Brussels, 07/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - After a battle for influence, which lasted a year, the three institutions of the European Union finally reached an agreement on 7 February to keep Franz-Hermann Brüner from Germany on at his post of Director at the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). Mr Brüner began this job on 1 March 2000 and his mandate, which expired in March 2005, had to be extended by a year to provide time to find a possible successor. Brüner will remain OLAF director for a further five years, until March 2011. On 14 February in Strasbourg, the European Commission will officially decide to appoint Mr Brüner as its own successor at the head of OLAF.
Siim Kallas, the Commissioner for administration and the fight against fraud declared that, “We have discussed, weighed the positions expressed by each institution and have agreed that Mr Brüner is best suited for the post”. During the meeting of the three institutions on 7 February, Mr Brüner's candidacy was chosen instead of that of Björn Eriksson, governor of a Swedish province and who headed the European Parliament's list and was second on the list of the Council. He also beat the two French candidates (François Falleti, representative for France at Eurojust and Alain Gillette, magistrate at the French Court of Auditors (and who was head of the Council's list).
Chris Heaton-Harris, British Conservative, denounced the manoeuvres “orchestrated by leading German politicians and officials in Brussels” to keep Brüner on in his post. The MEP underlined in a press release that Mr Brüner was third on the list of Council candidates and second on the EP's budgetary control committee. Heaton-Harris also pointed out that Mr Brüner's management of OLAF was the subject of “fierce criticism” and that he had had a “limited impact” in tackling fraud and chasing up misspent EU funds, particularly in connection with the affair involving German journalist Hans-Martin Tillack.