Investigative Activity

• Year: 2015

12

The OLAF report 2015

. Investigative activity

With 304 investigations concluded, 2015 proved to

be yet another excellent year for OLAF. Following its

reorganisation in 2012, the Office has now reached

“cruising altitude,” its work is consistently effective

and timely. The numbers speak for themselves – the

Office assessed more items of information than in

2014 and took less time to do so. Moreover, OLAF

opened a high number of new investigations and rec-

ommended more than EUR 888 million for financial

recovery. These results are detailed in the following

chapters, along with supporting graphs.

Figure 3: OLAF’s work in 2015

.. A successful reorganisation

As four years have passed since OLAF’s internal reor-

ganisation of 2012, it is now possible to have an over-

view of the effects that this has had on OLAF’s perfor-

mance. The results are as clear as they are impressive

– the Office has, in effect, double d its capacity, and

the gains in efficienc y are reflected across all areas

of OLAF’s work. Comparing the period before the re-

organisation (2008-2011) with the period after (2012–

2015), we can see that OLAF has increased the number

of investigations it has concluded by 93%. The number

of new investigations has also significantly improve d,

with 86% more investigations opened post-reorgan-

isation. Consequently, OLAF delivered 83% more rec-

ommendations after 2012. OLAF completed 57% more

selections after the reorganisation, and has done so

faster, providing sources with a prompt answer, even if

the case was eventually dismissed. Indeed, compared to

2008, OLAF has almost doubled the number of cases it

assesses in a year, while reducing the selection time by

more than 60% .

The numbers are particularly good as the gains in ef-

ficiency have been achieved despite a decrease in

staff and a change in OLAF’s investigative procedures.

Regulation 883/2013 (2), which provides for both addi-

tional investigative requirements and more stringent

internal controls, has led to more complex investigation

and selection processes. The additional requirements

should have naturally led to longer investigations. Still,

the average duration of investigations, including the

selection phase, has d ecreased in the past four-year pe-

riod by 18%, which is equivalent to 4.7 months. Since

its reorganisation, the Office has consistently worked

better, faster and has used fewer resources to do so.

Figure 4:Figure 5:

(2) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No883/2013 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 11September 2013 concerning

investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Oce

(OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No1073/ 1999 of

the European Parliament and of the Council an d Council

Regulation (Euratom) No1074/1999.

Figure : OLAF’s investigative work in 

1 442

Selections completed

364

Recommendations

issued

219

Investigations

opened

304

Investigations

concluded

EUR

888

million

Recommended

for f‌inancial

recovery