Anti-fraud investigators swoop on Vienna offices

Date: 04/07/02

By David Cronin

COMPUTERS and documents held by the European Commission's office in Austria have been seized by the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF.

Investigators have also quizzed a number of former employees at the Vienna representation as part of an inquiry into possible breaches of EU rules.

The OLAF probe is believed to focus on two main issues: the treatment of temporary or 'submarine' employees, sometimes hired without a formal contract, and alleged failure to comply with public procurement rules.

The inquiry follows a ruling by a Vienna labour court in May in a case involving a

former employee at the Commission office. The court found that the worker should have received the same entitlements as a regular staff member and ordered the Commission to hand over €8,000 in back-pay and holiday allowance.

In 1998 Erkki Liikanen, then personnel commissioner, pledged that the use of submarines by Commission offices would cease.

However, OLAF has been given a document stating that the Vienna office was still employing at least one person under irregular conditions in 2000.

Among the other issues brought to OLAF's attention are claims that contracts were awarded to particular firms by the representation without going through the proper tendering procedures.

One of the contracts related to providing literature about EU affairs to Austrian schools.

Separately, the Vienna representation is being sued by a former staff union representative, Susanne Brändle, who claims she was dismissed from her post last year without adequate explanation.

The acting head of the office, Hatto Käfer, said he was unable to comment in detail about the OLAF inquiry.

But he confirmed that he had sent a dossier relating to public procurement allegations to the Commission's services in Brussels.

Brändle's removal, he said, had 'absolutely nothing to do with her trade union representation, but only to reasons related to her work'.

Socialist MEP Herbert Bösch said he had seen evidence suggesting that a senior official in Vienna advised submarine workers to stay at home on the day that a senior Commission figure from Brussels was due to visit the representation.

The deputy is concerned that employment laws were not adhered to. 'How can we expect any kind of initiative on an EU level for a more social Europe, when they treat their own people like this, when they don't respect the minimum standards of the 21st century?' he asked.

Computers and documents held by the European Commission's office in Austria have been seized by the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF. Investigators have also questioned a number of former employees at the Vienna representation as part of an inquiry into possible breaches of EU rules.