 
In line with the Commission’s priorities and the Commission anti-fraud strategy action plan of 
2023, the programme will continue its support towards the digital transition of Member State 
administrations (for example by helping them to both purchase and learn how to use advanced 
IT tools used in the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud).

29 

 
 
Annex 1: Grants and contracts awarded and finalised under the 2023 Financing Decision 

Table 1 – TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE grants AWARDED under the 2023 Financing Decision  

  MS 

Beneficiary 

Title and description 

Awarded grant 
(EUR) 

Co
-fin 
% 

1 

LT 

Customs Criminal Office 

CCS GIS  - Acquisition and installation of equipment for 
the collection, processing and analysis of the spatial data 

1 156 258.40 

80 

2 

LV  National Revenue Service 

CPCM  - Customs Permit Compliance Monitoring 

140 119.20  80 

3 

SI  Ministry of Finance of the 
Republic of Slovenia 

QLIKSENSE - Comprehensive transition from QlikView 
to QlikSense software portal, partial migration of 
applications, licencing and improvement of risk analysis 
for the protection of EU financial interests 

252 404.00 

80 

4 

ES 

State Tax Administration 
Agency 

SAATOS - Reinforcement of Specific Actions Against 
TObacco Smuggling in the Bay of Algeciras 

85 272.00 

80 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

FI 

TULLI 

LURE - Improvement of Technical Surveillance capability 
in Finnish Customs 

704 000.00 

80 

RO  National Anticorruption 

Directorate 

DATA - Operational assistance for the investigative 
activity of the Support Structure for the European 
Delegated Prosecutors in Romania 

ES  Ministry of Interior 

ASD - Advance Scanner Devices 

150 000.00 

80 

515 200.00 

80 

LV  National Revenue Service 

SVTD - Purchase of specialized vehicle and modernization 
of technical devices 

338 400.00 

80 

HU  National Tax and Customs 

SAVDAT - Development of NTCA’s on-site data saving 
and data storage capacity 

290 928.00 

80 

10 

LT 

Special Investigation Service 
of the Republic of Lithuania 

SCIDE - Strengthening capacities of the STT to investigate 
digital evidence 

168 562.40 

80 

11 

PL 

Provincial Police 
Headquarters in Bialystok 

CONTENT - Technical support in the process of obtaining 
digital evidence from the electronic tools 

284 484.00 

80 

12 

13 

PL  Chamber of Tax 

Administration in Lublin 

LV  Central Finance and Contract 

Agency 

TA - Strengthening the operational potential of the 
Technique and Observation Department of the Tax 
Administration Chamber in Lublin by purchasing a mobile 
network surveillance device 

838 392.00 

80 

CPS - The creation of the Client Profiling System 

718 073.60 

80 

14 

LV  National Revenue Service 

SCCVR - Strengthening Customs Capacity through Video 
Recording 

599 308.00 

80 

15 

RO 

Satu  Mare  County  Police 
Inspectorate 

CRIMELABSM - Unmasking Deception : Advanced 
Forensic Techniques to Combat Fraud 

266 400.00 

80 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16 

PL  Revenue Administration 
Regional Office in Lodz 

TA-03 - Modern data analysis technology at the Revenue 
Administration Regional Office in Łódź as a chance to 
tighten up the Polish tax system and increase the stability 
of EU finances. 

154 037.60 

80 

17 

ES  Ministry of Interior 

TFA - The Force Awakens - A project for the integration of 
digital evidence and forensic analysis that enhances the 
acquired skills 

324 388.00 

80 

18 

PL 

Police Headquarters 

OSINT-PCBI - Creation of data aggregation platform and 
training of PCBI analysts in OSINT techniques 

360 998.40 

80 

19 

ES  Ministry of Interior 

TRW - The Rear Window - A project of concealment and 
masking of technical means 

274 377.60 

80 

20 

CZ 

Police Office of the Ceske 
Republiky Presidium 

NCOZ-TA-2 - National Organized Crime Agency - 
development of seizure and analysis of digital evidence 

409 916.80 

80 

21 

RO  Police Inspectorate of Bacau 

County 

ANTI-FRAUD - Dismantling tax evasion criminal groups 
with professional equipment in Bacau County 

303 560.00 

80 

22 

EL 

Management Service for 
European and Development 
Programs (Y.D.E.A.P.) 

