The European Union (EU) constitutes a huge bureaucracy, much of it based in Brussels.
According to The Sunday Times , a recent auditor's report revealed that last year the EU lost the equivalent of £15 for every family in Europe because of fraud and mismanagement. Two years ago a similar report led to European commissioners being forced out of their positions because of allegations of fraud and corruption.
In spite of promises from Italian president Romano Prodi to transform the European Commission into a "modern efficient administration that has put its house in order," the 15-member court of auditors reported that "the situation is unchanged." The public is left to figure it out. (Source: The Sunday Times [London].)
