The German Federal Constitutional Court was asked to decide upon the constitutional compatibility of the changes foreseen by the Treaty of Lisbon and its implementation via various acts of legislation by the German parliamentary organs.1 Above all, the complainants (inter alia, a number of Members of the German Bundestag and the parliamentary group “DIE LINKE”) argued for constitutional breaches because, in their view, the federal government delegated powers to the EU that it was not competent to do and to such an extent as to undermine the authority of the Federal parliamentary organs (the Bundestag and the Bundesrat). The Constitutional… Read more

OLAF is the only Community body whose tasks include administrative investigations on behaviour detrimental to the financial interests of the EU that may have “criminal” and “trans-national” aspects simultaneously. Trans-national European crime requires new solutions to be found in what is commonly referred to as European criminal law. For this reason the protection of financial interests has been the motor of the emerging European criminal law and continues to play a vital role.1 Even before the existence of OLAF, its predecessor, the unit charged with the protection of the financial interests within the Commission (UCLAF), put forward first instruments on… Read more

I. The Legal Status of the Single Currency The international law fully recognises the monetary sovereignty of the States and their exclusive competence to define their currency. This definition is binding on any person who chooses to use a specific currency, under the terms of the “lex monetae” or monetary law. The jurisprudence of the international jurisdictions (in particular, the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague,1 in a judgement of 12 July 1929,2 allows conclusion of the universal principle that a State is entitled to regulate its own currency. This is also reflected in recital 8 of Council… Read more

I. Institutional and Legal Framework of OLAF Investigations The first cases after the establishment of OLAF confirmed and clarified its status and function and stipulated that the requirement of independence is closely related to strict observance of the Community law. In the Rothley1 case, the European courts agreed that the European Parliament Decision concerning the terms and conditions for internal investigations2 applies to objectively defined situations and has legal effects with respect to categories of persons envisaged generally and in the abstract, i.e. present or future Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), but also all the Parliament's staff members, whether… Read more

In case T-48/05, the European Court of First Instance (CFI) ruled on an application for compensation for material and non-material damage sustained as a consequence of errors alleged to have been committed by the European Commission and OLAF in investigating the “Eurostat” case. The CFI ordered the European Commission to pay Mr. Yves Franchet and Mr. Daniel Byk the sum of 56 000 Euros and ordered the Commission to pay the costs.1 The Commission decided not to appeal. Three aspects of the ruling that are highlighted in this article relate to the presumption of innocence (I below), the right of… Read more