D.O.C2.K - Dismounted Operations for Covert Container 
Kits 

23 

RO  National Anticorruption 

Directorate 

RAVEN - Improving and updating the National 
Anticorruption Directorate’s technical endowment in the 
field of investigation and surveillance 

423 277.60 

80 

766 619.20 

80 

24 

PL 

Tax Administration Chamber 
in Bialystok 

improving  control 
2023-PL-BIA  -  Strengthening  and 
standards and efficiency of operational activities in Revenue 
Administration Regional Office in Bialystok 

330 816.00 

80 

25 

CZ  General Directorate of CEL 

2023-CZ-DFA - Digital forensics and analysis 

416 000.00 

80 

26  SK 

Financial Directorate of the 
Slovak Republic 

2023-SK-SPECTECH  -  Increasing 
effectiveness  of  Slovak  Financial  Administration 
detecting illegal imports and transports of goods 

the  capacity  and 
in 

528 0000.00 

67 

TOTAL 

10 799 792.80 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Table 2 – TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE grants FINALISED in 2023. 

MS 

Beneficiary 

Title 

Amount paid 
(EUR) 

Amount 
paid as 
% to 
initial 
commit-
ment13 

1 

2 

PT  Ministry of Justice 

ALCATEIA - Automatic Number Plate Recognition 
Systems for Criminal Investigation 

152 997.60 

93 

PL 

National Tax 
Administration 

Mobile OCR - Development of the ANPRS system by 
implementing the mobile OCR system 

321 831.11 

76 

3 

RO 

National Anticorruption 
Directorate 

TECA - Further developing the technical capacity of 
DNA in protecting the financial interest of EU 

226 334.18 

81 

4 

HR  Ministry of Finance 

2020HR-INSPEQUIPMENT - Inspection equipment 
and tools for EU external border - 2020 

590 230.91 

74 

5 

PL 

Central Anticorruption 
Bureau 

IDFIAN - Integration of Digital Forensics, 
Investigation and Analysis Networks 

276 553.89 

70 

6 

PL 

Provincial Police 
Headquarters in 
Bialystok 

Detection methods - Strengthening the detection 
methods, leading to effective eradication of cross-
border crime, targeted in financial loss of the 
European Union 

168 551.12 

66 

7 

CZ 

General Directorate of 
Customs 

ATVA - e Analytical Tool for Voice Analysis 

60 165.71 

46 

8 

PL 

Provincial Police 
Headquarters in 
Bialystok 

9 

RO 

General Inspectorate of 
the Romanian Police 

Economic crime prevention - Technical and 
operational support for law enforcement authorities 
in combating illegal cross-border actions 
threatening financial interests of the European 
Union 

ENFORCE - Enhanced Romanian Forensic 
Capabilities for ensuring the judicial Evidence in 
fight against financial crimes at the EU’s external 
borders 

84 672.02 

88 

525 022.11 

97 

10 

PL 

Provincial Police 
Headquarters in Gdansk 

PSWP - Increasing the detection rate of the Pomeranian 
Police through technical support 

132 972.67 

82 

11 

RO 

Organized Crime and 
Terrorism Crimes 
Investigation Directorate 
- DIICOT 

PONTUS - Strengthening the efforts in the 
prosecution and indictment of smuggling organised 
groups at the EU borders through improved 
analytical and digital forensic capabilities. 

344 657.84 

95 

12 

IE 

The Revenue 
Commissioners 

MXRS - Procurement of mobile x ray container 
scanner 

1 081 682.72 

75 

13 

EL 

European and 
Development Programs 

M.I.N.O.T.A.V.R.O.S - Monitoring equipment 
Investigation inter-National Operations Tobacco 

531 573.19 

99 

13  

Final payment as percentage of the awarded grant. A percentage lower than 100% means that the action was either 
not fully implemented or that the beneficiary managed to achieve cost savings.  

