Activities of Ingeborg GRÄSSLE related to 2006/0084(COD)
Plenary speeches (2)
Investigations conducted by the European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) (debate)
Investigations conducted by the European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) (debate)
Reports (2)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) PDF (504 KB) DOC (705 KB)
RECOMMENDATION FOR SECOND READING on the position of the Council at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 PDF (159 KB) DOC (88 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital -1 (new)
Recital -1 (new)
(-1) While drawing attention to the responsibility of every department of the Commission and the other institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union to protect the Community’s financial interests, and recognising the importance of prevention aspects when defining European policy in this field, including the fight against fraud and corruption, there is a need to widen the task of the European Anti- Fraud Office (hereinafter “the Office”) to include those aspects. The design of legislative and administrative measures at European level needs to be based on the Office’s operational practice in this field.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 5 b (new)
Recital 5 b (new)
(5b) To ensure that the Office’s operational activities are as transparent as possible, particularly the principles governing investigation procedure, the legitimate rights of the persons concerned and procedural safeguards, data protection provisions, the policy for providing information on certain aspects of the Office’s operational activities, reviewing the legality of investigation activities and appeals procedures for the persons concerned, there is a need to provide a legal basis for adoption of a code of procedure for Office investigations. The code should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 9 a (new)
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) The fundamental rights of the persons concerned by investigations should be respected at all times, particularly when providing information. There is a need to clarify the basic principles of the Office’s information policy. Information on Office investigations supplied to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, whether bilaterally or as part of the consultation procedure, should be provided while respecting the confidentiality of investigations, the legitimate rights of the persons concerned and, where applicable, the national provisions governing judicial proceedings. There is a need to introduce a legal basis enabling the Office to conclude agreements with the institutions concerned on the provision of information. The Director General should ensure that any information supplied to the public complies with the principles of neutrality and impartiality. The code of procedure for investigations should spell out the consequences of unauthorised dissemination of information.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) It is appropriate to strengthenclarify the role of the Supervisory Committee’s powers of review in relation, in particular, to compliance with the provisions governing information exchanges between the Office and the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, and to developments in the application of procedural guarantees and duration and to revise the criteria and procedure for appointing its members. At the time of their selection candidates should be performing senior judicial ofr investigations. It is also necessary to establish cooperation between the Supervisory Committee and the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, by enabling the Suve duties. Their mandate should be for six years and non- renewable. To retain expervtisory Committee, without affecting the independence of its members, to meet representatives of those institutions in the context of a structured dialogue on the committee two of the five members should be appointed at a different time.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 10 a
Recital 10 a
(10a) It is appropriate to widen and strengthen the tasks of the Supervisory Committee arising from its mandate, to safeguard the Office’s independence in its investigative function. The Committee should monitor trends concerning procedural safeguards and the length of investigations. It should be informed of investigations lasting more than 12 months, deliver opinions to the Director General and, if need be, to the institutions on investigations that are not completed within 24 months. It should be made clear that the Supervisory Committee does not interfere in the conduct of current investigations.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 10 b (new)
Recital 10 b (new)
(10b) There is a need to assess the judicial, institutional and operational context for the fight against fraud, corruption and any other activity detrimental to the Community’s financial interests. To this end the institutions should be asked to coordinate their action and encouraged to consider the major aspects of European anti-fraud strategy. A consultation procedure needs setting up between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. This consultation should cover certain areas of cooperation in this field between the Office and the Member States and the European institutions, and also relations with third countries and the international organisations, the Office’s investigative policy and reports and assessments by the Supervisory Committee. The Office’s Director General and the Chair of the Supervisory Committee should participate in the consultation, which should take place at least once a year.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Recital 13 a (new)
Recital 13 a (new)
(13a) After a period of four years the implementation of this Regulation should be assessed. The Commission should present a report to the European Parliament and the Council, together with an opinion by the Supervisory Committee. Following that assessment the Regulation should be revisable. In any event, the Regulation should be revised after the creation of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point -1 (new)
Article 1 – point -1 (new)
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
-1. Article 1(1) is replaced by the following: “1. In order to step up the fight against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the European Community, the European Anti-Fraud Office established by Commission Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom (hereinafter “the Office”) shall exercise the powers of investigation conferred on the Commission by the Community rules and Regulations and agreements in force in those areas and, in accordance with the cooperation agreements in force, in third countries. Fraud, corruption and any other illegal activity detrimental to the Community’s financial interests, including irregularity, are defined in Community regulations and the provisions of agreements in force in this field.”
