Controversy over EU fraud chief reappointment

Efforts to restore confidence in the way EU money is spent could be undermined by the reappointment of the controversial head of the OLAF anti-fraud office, MEPs have warned.

Germany’s Franz-Hermann Brüner was expected to be replaced when his six-year stint at the head of the anti-fraud office came to an end next month after widespread criticism of his time in charge.

OLAF was created in 1999 after the corruption scandal that ended Jacques Santer’s tenure as commission president, and has had some success, not least the discovery of widespread fraud at the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, in 2003.

But the case of German journalist Hans-Martin Tillack, accused of bribing officials for access to information that was highly critical of the EU executive, brought accusations that Brüner was trying to gag the press following highly critical articles about him in Tillack’s magazine, Stern.

The EU ombudsman was highly critical of OLAF’s handling of the Tillack case, with Brüner personally taking much of the flak.

The European commission nonetheless stood by Brüner, backing his re-election despite criticism from MEPs, who wanted former former Interpol chief Björn Eriksson to take over.

National governments were also concerned about Brüner’s less-than-spectacular track record, putting forward Alain Gillette, a member of the UN’s board of auditors, as a rival candidate for the post.

But the reappointment of the commission’s preferred candidate for the post – despite more than 180 applications – has been met with strong criticism.

British centre-right MEP Chris Heaton-Harris described the decision as “a stitch-up orchestrated by leading German politicians and officials in Brussels”.

Heaton-Harris, a member of the parliament’s budgetary control committee that backed Erikkson’s candidacy, said that Brüner clearly had “friends in high places” who could “save him the embarrassment of being kicked out of office”.
 
And he warned that the move would undermine the EU’s efforts to tackle fraud and to increase transparency in the way it operates.

“It just goes to show that in Brussels it’s not what you know but who you know that counts. All this talk of transparency and merit is a joke.”
 
German members were more conciliatory, welcoming Brüner’s reappointment as “farsighted”.

“It guarantees the continuation of the good work already carried out by OLAF,” said centre-right MEP Inge Graessle.

“Franz Hermann Brüner is a suitable man for the job,” said Markus Ferber MEP, also from the centre-right group.

Parliament’s official line is that it had backed two candidates for the job – Eriksson and Brüner – and that it had not expressed a preference for either man.

“The appointment suits the European parliament,” a spokesman told EUPolitix.

Brüner will be formally nominated by EU vice-president Siim Kallas at the meeting of the ‘college’ of 25 commissioners on February 14.

Kallas said that parliament, the member states and the commission had decided together that Brüner was “best suited for the post”.

“I want OLAF to be a pillar of trust in the way the EU manages its finances and with Mr Brüner heading the office I am sure I will have a strong ally to achieve this objective,” he said.

Kallas is overseeing a number of measures to improve the EU’s audit and budget control procedures after a number of high-profile cases.

But a commission spokesman declined to comment on whether a new appointment at the head of OLAF would have restored some confidence in the EU’s financial management.

“This was a thorough, transparent and objective selection process, and all parties agree that the right appointment has been made,” he said.

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