Christiaan Timmermans resigned from his role as chairman of the supervisory committee of the EU’s anti-fraud office (OLAF) for “personal reasons” that had nothing to do with the John Dalli case, it has emerged.

OLAF yesterday played down the incident while reacting to international media reports that connected Mr Timmermans’ resignation on Monday with controversy surrounding the resignation of former EU Commissioner Dalli.

“The new chairman has informed the director-general of OLAF, Giovanni Kessler, that the change of President has nothing to do with any actions of OLAF,” a spokesman for OLAF said.

Dismissing claims that procedure had been breached in the Dalli case, the spokesman said OLAF had finalised the report and delivered it to “the relevant authorities”.

“The change of Chairman of the Supervisory Committee can in no way change the contents or conclusions of that report,” OLAF added. Meanwhile, the supervisory committee issued its own statement, pointing out that Mr Timmermans remained a member of the committee.

“The newly elected chairman regrets the departure from the function of the outgoing chairman and wishes to thank him for his excellent work.”

Meanwhile, the supervisory committee said it was informed by Mr Kessler on October 17 about the Dalli case and his intention to transfer it to the national judicial authorities of Malta.

This led to the immediate withdrawal of a Maltese member of the supervisory committee, Rita Schembri, to avoid “any potential conflict of interest” since the Maltese internal audit and investigations department (IAID) had assisted OLAF in part of the investigation conducted in Malta.

“In accordance with its competences, the supervisory committee requested and obtained full access to the case file. The supervisory committee is currently examining the case,” the committee said.

But the European People’s Party did not seem fully satisfied with the statements made and yesterday demanded “full transparency” on the reason for Mr Timmermans’ resignation.

“The OLAF Supervisory Committee has to disclose the real reason for the resignation of its Chairman in the immediate aftermath of the resignation of Commissioner Dalli,” the EPP’s coordinator said.

“In addition, the members of the OLAF supervisory committee must demonstrate that John Dalli’s dossier was handled in full respect of the procedural and legal requirements of OLAF and the OLAF supervisory committee, and in full compliance with the rights accorded to persons under investigation by OLAF, also in the light of the court ruling in the Franchet/Byk case.”

Mr Dalli, who is insisting on his innocence, raised several questions about OLAF’s operations and during a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday he invited journalists to ask whether the investigation against him was reviewed by the supervisory committee.