Europarlementariërs willen Giovanni Kessler als nieuw hoofd van het Europees Bureau voor Fraudebestrijding (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italian politician and former anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Kessler has emerged as the European Parliamen it's favourite candidate for the head of EU i's anti-fraud office (Olaf i). The European Commission has the final say and may choose parliament's second-best option, Olaf 'insider' Thierry Cretin.
Euro-deputies dealing with budgetary control and anti-fraud issues on Tuesday night shortlisted Mr Kessler with 27 and Mr Cretin with 24 votes, out of the six candidates who were put forward by the European Commission i.
Belgium's head of police, Johan Denolf, came in third, followed by the interim Olaf chief, Nicholas Ilett and the "father" of Olaf, former Austrian MEP Herbert Boesch i. Swedish tax authority chief Christina Gellerbrant, the only woman in the run and self-admittedly with no "Brussels experience", got zero votes.
According to Austrian independent MEP Martin Ehrenhauser, the vote was divided along political lines, with Mr Kessler emerging as the candidate of the centre-left, whose parties pressed for an "outsider", while Mr Cretin, as "Olaf insider", relied on the votes of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).
"Mr Kessler had more votes, but we are going with both names in the negotiations. Personally I favour Mr Cretin, because he knows the shop and could start right away," German Christian Democrat MEP Ingeborg Grassle i told this website.
Member states are also set to put forward their favourite candidates after hearings in front of the ambassadors representing the "troika" of EU presidencies - Spain, Belgium and Hungary. Mr Kessler is reportedly also on the shortlist.
The 54-year old politician is currently chairman of the Trento regional council, in northern Italy. He was a parliamentarian from 2001 until 2006 and also a vice-chair of the parliamentary assembly of the OSCE, a Vienna-based security organisation encompassing Russia and former Soviet countries. His anti-Mafia record goes back to the mid-90s, when he worked for a year in Sicily in the anti-Mafia directorate.
As happened in 2005, the European Commission may disregard the recommendation of both the Council i and the Parliament and choose its own favourite.
Mr Kessler's "outsider" profile, his anti-Mafia record and political career as parliamentarian of the centre-left Democratic Party in Italy may not be the obvious choice for the centre-right dominated European Commission. Anti-fraud commissioner Algirdas Semeta is affiliated with the EPP, as well as commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
Olaf itself is a hybrid institution, being partially linked to the European Commission. This has prompted calls from MEPs and transparency groups to push for a bolder reform than the one envisaged so far. An outsider, say centre-left MEPs, would be the only one capable of doing this.
The EPP meanwhile maintains that keeping Olaf within the commission gives it greater access to data and allows for a better management of cases.
Set up in 1999, in the aftermath of a corruption scandal which brought down the EU commission led by Jacques Santer, Olaf has both the task of scrutinising internal mismanagement and fraud, as well as tax evasion and misuse of EU money by beneficiaries in member states. It has no judicial authority, however, as it relies on national authorities to follow up on its investigations in courts.
The post is up for contest following the death of former Olaf director general Franz Hermann Bruener, who led the institution from its inception until January this year.
Member states are set to give their opinion on the candidates in the coming weeks, with the commission aiming to make the final appointment before the end of the year.