Definitions of Irregularity and Suspected Fraud

"Irregularity" as defined in Art. 1, paragraph 2 of Regulation 2988/95 shall mean any infringement of a provision of Community law resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator which has, or would have the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the Communities or budgets managed by them, either by reducing or losing revenue accruing from own resources collected directly on behalf of the Communities, or by an unjustified item of expenditure.

"Suspected Fraud" is an irregularity giving rise to the formation of an administrative or judicial proceedings at national level in order to determine the existence of intentional behavior, in particular fraud, as defined in Article 1, paragraph 1, letter "a" of the Convention of 26 July 1995, based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on the European Union, on the protection of the financial interests of the European Communities “regarding costs”.