EU anti-fraud office gets new oversight head
(BRUSSELS) - The EU's anti-fraud office, in the news after a probe led to the unprecedented resignation of the EU's top health official, confirmed Thursday that its supervisory board had appointed a new head.
It said the change, however, had nothing to do with the case of European health commissioner John Dalli who resigned after an OLAF report cited him in a tobacco-linked influence-peddling claim.
OLAF said it had been informed that at a regular monthly meeting of its Supervisory Committee on Monday Johan Denolf had been elected as president to replace Christiaan Timmermans, who was to remain on the committee.
Noting recent press reports on the appointment, Denolf "has informed the Director-General of OLAF, Giovanni Kessler, that the change of president has nothing to do with any actions of OLAF", a statement said.
"OLAF has finalised its report on the Dalli case and delivered it to the relevant authorities. The change of president of the Supervisory Committee can in no way change the contents or conclusions of that report," it added.
In a statement later Thursday, Denolf, the new head of the OLAF supervisory committee, said Timmermans had resigned for "personal reasons".
Denolf said the Supervisory Committee was formally informed of the case on October 17, one day after Dalli's resignation, and had then "requested and obtained full access to the case file.
"The Supervisory Committee is currently examining the case," he added.
A report by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Timmermans had resigned because he had been sidelined over the Dalli probe.
Dalli resigned last week after an OLAF report into a complaint by Swedish Match which alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with the commissioner "to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products".
Dalli, from Malta, insists he has done nothing wrong but European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso asked for his resignation on the grounds that the probe made his position politically untenable.
On Wednesday, Dalli said he would challenge Barroso's decision and was seeking legal advice whether to file a complaint in Malta, in Brussels, at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice or at Strasbourg's European Human Rights Court.