The European Commission has replied to questions made by the European Parliament's budgetary control committee regarding the resignation of former Commissioner John Dalli. 

In a statement, it said it wanted to stress once again the importance of distinguishing between the political and the judicial dimension of the Dalli case.

"On 16 October 2012, Mr Dalli, in agreement with the President, decided to resign because his position as Commissioner had become politically untenable. The Commission has constantly stressed its attachment to the presumption of innocence which it has respected in all situations," the Commission said.

The Commission also stressed that OLAF is completely independent  when it carries out investigations.

"It (the Commission) considers that according to the law, OLAF must be independent of any political interference in order to be able to play its role. The Commission therefore does not interfere in the conduct of OLAF's independent investigations."

The Commission said it has a duty to refrain from commenting on the legality of OLAF's investigative action.

"This is not a matter for political institutions but for the courts."

It also refrained from replying to many questions because of the ongoing judicial proceedings.

The Commission said it was willing to strengthen further of the protection of financial interests of the Union and the defence rights of people concerned by OLAF investigations, notably by making new proposals to amend the Regulation which governs OLAF in the context of its proposal to create a European Public Prosecutors Office.

Through its replies the Commission announces that it has taken the initiative, in full respect of the independence of OLAF and the Supervisory Committee, to bring OLAF and its Supervisory Committee together to agree on a roadmap of measures that can ensure a constructive and loyal working relationship between the two – to which the Commission attaches the highest importance."

See the replies in the pdf below.