Ingeborg Gräßle, the MEP who has been following the John Dalli case for the European Popular Party, said this afternoon that the revelations that John Dalli had been to the Bahamas allegedly to transfer millions of dollars was further evidence of OLAF's amateur investigation into this case.
Ingeborg GräßleMs Grässle, the EPP Group’s Spokeswoman in the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, said today's revelation was “another surprising turn in a story full of surprises and turns”.
“The question is, when was the European Commission aware of this trip and its purpose?”, Grässle asked. “Were the tobacco-related allegations nothing but a pretext in order to keep a big story under wraps? Did OLAF, which apparently was unaware of this fact, allow itself to be used, and then botched everything with an amateurish investigation?”
Due to its mistakes during the investigation, OLAF made a legal follow-up impossible”, Grässle said. The ‘Bahamas story’ could not distract from this fact.
“The question on how far the investigation against the former Commissioner adhered to professional standards, including breaches of basic rights and national law, as well as the early allegations launched, is still on the table. This was particularly the case for the necessity to improve, by tabling amendments, the revised text of the OLAF regulation in order to secure the access of the supervisory committee to closed investigations as well as conduct a check of the legality of the methods used.
“It is imperative that the European Commission finally understands that this is about bringing more transparency into this case. This is only possible if it answers our questions on the Dalli case and its tobacco link, as well as the questions raised above”, Grässle concluded.