Out of Court

Report by David Haworth, Brussels

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) frequently finds itself in headlines it doesn’t want, but the Luxembourg-based European Union (EU) Court of Auditors often manages to do good anti-fraud work almost by stealth and almost completely without notice or recognition. This is unlikely to change much under the Court’s newly installed secretary-general, Eduardo Ruiz Garcia, who comes to the position after 20 years in the institution, but he is nonetheless keen to give it a sharper profile. It is a matter of recognition, says the 48-year-old from Valencia, a handsome, self-effacing man, who plays football for the local Europa team and is good on the guitar. “We want the Court to be better known,” he says.