DALLI AFFAIR : COMMISSION CANNOT REFUSE PARLIAMENT ACCESS TO OLAF'S REPORT.

MEPs are determined to uncover the real reasons behind the dismissal of former Health Commissioner John Dalli, and are therefore demanding access to a report on the matter by OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office). They have asked Jose Manuel Barroso for this report several times, but he has refused to comply with the request, arguing that it is not allowed since legal proceedings regarding the case are currently active in Dalli's home state of Malta. The presidents of Parliament's political groups have now turned to the EP's legal service for help.

The legal opinion, which was transmitted to the Conference of Presidents on 10 January and which Europolitics has seen, responds to two questions: can OLAF transmit its report to Parliament, and can the Commission transmit it to Parliament? In the first case, the legal services have concluded in the negative, since the document is sent to the institution concerned by the matter - that is to say the Commission. On the other hand, legally speaking, there is no reason that the Commission should not submit the report to Parliament.

According to the legal opinion, nothing in OLAF's founding Regulation 1073/1999/EC forbids this, on the condition that the confidentiality of the report and the rights of the person concerned, in this case the former health commissioner, are respected. The regulation states that OLAF's reports constitute admissible proof in national legal procedures, but they do not automatically constitute evidence that cannot be revealed to Parliament as long as confidentiality is protected.

The framework agreement of 10 October 2012 on relations between Parliament...