OLAF chief considers court action against Ombudsman

By David Cronin

Date: 18/03/04

THE head of anti-fraud office OLAF is contemplating legal action against the EU Ombudsman after the latter insinuated his signature had been forged in documents relating to the so-called Blue Dragon affair.

OLAF Director Franz-Hermann Brüner is studying the possibility of filing a case with the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice over an allegation made by the citizen's watchdog Nikiforos Diamandouros.

In a report released on 19 February, Diamandouros stated that a signature attributed to Brüner in a 2001 document, approving a probe into fraud allegations raised by French hydraulics firm Blue Dragon, "seems to be different from the signature on other documents apparently signed by the director".

An OLAF spokesman said the office "reserves the right to take whatever action may be necessary with the appropriate bodies to protect its credibility".

The spokesman added that some of the allegations made by the Blue Dragon firm "are not only unfounded but publication of them could undermine the credibility and hence the operational effectiveness of OLAF".

Although Brüner and Diamandouros met in Strasbourg last week, it is thought they failed to reconcile their differences. Brüner is also known to be angry with a request by the Ombudsman that he reopen an investigation, closed in December 2002, into the Blue Dragon dossier, which contains reported abuse of funds from the EU's Links between Actions for Development of the Rural Economy (LEADER) programme.

Although the Ombudsman has pinpointed alleged inconsistencies in OLAF statements about the dossier, Brüner insists the related matters were carefully scrutinized.

A spokeswoman for the Ombudsman said he was not making any allegations against Brüner, but citing those that had been made by the Blue Dragon firm.

Diamandouros angered Brüner last year, when calling on OLAF to consider retracting a 2002 press statement.

In it, the office said it was investigating rumours that an unnamed journalist may have bribed an EU official to obtain a classified document, concerning a probe into a litany of suspected irregularities in the Union's institutions compiled by whistleblower Paul van Buitenen.

A complaint was brought against OLAF by Hans-Martin Tillack, Brussels correspondent with German magazine Stern, who complained the rumours were aimed at him. The internal probe into how the information was leaked is continuing. European Commission sources say OLAF has not found any evidence to substantiate the rumours.

During an interview with this newspaper last week, Brüner declined to comment when asked if he would be willing to retract the 2002 statement.

The Director of OLAF is considering filing a case with the European Court of Justice over an allegation made by the European Ombudsman.