New rules in pipeline over fraud allegations

Date: 03/07/03

By David Cronin

TOP EU officials are working on new rules to ensure that commissioners are not kept in the dark about fraud allegations concerning their departments in the future, European Voice has learned.

Claims by Michaele Schreyer, the budget commissioner, that she was unaware of a 1999 audit report into suspected irregularities concerning Eurostat, the EU's data arm, until May this year have sparked a rethink in the EU's executive about how the flow of information on sensitive dossiers can be enhanced.

In their remaining meetings before the summer break, commissioners are due to discuss rules covering the conditions under which anti-fraud office OLAF would have to inform them of investigations being conducted.

This question provoked a lively debate among members of the European Parliament this week, when Commission Secretary-General David O'Sullivan acknowledged OLAF has informed him of several probes it is undertaking but had asked him not to pass on the details to commissioners.

An aide to Schreyer said that dealing with the issues arising "could imply changes to the legal bases" under which OLAF was set up under a 1999 accord between the main EU institutions. Officially, OLAF enjoys operational independence but it nonetheless falls within the Commission's structures.

Separate new rules are being prepared on laying out the circumstances under which the heads of the Commission's directorate-generals would be required to tell the commissioner they answer to when they hear about accusations of wrongdoing.

Officials at the European Commission are examining ways to ensure that staff there are informed about fraud allegations concerning their department in the future, after the controversy surrounding Eurostat.