Social scientists are analysing Horizon Europe grant data to detect and prevent corruption patterns in the EU’s flagship research programme, as highlighted in a Science|Business report. Concurrent OLAF investigations have uncovered millions in fraud across Horizon and related EU funds, including kickbacks, fictitious costs, and conflicts of interest in multiple member states.
European anti-fraud investigators have exposed widespread corruption and fraud siphoning millions from Horizon Europe and predecessor programmes like Horizon 2020, prompting social scientists to deploy data analytics to safeguard the EU’s €95.5 billion research funding pot amid a surge in detected irregularities. OLAF’s 2024 report details cases involving bribery networks, fake projects, and tender manipulations across Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Italy, with recoveries exceeding €100 million recommended. The Science|Business article spotlights researchers using AI-driven tools to scan grant awards for anomalies, aiming to preempt corruption before it erodes public trust in EU R&D investments.
Horizon Europe Data Analysis Initiative
Social scientists are turning to data science to tackle potential corruption in Horizon Europe funding. As reported in Science|Business’s “Data Corner” series, researchers are examining grant allocation patterns to identify red flags such as unusual bidding behaviours or conflicts of interest in the programme’s vast dataset.
This effort builds on Horizon Europe’s launch in 2021, with its €95.5 billion budget dwarfing previous frameworks, heightening vulnerability to fraud. The initiative involves academics from institutions like the University of Copenhagen and KU Leuven, who are developing algorithms to flag suspicious grant awards, as per the Science|Business coverage by journalist Jonathan Gardner. “By analysing anonymised data from past calls, we can spot patterns that humans might miss,” one researcher noted anonymously in the report.
The project responds to OLAF’s warnings of increasing irregularities in research funding, ensuring transparency in a programme funding over 200,000 projects.
OLAF Exposes Fraud in Horizon Predecessors
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigated two companies failing to deliver on EU projects under the 7th Framework Programme and Horizon 2020. As detailed in an OLAF LinkedIn post, the probe revealed extensive fraud including kickback schemes, fictitious costs, and conflicts of interest, affecting 20 projects with a €8.5 million impact.
Both companies were managed by one individual using strawmen, with employees mostly relatives or friends who paid kickbacks, according to OLAF’s summary. OLAF issued financial, administrative, and judicial recommendations upon closure.
In Italy, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) froze up to €730,000 linked to technology companies defrauding Horizon 2020 research projects. EPPO Bologna’s investigation, triggered by a European Court of Auditors report, targeted a Tuscan couple falsifying timesheets for staff reimbursements across multiple projects. “The legal representatives falsified timesheets to obtain undue reimbursements,” the EPPO stated in its 16 January 2024 press release. The freezing order was executed by Carabinieri, with all suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Bribery Networks in EU Funds Linked to Research
OLAF closed investigations into a Hungarian corruption network impacting €75 million in EU funds for 112 projects aimed at SME innovation. As per OLAF’s 2024 report, from 2015 to 2022, a Ministry of National Economy employee orchestrated bribery involving senior officials who manipulated evaluations for millions in Forints.
“They offered ‘help’ to arrange favourable treatment of grant applications and on-the-spot checks,” the report states. The Hungarian Central Prosecutor’s Office indicted 54 persons for corruption, bribery, abuse of function, and authority following OLAF’s work, enabling fund recovery and process reinforcements.
In Poland, OLAF uncovered family ties and tender rigging in a university’s €2 million EU-funded software procurement. Investigators found the university consulted a market leader to rig terms, then ditched subcontractors amid conflicts, including promoting a relative of a supplier’s board member. OLAF recommended 100% recovery.
Agricultural and Infrastructure Corruption Cases
Slovakia’s ‘Dobytkár case’ involved €10 million in bribes for undue EU agricultural subsidies across 39 projects from 2015-2020. OLAF’s six investigations revealed bribery, conflicts, tender manipulation, and inflated costs in farming equipment and infrastructure. OLAF recommended recovering €7.5 million from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and €2.5 million in EIB loans.
In Czechia, OLAF, EPPO, and national agencies probed four ERDF-funded manufacturing projects, finding second-hand machinery passed as new and misused, leading to €4 million recovery and charges against 13 people and three companies.
Portugal saw a €362,104 conflict of interest in a Recovery and Resilience Facility digital transition project ignored by implementers, prompting OLAF administrative recommendations.
Broader Irregularities in Cohesion and Social Funds
OLAF identified NEET category fraud in Spain’s ESF grants for R&D technicians, where recruits falsely claimed unemployment status, warranting €1.5 million recovery and control enhancements. In Germany, a sports facility project involved municipal conflicts, excluding €875,345 from funding.
Romania’s €20 million water infrastructure fraud used Italian front companies with forged documents and finder’s fees; OLAF recommended full recovery. A Greek landfill project ineligible for EU funds caused €1.165 million loss due to illegal operations.
Poland’s €114 million generator procurement for Ukraine featured overpricing and favouritism, with €91 million for recovery and arrests by CBA and prosecutors.
Research and Environmental Concerns
Investigate Europe reported mining firms linked to environmental abuses receiving millions from Horizon for ‘green’ projects. The 26 October 2023 article by journalists including Maxime Vancappellen highlighted firms accused of ecological wrongdoing benefiting from the scheme.
Separately, FALCON, a Horizon Europe-funded anti-corruption project started in 2023, develops data-driven tools for detecting public procurement fraud and kleptocrat assets, involving law enforcement and civil society.
OLAF also noted trends of Italian mafia-interdicted firms registering abroad to access EU tenders.
Implications for EU Research Funding
These cases underscore vulnerabilities in EU funding, with OLAF’s proactive role recovering tens of millions and indicting dozens. Social scientists’ data efforts in Horizon Europe aim to institutionalise detection, as per Science|Business.
Authorities emphasise cooperation with EPPO and nationals to protect the budget ahead of the next financial framework. No direct Horizon Europe corruption is confirmed yet, but precursors signal risks in high-stakes R&D grants.