32 

 
 
 
 
Management Service 
(Y.D.E.A.P.) 

smuggling and Anti- fraud Via Regional inter- 
Operable Surveys on European borders 

14 

RO 

General Inspectorate of 
the Romanian Police 

IMS - Integrated monitoring system for illicit 
activities linked with cigarette smuggling at the 
Eastern Border of the European Union 

632 283.74 

94 

15 

LT 

Customs Department at 
the Ministry of Finance 
of the Republic of 
Lithuania 

16 

ES  Ministry of Interior 

17 

RO 

General Inspectorate of 
the Romanian Police 

18 

LT 

Financial Crime 
Investigation Office of 
the Internal Affair 
Ministries 

ANPRS WEB II - Strengthening and improvement of 
investigative capacities of the Lithuanian Customs 

501 300.80 

72 

SMOKE RING - Struggling against and pursuing 
experienced crime organizations in the 
manufacture, transport, distribution and export of 
illegal tobacco 

HER-CIV - Strengthening the action capacity of the 
Directorate for Countering Organized Criminality 
in order to protect the financial interests of the 
European Union in Romania 

664 563.06 

80 

270 870.87 

93 

FCIS2021 - Purchase of the investigation and 
surveillance equipment 

102 064.77 

100 

19 

PL 

Provincial Police 
Headquarters in Lublin 

SIIOCP - Strengthening and improvement of 
investigative and operational capability of Police on 
the external border of the EU 

113 325.62 

87 

20 

PL 

Revenue Administration 
Regional Office in 
Olsztyn 

ACAP - Support for operational and analytical 
capabilities of the Revenue Administration 
Regional Office in Olsztyn 

413 321.14 

95 

21 

LV 

Corruption prevention 
and combating bureau 

ADFH - Advanced Digital Forensics Hardware 

148 484.66 

89 

22 

PL 

Revenue Administration 
Regional Office in 
Olsztyn 

FOROLS - Expansion and modernization of 
computer forensics resources of the Revenue 
Administration Regional Office in Olsztyn 

120 220.80 

81 

TOTAL 

7 463 680 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 3 – DATABASES that were CONTRACTED under the 2023 Financing Decision 

Name 

Content 

1 

2 

3 

IHS GTA  

World trade statistics database 

Moodys - ORBIS 

Worldwide company information 

Lloyds - Seasearcher 

Worldwide vessels information 

Commitment 
in Euro 

154 545 

679 661 

252 000 

Total committed under the 2023 budget  

1 086 206 

Table 4 – TRAINING, CONFERENCES, STAFF EXCHANGES AND STUDIES grants AWARDED under the 2023 
Financing Decision 

MS 

Beneficiary 

Title 

Awarded grant 
(EUR) 

Co-
fin % 

IT 

Luiss – Libera Università 
Internazionale degli Studi 
Sociali Guido Carli 

IT 

University of Turin 

1 

2 

3 

SK 

 Financial Directorate of the 
Slovak Republic 

4 

LU  University of Luxembourg 

5 

IT 

Customs and Monopolies 
Agency 

6 

IT 

ANCI Lombardia 

BETKONEXT - Better knowledge for 
the next generations 

NET4FEU - New European Tools for the 
Financial interest of the EU 
TRAINET - International workshop for 
customs officers focused on the fight 
against excise tax frauds - mineral oils, 
tobacco (cigarettes) and traceability of 
tobacco products using the Track & 
Trace system 

PRIVILEGED - Professional privileges 
in financial investigations: a European 
and comparative study on administrative 
and criminal enforcement 

ADRIACUSTOMS - Implementing 
common customs strategies and controls 
around the Adriatic Sea 

SAFE-IN - Strengthening Actions 
against Fraud: Empowering 
whistleblowing directive compliance 

173 472.95 

80 

182 197.89 

80 

43 573.00 

80 

247 291.81 

80 

108 956.81 

80 

121 367.00 

80 

TOTAL 

876 859.46 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table  5  –  ANTI-FRAUD  PROCURED  CONFERENCES  organised  by  the  Commission  under  the  2023  Financing 
Decision 

Dates 

Conference title 

Location 

N° of particip. 

