Brussels, 09/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On 30 May, the three institutions of the EU reached an agreement on the proposal to ensure that the Secretariat of the Supervisory Committee of the European anti-fraud office (OLAF) will in the future be the responsibility of the European Commission, rather than by OLAF, as is currently the case (see EUROPE 11537 and 11532).
Under the new regulation, which takes account of certain aspects of the opinion of the Court of Auditors of the EU of 15 April of this year, the staff of the secretariat of the Supervisory Committee will continue to be subject to the same confidentiality rules as previously. The text of the regulation aims to guarantee the correct functioning of the Supervisory Committee by stating that its secretariat will now be provided directly by the Commission and that the Commission will provide this secretariat with sufficient resources to carry out its duties. The Commission should refrain from interfering with the monitoring functions of the Supervisory Committee, in order “to safeguard the independence” of the Supervisory Committee.
The EP must now approve its position on the text of the regulation at first reading, and then the Council will approve the EP's position in order to ensure that the legislative act is adopted. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)