#OLAF: 'No dirty deals - OLAF Director-General's immunity needs to be lifted', says MEP Inge Gräßle

Inge Gräßle MEP (pictured), Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee and Rapporteur on the OLAF Regulation, has warned the European Commission of 'dirty deals' in the case of the OLAF Director-General. "This is about the Belgian prosecution's right and possibility to look into possible misconduct during the investigation of the Dalli case," she stated.

"It is unacceptable that in order for his immunity not to be lifted the OLAF Director-General agrees to give up his temporary post at OLAF, and that on top of this, he even gets rewarded with a permanent contract," she added.

According to Gräßle, the Belgian prosecution's request has to be confirmed in any case, which the Commission has always done so far. She continued: "It is shameful and unworthy of the EU," that the application was not handled for one year.

"The EU likes to preach to the world to respect rules but in its own house enforcement is dead. It is about the right to control and, incidentally, an investigation is the only way that the OLAF Director-General can clear himself of the suspicion of having illegally recorded phone calls, which is a crime in almost all member states," concluded Gräßle.

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