By Martin Banks - 11th December 2008
He seems to use misinformation from so-called whistle blowers, who are, perhaps people working within the organisation who are frustrated because they have not been promoted, for his attacks on Olaf. As far as I am concerned this is a blatant misuse of
Franz-Hermann Bruner
The director general of Olaf, the EU’s anti-fraud agency, has launched an astonishing attack on one of the organisation's fiercest critics.
Franz-Hermann Bruner accused Dutch deputy Paul van Buitenen of using "totally groundless allegations" in an attempt to "destroy" Olaf.
His outburst comes after the Green MEP used a news conference in parliament this week to make fresh allegations against Olaf.
Van Buitenen, famous for helping to bring down the Jacques Santer commission in the late 1990s, alleged that Olaf’s staff selection procedure was "rigged" and accused the agency of "inertia on crucial files."
But, speaking exclusively to this website, Bruner, a German national, said he "totally rebutted" the latest attack on Olaf, accusing van Buitenen of "misusing" his position as an MEP to make "totally unfounded" allegations.
"He just seems to want to undermine my organisation.
Both Olaf and the commission have explained things to him but he is not willing to listen and seems to have his own agenda," said Bruner.
"He seems to use misinformation from so-called whistle blowers, who are, perhaps people working within the organisation who are frustrated because they have not been promoted, for his attacks on Olaf.
"As far as I am concerned this is a blatant misuse of his position as an MEP."
Bruner was addressing concerns highlighted in a 45-page letter sent by van Buitenen to senior EU officials on 25 November in which he says that, currently, Olaf "is a mess."
The deputy, a former commission accounting official, has called on Olaf to sever its links with the commission, claiming this calls into question its ability to carry out fraud probes independently.
These includes four specific allegations - a "rigged selection process" which led to the appointment of two directors, a "fake" bribery claim against a journalist, an alleged conflict of interest case involving an MEP and a "misleading" probe into financial irregularities at an ACP-EU enterprise development centre.
"If no further investigation is carried out into the cause of these, the irregularities will continue," said van Buitenen, who, by his own admission, ran for election to parliament on a purely anti-corruption platform.
Olaf next year marks its tenth anniversary. Created to tackle fraud in the EU institutions, it has consistently been forced to address accusations that it is too close to the EU institutions.
It has an annual budget of about €50m, a 400-strong staff and is based in Brussels.
It is only an administrative investigative service and cannot punish the perpetrators of fraud.
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