Amount 
committed 
EUR 

September 2023  AFCOS Seminar – Third countries 

Budva, 
Montenegro 

90 

83 029.74 

November 2023  High-Level Conference on Customs Fraud 

Sevilla, Spain 

115 

176 371.76 

June 2023 

Joint Sanctions Enforcement Meeting   

October 2023 

AFCOS Meeting Member States 

Brussels, 
Belgium 

Vilnius, 
Lithuania 

October 2023 

ASEM  Joint  Customs  Operation  Debriefing 
Meeting 

Ischia, Italy 

October 2023 

Annual  Conference  of  the  Task  Group 
"Cigarettes"       

Ljubljana, 
Slovenia 

March 202414 

JCO Refrigerants F-gas Briefing Meeting 

Lublin, Poland 

October 2023 

Workshop  on  EU 
investigations 

expenditure 

fraud 

Brussels, 
Belgium 

February 202415 

OLAF Training for the Ukrainian anti-fraud 
authorities 

Brussels, 
Belgium  

48 

80 

60 

95 

40 

22 

40 

36 636.36 

65 439.48 

119 862.38 

150 776.47 

80 811.58 

35 338.22 

88 718.45 

TOTAL 

590 

836 984.44 

Table 6 – ANTI-FRAUD TRAINING, CONFERENCES AND STAFF EXCHANGE grants FINALISED in 2023 

  MS 

Beneficiary 

Title 

1 

RO 

General Inspectorate of 
the Romanian Police 

SharEX - Sharing knowledge and best practices 
among relevant actors from national and 
international level involved in fight against 
financial crimes affecting the EU’s budget 

Amount paid 
(EUR) 

Amount 
paid as 
% to 
initial 
commit-
ment16 

48 975 

45 

14  
15  
16  

Committed under 2023 UAFP budget and organised in March 2024. 
Committed under 2023 UAFP budget and organised in February 2024. 
Final payment as percentage of the awarded grant. A percentage lower than 100% means that the action was either 
not fully implemented or that the beneficiary managed to achieve considerable cost savings.  

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2 

RO 

General Inspectorate of 
the Romanian Police 

3 

LT 

Investigation 
Special 
Service  of  the  Republic 
of Lithuania 

EAST CONNECTION 2020 - Transnational and 
multidisciplinary cooperation between the law 
enforcement authorities in countering the 
smuggling and intra-community fraud affecting 
the EU budget 
MRABR  -  Strengthening  multidisciplinary  and 
regional approach in fighting corruption and fraud 
affecting  EU  financial  interests  in  the  Baltic 
region 

54 605 

47 

31 608 

68 

TOTAL 

135 188 

Table 7 – LEGAL TRAINING and STUDIES grants FINALISED in 2023 

MS 

Beneficiary 

Title 

Amount paid 
(EUR) 

Amount 
paid as 
% to 
initial 
commit-
ment17 

1 

DE 

Justus-Liebig  University  of 
Giessen 

FRAUDCOM.EU - EU anti-fraud laws. A 
commentary. Article by article. 

98 866.34 

100 

2 

IT 

University of Perugia 

3 

UK  Coventry University 

4 

IT 

University of Perugia 

5 

IT 

Luiss – Libera Università 
Internazionale degli Studi 
Sociali Guido Carli 

APTA-MOD  -  Administrative  prevention 
through targeted anti-corruption models for 
difficult countries 

VIRTEU - Vat fraud: Interdisciplinary 
Research on Tax crimes in the European 
Union 

DRAMP - Diversion, Restorative and 
Mediation Procedures in PIF crimes 

72 421.54 

100 

65 721.95 

79 

75 508.93 

100 

BETKOSOL - Better knowledge and better 
solution 

97 633.66 

100 

6 

IT 

Alma  Mater  Studiorium  – 
University of Bologna 

7 

UK  King’s College London 

FIES - “Financial Interests of European 
Scale”: Assessing the Effectiveness of 
Preventive Administrative Approach 

BRIMPACT - Understanding the impact of 
China’s Belt and Road initiative and covid-
19 lockdown on illicit supply chains 

