OLAF in conflict with MEPs

Members of the European Parliament have won the first round of a legal battle to prevent investigators from OLAF – the EU’s new independent anti-fraud office – from probing their affairs without their consent. Under the so-called inter-institutional agreement, the anti-fraud office has the right to inspect documents and interview officials, bankers and politicians working for EU organisations. These rules were adopted by the parliament last November but the decision has upset many MEPs, who claim that it infringes their long-held right to immunity from arrest or legal proceedings when parliament is in session.