Commission tops complaints league

By David Cronin

Date: 23/10/03

MORE allegations of fraud and mismanagement were levelled against the European Commission last year than against all the other EU institutions combined, it has emerged.

Some 53 complaints about the Commission were received by the anti-fraud office OLAF between July 2002 and the end of June this year, European Voice has learned. After an initial examination of the dossiers, OLAF decided to open 23 probes.

OLAF also opened four investigations concerning EU agencies in the same period after receiving five complaints against these bodies.

The breakdown for other institutions:

• European Parliament - three complaints; one investigation opened;
• Committee of the Regions - one complaint; one investigation opened;
• Court of Auditors - two complaints; one investigation opened, and;
• Economic and Social Committee - one complaint; no investigation opened.

According to OLAF, the main complaints about EU bodies involved bypassing of correct tendering procedures in awarding contracts (49%), fraudulent expense claims (21%), misuse of funds (10%), breach of professional secrecy (9%) and irregularities in staff recruitment (7%).

OLAF's Director-General Franz Hermann Brüner has previously stated that "internal" cases - complaints about the EU institutions - are given priority by his investigators due to its policy of "zero tolerance" of fraud by public servants.

• IN RESPONSE to questions from the European Parliament's budgetary control committee this week on the continued probe into fixing of EU cereal prices, Brüner admitted: "We have not got to the root of the evil yet."

http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_en.htm

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