OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office) was established by the Commission in 1999, following the collapse of its predecessor UCLAF, and its role is to protect the financial interests of the EU and to fight fraud and corruption within the EU's institutions or within individual EU member states. Its efficiency and effectiveness are currently under review, and the Commission has brought forward a proposal designed to improve OLAF's operational efficiency, improve information flows and protect the rights of individuals under investigation. The Committee's report judges that this proposal is premature and unlikely to enhance OLAF's accountability or independence. It also notes that the future of OLAF has become entwined with the debate over the post of European Public Prosecutor, and that the Commission should not allow this to distract its focus from examining how OLAF can be made more effective in the fight against fraud.

The authors offer many insights into the regulatory, operational and institutional opportunities and challenges for OLAF, the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office. Since OLAF was set up in 1999, significant changes in its functional environment have taken place including in EU criminal law and especially in mutual assistance and substantive criminal law; the reconstruction of Eurojust and Europol through recent Regulations and Memoranda of Cooperation; and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.The authors advance the view that OLAF's current legal framework must address these issues adequately.The approach they take is multi-disciplinary. OLAF is examined here through the prisms of EU politics and national, European and (to some extent) comparative law, focusing not only on the identification of current problems in regulation and procedure but also on its positioning within the context of European integration. Operational issues are then extensively discussed, making this a book for practitioners as well as policy makers and academics.The book addresses the theoretical and practical aspects of anti-fraud actions within both criminal and civil aspects of public law. Although OLAF works within an incomplete EU legal framework and with varying cooperation by national authorities, its staff have devised mechanisms that address some of these issues. Nevertheless, rules covering procedural and operational issues will need to be safeguarded within future legislation.

Tobacco use represents a critical global health challenge. The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco kills nearly 6 million people a year, with the toll expected to rise to 8 million annually over the next two decades. Written by health and

The report The Fight Against Fraud On The EU's Finances (HL 158) examines the effectiveness of the EU's system of protection from financial fraud, and identifies a number of weaknesses. EU law obliges both the European Commission and the Member States to combat fraud on the EU's finances. However, the onus to protect the EU's financial interests falls mainly on the individual Member States because they are responsible for administering 80% of the EU funds. The 404 million Euros cited by the Commission in its annual report offers only a glimpse of the levels of fraud perpetrated against the EU's budget, the Committee believes five billion Euros is a closer figure. Evidence presented to the Committee suggests that some Member States do not take their anti-fraud responsibilities seriously. Responsibilities for anti-fraud should include: (i) looking for fraud against the EU's budget; (ii) informing the relevant EU authorities

The European Union Committee was formerly called the Select Committee on the European Union. Responses to the following reports from session 2003-04: 16th (HLP 104, ISBN 0104004622), 17th (HLP 105, ISBN 0104004657), 21st (HLP 131, ISBN 0104005076), 23rd (HLP 138, ISBN 0104005122), 24th (HLP 139, ISBN 0104005114), 27th (HLP 165-I, ISBN 0104005289), 30th (HLP 179-I, 0104005475), 31st (HLP 180, ISBN 0104005394), 32nd (HLP 186, 0104005564).

EU Criminal Law is perhaps the fastest-growing area of EU law. It is also one of the most contested fields of EU action, covering measures which have a significant impact on the protection of fundamental rights and the relationship between the individual and the State, while at the same time presenting a challenge to State sovereignty in the field and potentially reconfiguring significantly the relationship between Member States and the EU. The book will examine in detail the main aspects of EU criminal law, in the light of these constitutional challenges. These include: the history and institutions of EU criminal law (including the evolution of the third pillar and its relationship with EC law); harmonisation in criminal law and procedure (with emphasis on competence questions); mutual recognition in criminal matters (including the operation of the European Arrest Warrant) and accompanying measures; action by EU bodies facilitating police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters (such as Europol, Eurojust and OLAF); the collection and exchange of personal data, in particular via EU databases and co-operation between law enforcement authorities; and the external dimension of EU action in criminal matters, including EU-US counter-terrorism co-operation. The analysis is forward-looking, taking into account the potential impact of the Lisbon Treaty on EU criminal law.

Privacy and data protection in police work and law enforcement cooperation has always been a challenging issue. Current developments in EU internal security policy, such as increased information sharing (which includes the exchange of personal data between European law enforcement agencies and judicial actors in the area of freedom, security and justice (Europol, Eurojust, Frontex and OLAF)) and the access of EU agencies, in particular Europol and Eurojust, to data stored in European information systems such as the SIS (II), VIS, CIS or Eurodac raise interesting questions regarding the balance between the rights of individuals and security interests. This book deals with the complexity of the relations between these actors and offers for the first time a comprehensive overview of the structures for information exchange in the area of freedom, security and justice and their compliance with data protection rules in this field.