Non-conformity of Greek legislation with Directive (EU) 2017/1371 (PIF Directive): INFR(2021)2236

The European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece in the context of infringement proceedings urging it to comply with the provisions of Directive 2017/1371 on combating, through criminal law, fraud to the Union’s financial interests, as it considered that the country had not correctly transposed the provisions of that directive into national law.

1. Each Member State of the European Union shall apply EU law and take appropriate action to that end. The European Commission is the body responsible for detecting possible breaches of EU law.

In the event that a Member State does not apply Union law and fails to fulfill any of the obligations laid down in the EU Treaties, the European Commission may initiate formal infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (details of infringement proceedings here).

2. The provisions of Directive (EU)2017/1371 (on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law), which are part of the Commission’s overall anti-fraud strategy, protect the EU’s budget by harmonising the definitions, sanctions, jurisdiction rules, and limitation periods related to fraud and other offences affecting the EU’s financial interests. The protection of the Union’s financial interests calls for a common definition of fraud falling within the scope of this Directive, which should cover fraudulent conduct with respect to revenues, expenditure and assets at the expense of the general budget of the European Union (the ‘Union budget’), including financial operations such as borrowing and lending activities.