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 1
Article 1 – point 1
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 3 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. When the Office decides not to open an investigation it shall inform Eurojust that it has forwarded to the competent authorities in the Member States elements of information giving grounds for suspecting the existence of fraud, an act of corruption or any other illegal activity referred to in Article 1, in the form of serious crime involving two or more Member States. Eurojust shall also be notified by the Office as soon as an Office investigation comes within its competence, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the cooperation agreements concluded between them.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 4 – subpoint a a (new)
Article 1 – point 4 – subpoint a a (new)
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 6 – paragraph 4
Article 6 – paragraph 4
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 4 b
Article 1 – point 4 b
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 6 – paragraph 5a – subparagraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 5a – subparagraph 2
The institution, body, office or agency shall decide whether any precautionary or administrative measures are appropriate, with due account being taken of the importance of guaranteeing the effectiveness of the conduct of the investigation and of the specific confidentiality measures recommended by the Office.” The institution, body, office or agency shall inform the Office as soon as possible of the decision to take any measures under this Article or, where appropriate, of the need to initiate an additional disciplinary procedure on matters for which there is appropriate competence under the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities. An additional disciplinary procedure may be initiated after consulting the Office.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 5
Article 1 – point 5
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 7a – paragraph 2
Article 7a – paragraph 2
2. As soon as an investigation reveals that a member, manager, official or other servant or a person serving an institution, body, office or agency or an economic operator may be implicated in a matter, the person concerned shall be informed, provided that this does not prejudice the conduct of the investigation. In any event, before the investigation’s final report is drawn up no conclusions referring by name to a natural or legal person may be drawn on completion of an investigation unless the person thus personally implicated has been given the opportunity to make his views known, in writing or at an interview with employees designated by the Office, on all matters concerning him. Thate person concerned must be given a summary of such matters in the invitation to comment. H and shall submit his comments within the time- limits indicated by the Office. In an interview he is entitled to be assisted by a person of his choice. Any person implicated personally is entitled to use the official Community language of his choice; however, officials or other servants of the Communities may be asked to use an official Community language of which they have a thorough knowledge. A person implicated personally shall be entitled to avoid self incrimination. In cases requiring absolute secrecy to be maintained for the sake of the investigation andor entailing use of investigative proceedings falling under the jurisdiction of a national judicial authority or, in the case of an external investigation, that of a competent national authority, the Director General of the Office may decide to defer fulfilment of the obligation to ask the person implicated to make his views known. He shall first notify the Review Adviser, who shall give an opinion in accordance with, while complying with the provisions on reviewing legality laid down in Article 14(3). In the case of an internal investigation, the Director General of the Office shall take his decision in agreement with the institution, body, office or agency to which the person concerned belongs. The institution, body, office or agency shall where necessary decide on the expediency of any precautionary or administrative measures, taking due account of the interest of securing the effectiveness of the investigation’s conduct and of any particular confidentiality measures that the Office has recommended. The institution, body, office or agency shall inform the Office as soon as possible of the decision to take any measures under this Article or, where appropriate, of the need to initiate an additional disciplinary procedure on matters for which there is appropriate competence under the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities.
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 8 – subpoint c a (new)
Article 1 – point 8 – subpoint c a (new)
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 9 – paragraph 4
Article 9 – paragraph 4
(ca) Article 9(4) is replaced by the following: “4. Reports drawn up following an internal investigation and any useful related documents shall be sent to the institution, body, office or agency concerned. The institution, body, office or agency shall take such action, in particular disciplinary or legal, on the internal investigations, as the results of those investigations warrant, and shall report thereon to the Director of the Office [...]. To that end they shall send the Director General of the Office, every six months or, where appropriate, within the time-limits that the Director General has set, a report on the progress made.”
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 10 – subpoint a a (new)
Article 1 – point 10 – subpoint a a (new)
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3
(aa) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: “3. The term of office of members shall be six years and shall not be renewable. Some members shall be appointed at a staggered interval to preserve the Committee’s expertise.”
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 12 – subpoint b
Article 1 – point 12 – subpoint b
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 12 – paragraph 2
Article 12 – paragraph 2
(b) paragraph 2 is deleted; replaced by the following: “2. The European Parliament and the Council shall by common accord designate the Director General from a list of six candidates put forward by the Commission. A call for applications shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.”
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation – amending act
Article 1 – point 15
Article 1 – point 15
Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999
Article 15
Article 15
(15) Article 15 is deleted.replaced by the following: “During the fourth year following the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall transmit to the European Parliament and the Council a […] report on the application of this Regulation, together with an opinion by the Supervisory Committee […]. The report shall state whether there is a need to amend this Regulation. In any event, this Regulation shall be amended after the creation of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office.”