The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF): a European policy to fight against economic and financial fraud?

Abstract

The setting-up of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is studied, exploring the genesis and the institutionalization of a new paradigm in European policy, the "protection of the Communities' financial interests', in the context of increasing public anxiety regarding issues of security. It is argued that the European Commission actually took advantage of being cast as the scapegoat in the 1999 crisis by progressively strengthening its own powers within the third pillar, progressing towards the construction of a single judicial area in Europe. In that respect, anti-fraud fighting is both a means and a strategy to reinforce the legitimacy of European governance. Nevertheless, such a strategy is risky when we observe that the effectiveness of European anti-fraud policy is highly dependent on the operational means mobilized by the member states, strictly managed by intergovernmental rules.