How Italy’s mafia learnt to think small with EU cash

Criminals have learned a lesson from Brussels: if you want to survive, stay below the €150,000 line

For decades, organised crime in southern Italy was synonymous with spectacular corruption scandals when it came to syphoning off EU money.

Now new research into the distribution of EU funds suggests the criminal world has adapted to Europe’s tightening anti-fraud regime. Not by becoming bolder, but by becoming more modest.

The study, conducted by researchers Marco Di Cataldo, Elena Renzullo, and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, analysed 1.5 million EU-funded projects in Italy between 2007 and 2020 and cross-referenced them with judicial records identifying municipalities infiltrated by organised crime.

Criminals have learned a lesson from Brussels: if you want to survive, stay below the €150,000 line

For decades, organised crime in southern Italy was synonymous with spectacular corruption scandals when it came to syphoning off EU money.

Now new research into the distribution of EU funds suggests the criminal world has adapted to Europe’s tightening anti-fraud regime. Not by becoming bolder, but by becoming more modest.

How Italy’s mafia learnt to think small with EU cash | Euractiv

How Italy’s mafia learnt to think small with EU cash | Euractiv

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