OLAF at the crossroads
Subtitle: action against EU fraud
By: Constantin Stefanou, Simone White and Helen Xanthaki
Contributors: White, Simone; Xanthaki, Helen
Series: Studies in international and comparative criminal law -- v. 7; Studies in international and comparative criminal law -- v. 7.
Publisher: Hart Pub.
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Oxford; Portland, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 202
ISBN-13: 9781841137919
Subjects: Fraud; Public Finance; European Commission. European Anti-Fraud Office; European Commission; Appropriations and expenditures; State supervision; Auditing
Description: The authors offer many insights into the regulatory, operational and institutional opportunities and challenges for OLAF, the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office. Since OLAF was set up in 1999, significant changes in its functional environment have taken place including in EU criminal law and especially in mutual assistance and substantive criminal law; the reconstruction of Eurojust and Europol through recent Regulations and Memoranda of Cooperation; and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.The authors advance the view that OLAF's current legal framework must address these issues adequately.The approach they take is multi-disciplinary. OLAF is examined here through the prisms of EU politics and national, European and (to some extent) comparative law, focusing not only on the identification of current problems in regulation and procedure but also on its positioning within the context of European integration. Operational issues are then extensively discussed, making this a book for practitioners as well as policy makers and academics.The book addresses the theoretical and practical aspects of anti-fraud actions within both criminal and civil aspects of public law. Although OLAF works within an incomplete EU legal framework and with varying cooperation by national authorities, its staff have devised mechanisms that address some of these issues. Nevertheless, rules covering procedural and operational issues will need to be safeguarded within future legislation
Notes: OLAF=European Anti-Fraud Office.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Genesis : UCLAF and the transition to OLAF; title: Mandate; title: The regulatory framework : the status quo and recent proposals for reform; title: Operational activities and due process; title: Operation safeguards for persons and institutions; title: Operational effectiveness : expanding the civil route; title: OLAF's interinstitutional relationships; title: Relationship with member states.