OLAF at the Crossroads Action against EU Fraud

Author: Constantin Stefanou; Simone White; Helen Xanthaki
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781841137919
Published In: August 2011
Format: Hardback , 220 pages
Jurisdiction: European Union ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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The authors offer unique insight to the regulatory, operational and institutional advances of OLAF (the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office). Since OLAF was set up in 1999, changes in the three levels of OLAF's functional environment have taken place:-

continuing advances in EU criminal law, especially in the areas of mutual assistance and substantive criminal law,
the reconstruction of Eurojust and Europol though recent Regulations and Memoranda of Cooperation,
and the prospect of the Lisbon Treaty.

The authors share the view that current OLAF's legal framework must address these issues adequately.

The approach chosen by the authors is multi-disciplinary. OLAF is examined through the prism of law and EU politics, thus focusing not only on the identification of current problems in regulation and procedure, but also on the feasibility of the institution in the future of European integration.

The book's approach is dialectic in that after the exposure of regulatory and institutional defaults, operational solutions are then discussed. Although there is little doubt that OLAF suffers from regulatory discrepancies and lacunae and from institutional inefficiencies, there is value in the argument that its staff has managed to devise operational and functional mechanisms that address some of these problems and allow the institution to proceed legitimately with its crucial role in combating fraud within the EU.

Notwithstanding the efficiency and ingenuity of its staff, the need for express rules covering procedural and operational issues - amongst others - must be safeguarded in regulation.

Constantin Stefanou is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.
Simone White is a European lawyer working in OLAF and a research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.
Helen Xanthaki is a Professor at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.

From the Preface
'This book is the only one of its kind that addresses all issues related to OLAF in such depth and breadth, that it will undoubtedly become essential reading for academics, practitioners, researchers, and beyond. I am delighted to endorse this book and to recommend it highly as a beautiful expose of OLAF, and as a sample of a most amazing combination of academic expertise with practical insight.'
Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Vice President, European Parliament