Brussels, 31/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - German Social Democrat Willi Rothley reacted angrily in a press release to the European Court of Justice's rejection of his appeal for the cancellation of a ruling by the Court of First Instance, which, on 26 February 2002, rejected his appeal against the "OLAF" decision of the European Parliament. This decision, which was taken following a Parliament/Council/Commission inter-institutional agreement allowing agents of the European anti-fraud office to carry out inquiries into MEPs (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.11).
The MEP, who presented his appeal together with 69 other colleagues, protests that OLAF will be able to conduct searches in the offices of MEPs and take away documents at any time, without having to seek a judge's authorisation, as is the case for each citizen in a country where the rule of law is respected.
This decision was "foreseeable, but disappointing", said Mr Rothley, who added: "when I met him in Rome last November, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told me that the problem of ensuring the same protection by immunity for all MEPs had not been broached even once in the Convention [on the European Constitution] and for this reason alone it could not be dealt with by the Intergovernmental Conference". "A Constitution, yes, but no real Parliament?" asked Mr Rothley.