Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Dalligate: EU anti-fraud chief leaves MEPs confused

  • Kessler cited confidentiality rules: 'I can't give you the facts' (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

MEPs want more information on the Dalli affair after a damp squib hearing with the chief of the EU's anti-fraud office, Olaf.

German Liberal deputy Michael Theurer, the chairman of the budgetary control committee, told EUobserver on Thursday (25 October) that a behind-closed-doors meeting with Olaf's Giovanni Kessler failed to clear up if ex-health commissioner John Dalli acted wrongly or why a top Olaf official has suddenly resigned.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He said parliament chiefs should ask European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to hand over the Olaf report or to come and answer questions himself.

"I think we have to put the question to the President of the commission and then I'm confident there can be found an appropriate way for the European Commission to inform parliament," he noted.

"We need to have a full insight into what happened. We could see the written report - that would be one thing - and if there is any evidence that we should investigate further, then there are different options ... parliament could set up an investigative committee," he added.

Dalli lost his job last week after Olaf gave Barroso what it calls "circumstantial evidence" that he tried to solicit a bribe from a tobacco firm.

In the latest twist in the story, Olaf supervisory board President Christian Timmermans this week resigned from his post. But it is unclear whether this is linked to institutional infighting or to the Dalli case as such.

A source present at the Kessler meeting told this website that he gave the MEPs hints on what the report contains but cited confidentiality rules to stop short of real answers.

The source noted: "He [Kessler] said: 'Imagine if I met my friend [a middleman] and some lobbyists in my flat. How would you feel about it?' But he phrased it in a very hypothetical way. We asked him: 'So what are the facts?' And he said: 'I can't give you the facts'."

Kessler also said Timmermans' resignation is linked to complaints that circulation of the Olaf report did not follow correct procedure. But he added that it "has nothing to do with Dalli."

For his part, EU parliament chief Martin Schulz is planning to send a letter to Barroso asking for more information.

Its content is to become clear after he meets with the heads of parliament political groups on Friday.

Asked by EUobserver whether Schulz' old political group, the centre-left S&D, would support a request for Barroso to answer MEPs' questions directly, an S&D spokeswoman said: "There must be a general clarification and it must come from Kessler and Barroso himself."

The last time Barroso faced a public grilling on corruption was back in 2005 over his own connections to a Greek shipowner.

On the commission side, spokesman Olivier Bailly on Thursday in Brussels noted that Malta, Dalli's home country, and the other 26 member states are "ready" to back his replacement by Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg.

He said the member states' backing is a sign they "accept" that the commission has handled the affair properly.

Borg also has to get clearance from MEPs.

But with the health portfolio covering areas such as stem cell research and abortion, his Roman Catholic views could see him come a cropper in parliament hearings.

"We intend to question him closely on whether his views are compatible with Europe's fundamental values on civil liberties and non-discrimination," S&D chief, Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda said in a statement.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us