27.6.2023
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 225/3
Foreword The year 2022 was marked by a number of important changes as the Supervisory Committee was completely renewed in two stages, following the Decision of 28 March 2022 of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission appointing the new members of the Supervisory Committee of OLAF.
The first two members took office on 28 March, and the remaining three on 23 September.
The resignation in August of one of the first two newly appointed member also meant the appointment of a new member in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 15, paragraph 2 of the OLAF Regulation.
These changes affected the work of the Committee which could only start in September when the Committee was finally convened in its new composition.
At the same time, in May, the Commission proceeded to the appointment of the first Controller of procedural guarantees.
This is a completely new function established by the amended OLAF Regulation.
The Controller examines in full independence complaints submitted by ‘persons concerned’ regarding OLAF’s compliance with the procedural guarantees, fundamental rights and rules applicable to investigations, and to do so the Controller relies on the legal and administrative support provided by the Secretariat of the Supervisory Committee.
The Committee welcomes the appointment of the new Controller of procedural guarantees as this will further increase transparency and accountability of OLAF.
That said, the Committee also believes that there is now more than ever a pressing need for an increase of the human resources for the Secretariat given the additional administrative and legal support tasks entrusted on it.
Despite the effects that the renewal of the Committee has had on its activities, the Committee focused its attention on the work plan for the coming year, and on the forthcoming review by OLAF of its Guidelines on Investigation Procedures (GIPs) for which the Committee will have to issue in 2023 an Opinion.
This is a very important issue as it touches at the heart of OLAF’s working and investigative methods.
At the same time, having received at the end of September from the Controller her draft implementing provisions for the handling of complaints for the purposes of the consultation phase provided for by Article 9b(11) of the OLAF Regulation, the Committee examined in detail these new provisions and by the end of October, it provided the Controller with its observations and remarks.
These were taken into account and reflected in the implementing provisions that were adopted by the Controller on 16 November 2022.
In November, the Committee also adopted its Opinion 1/2022 on OLAF’s preliminary draft budget (‘PDB’) for 2023.
As in the previous years, the Committee express its ongoing concerns regarding OLAF’s diminishing human resources.
For the Committee, the significant cuts in OLAF’s staff may well deprive OLAF of continuing to hire highly qualified and specialised staff necessary for carrying out its tasks, including the need to establish and provide appropriate control mechanisms in relation to the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility funds.
As a final remark, I would like, on behalf of the members, to thank the Director-General of OLAF for his open and constructive approach and exchanges with the Committee, and also acknowledge the valuable support the members of the Secretariat, acting under the management of its Head, provided to the Committee.
Dušan STERLE Chair of the Supervisory Committee