72 101.74 

100 

22 151.98 

69 

8 

IT 

Alma Mater Studiorium – 
University of Bologna 

ECCE - European Common Custom 
Evaluation 

108 723.05 

100 

9 

PL 

Institute of Legal Sciences of 
the Polish Academy of 
Sciences 

VeHoCoinCOF - Vertical and horizontal 
cooperation in combatting organized fraud 
in the EU 

50 250.61 

81 

10 

IT 

University of Perugia 

FINANCE - Financial INformation 
exchange among Anti-money laundering 

73 266.19 

100 

17  

Final payment as percentage of the awarded grant. A percentage lower than 100% means that the action was either 
not fully implemented or that the beneficiary managed to achieve cost savings.  

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11 

HU  University of Miskolc 

12 

DE  Max Planck Institute 

National investigative authorities: towards 
a stronger Cooperation in a European legal 
framework 

EUINVESTIGUNIMISKOLC - Certain 
questions of the external, internal and 
criminal investigation of the criminal 
offences affecting the financial interests of 
the European Union 
eucrim: publication of a periodical on the 
protection of the EU’s financial interests 

85 195.22 

99 

148 955.29 

99 

TOTAL 

970 796.50 

Table 8 – TRAINING, CONFERENCES, STAFF EXCHANGES AND STUDIES grants FINALISED in 2023 

  MS 

Beneficiary 

Title 

1 

LT 

Lithuanian Police 
Criminal Investigation 
Center 

BBS Mobile Forensics - Improving Baltic States, 
Croatian and North Macedonian Police Computer 
Forensics Specialists' Skills in IT Investigations 
by Organizing Mobile Forensics Training 

Amount paid 
(EUR) 

Amount 
paid as 
% to 
initial 
commit-
ment18 

81 186.58 

82 

TOTAL 

81 186.58 

Table 9 – GLOBAL OVERVIEW per Member State of awarded grants and rejected applications in 2023 

Number of 
applications 
received 

Number of 
awarded 
grants 

Grants requested 
(EUR) 

Grants awarded 
(EUR) 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 2021 

83 

26 

29 612 986.30 

10 799 792.80 

Bulgaria 

Czech Republic 

Germany 

Greece 

Spain 

1 

4 

2 

4 

4 

- 

2 

- 

1 

4 

1 052 436.00 

- 

1 551 602.00 

825 916.80 

832 506.38 

- 

1 637 941.60 

423 277.60 

1 263 637.60 

1 199 237.6 

18  

Final payment as percentage of the awarded grant. A percentage lower than 100% means that the action was either 
not fully implemented or that the beneficiary managed to achieve considerable cost savings.  

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finland 

Hungary 

Italy 

Lithuania 

Latvia 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Ukraine 

TRAINING, CONFERENCES, 
STAFF EXCHANGES AND 
STUDIES 2021 

Germany 

Greece 

France 

Hungary 

Italy 

Lithuania 

Luxemburg 

Poland 

Romania 

Slovakia 

TOTAL  

1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

18 

1 

33 

1 

2 

1 

20 

1 

1 

2 

1 

8 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

1 

- 

2 

4 

5 

- 

4 

1 

1 

- 

7 

- 

- 

- 

1 

4 

- 

1 

- 

- 

1 

704 000.00 

704 000.00 

497 207.00 

290 928.00 

1 244 402.40 

- 

1 612 020.79 

1 324 820.8 

2 001 212.19 

1 795 900.80 

6 870 512.79 

1 968 728.00 

468 755.09 

- 

7 574 739.46 

1 486 579.20 

252 404.00 

252 404.00 

799 204.00 

528 000.00 

1 250 405.00 

- 

2 922 361.41 

939 957.12 

62 498.00 

69 817.50 

476 090.06 

- 

- 

- 

49 926.00 

49 926.0019 

1 070 753.51 

587 091.78 

149 318.92 

- 

278 264.63 

247 346.34 

214 624.00 

495 475.79 

- 

- 

55 593.00 

55 593.00 

103 

33 

32 535 347.71 

11 739 749.92 

19 The beneficiary withdrew its application after the grant award.  

38