Brussels, 08/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted a communication from Michaele Schreyer on the appropriate strategy and the procedure to be followed to prevent fraud not only in the Community legislation but also in the management of contracts. The communication is along the lines of a number of recommendations in the Commission's White Paper on administrative reform The main aim of this strategy is to use to greater advantage the expertise provided by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), without making interservice consultation more unwieldy, so that the Community has a clear and more easily applicable legislation in the fields that are particularly sensitive to fraud (agriculture, structural actions, customs and direct spending). In the same way, OLAF is called upon to provide help to the DG Budget regarding the scrutiny of contract management systems.
Concerning the "legislation" section, the Commission proposes a cooperation procedure in four phases confined to the most sensitive texts: - identification of the high-risk areas, which should be made subject to scrutiny; - identification of the high-risk sectors of the legislation, which will be validated by a specific working group; - identification of sensitive legislative projects within the high-risk sectors; - and consultation with OLAF. In addition to its experience in investigations and the preparation of texts, OLAF may provide expertise regarding analysis. The Commission suggests, for example, that the summary files on weaknesses noted in the regulation should appear in the OLAF inquiry reports. On the subject of the "contracts" chapter, it was agreed that harmonised contract types should be established and that a central database for contractors and contracts should be made available to the Commission services. OLAF will have the task of diffusing to the DG Budget, to the Legal Service and to the relevant Commission services the information that comes to its knowledge relating to fraud and irregularities linked to contracts or to subsidy decisions.