Brussels, 11/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament will discuss during plenary session the European Commission's strategy for protecting the Community's financial interests. The Theato Report (EPP, Germany), on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control, above all insists on the importance of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and its "independent" working (see following article). The report insists that OLAF's independence advocated by the legislator at its staffing level and at the level of its operational activity, first of all compared to the Commission, be implemented as soon as possible. The Committee on Budgetary Control recalls that the EP had already requested, in May, that all agents currently working for OLAF should be invited to again apply in order to allow the new director to re-examine their ability to hold the posts to which they are attributed. It also said that the Commission accepts the decisions taken by the director of OLAF, even if this means that officials currently within OLAF must go to other Commission services. The report supports the need for cooperation between national bodies and OLAF, which is the key to OLAF's success and credibility. Finally, the report presented by the Committee on Budgetary Control calls on the ECB and on the EIB to adhere to the interinstitutional agreement that gives OLAF the right to carry out inquiries in the different institutions (the report, however, omits to stress that the question is not resolved for the Parliament itself either).
The Theato Report, moreover, invites the EP to take a stance once more in favour of the creation of a European Prosecutor responsible for combating fraud that affects the Community's financial interests. Given the reticence of Member States, the Theato Report proposes more restrictive provisions. The European Prosecutor would first of all only be empowered for crimes committed by members or agents of the Union institutions, even before amendment of the Treaty to empower it to take action against acts committed by any person against the Communities' financial interests.