EU prosecutors asked to investigate advisory body
Allegations of a conflict of interest at European Economic and Social Committee have been sent to EPPO.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), a Brussels-based advisory body that advises the EU on proposed legislation and policy, is under investigation for potential corruption allegations. The European Antifraud Office (OLAF) received a report from whistleblowers earlier this year regarding a conflict of interest in the management of funds at the EESC.
The EESC has informed OLAF that the case has been passed to the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which has significantly stronger enforcement powers than OLAF. The EESC president, Séamus Boland, has confirmed that the allegations were immediately and proactively reported to OLAF upon their initial disclosure. The EESC, along with its senior leadership, has stated that they take the matter very seriously and are committed to integrity, transparency, and accountability.
Anonymous letters, obtained by POLITICO, suggest that IT workers at the EESC were pressured by senior managers to identify staff who had accessed the OLAF website, which they claim contained "serious personal threats." The EESC maintains that these letters were made outside of their formal whistleblower process.
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