Debate: OLAF cooperation with EPPO and the effectiveness of its investigations
Date: THURSDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2020
Speaker: Johannes Hahn
Language: EN

In addition, you have pushed to ensure that OLAF’s strong investigative tools co—exist with stronger procedural guarantees. In fact, the revised legislation establishes a controller to handle complaints by persons concerned. It allows the person under investigation to assess the final report under certain conditions and provides for respect of higher procedural safeguards when OLAF supports the EPPO.  These amendments should increase the protection of persons subject to investigation and also increase the reliability of OLAF’s work even though the rules on admissibility of OLAF—collected evidence in subsequent criminal procedures will go unchanged. We should soon start implementing a new financial framework accompanied by an ambitious recovery plan. It’s crucial that the Union will be ready to protect European Union citizens’ money, ensuring that money is spent properly and effectively.  Having said this, also in response to Mr Freund and others, I think we have now provided the necessary financial means to the different organisations. In particular, we constantly hear that the EPPO should get more money. I think even before they start working they have the same staff numbers as OLAF, because you have to include the decentralised prosecutors and then you certainly arrive at the same number. And may I say that the original concept of the EPPO was to focus very much on the work of the decentralised prosecutors, but now we see a very strong headquarters.  Again, I think we should see how it works, how it comes into operational daily work and then, of course, we have to adapt to the needs and see what are the future needs. I was very clear in the discussions. There are opportunities like amending budgets, etc., where we can, so to say, react in case there are further needs.  But first, I think, we should now really pay attention so that the EPPO can finally start – as soon as possible, hopefully in spring – its work, and then I think we can have a further assessment about the future needs.  Please be assured that we have every interest not only to protect our money, but also to get it back in the case of fraud and criminal cases. So indeed – and I think this was said by Ms Cseh and others – this is something which should really pay off in the way that we get the money back. Both these institutions, but also others dealing with such issues, are indeed properly equipped, because they need it. We will certainly take care that at the end of the day we get the money back – and certainly more than we have to invest into the staffing and the financing of these institutions. But on the other hand, we have to see that everything is in balance and we really lead also by example.  Finally, we are talking today primarily about OLAF and that’s why I would again like to highlight that the revised OLAF Regulation is a key element of the new EU Anti—Fraud architecture that we are building to achieve that objective. This is not only about the cooperation between OLAF and EPPO. Here, of course, it’s about the investigative and prosecutorial powers of EPPO which are now there, but we should not forget there is also Europol, and its analytical capacity has to be used. The same applies to Eurojust, which definitely has a coordinating role. So the reformed OLAF is a centrepiece, if you like, of this architecture to carry out even more effective  investigations.  What we have to achieve is proper coordination, cooperation amongst all these institutions. It’s not only about the two, and we should not forget Europol and Eurojust and cooperation with these organisations so as to have complementarity and avoid overlapping. This also would contribute to more effectiveness of these European institutions and instruments.