Legal background

The legal basis for the fight against fraud is Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (replacing Article 280 of the EC Treaty).

1. Establishment of OLAF

Commission Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 28 April 1999.

2.   Investigations

The following regulations and agreements define the Office’s main role and  remit for carrying out its administrative investigations. These include external investigations (concerning EU financial interests) and internal investigations (concerning staff and Members of the EU institutions).

• Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of 25 May 1999.
• Regulation (EURATOM) No 1074/1999 of 25 May 1999. 
• Interinstitutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 specifically concerns investigations in the EU institutions and bodies.

Inspections on-the-spot in the Member States

General:

• Council Regulation (Euratom, CE) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996.
• Council Regulation No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995. This regulation is supplemented by Council Regulation No 2185/96.

Sectoral:

• EU own resources: Regulation No 1150/2000   (amended by Regulation No 2028/2004)
• Mutual Administrative Assistance: Regulation (EC) No 515/97 (modified by Regulation (EC) No 766/2008)
• Common Agricultural Policy (CAP, including the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)): Article 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005   of 21 June 2005.
• Structural Funds: Article 72 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 (repealing Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999) lays down general provisions for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund.
• Direct expenditure: Article 87 of the Financial Regulation

 3. Notification of irregularities and recovery of misused funds

• Financing of the CAP and the organisation of its related information system: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1848/2006 of 14 December 2006 (repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 595/91).
• Structural funds: Chapter II Section 4 (Articles 27 to 36) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006  of 8 December 2006 and corrigendum set out rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (see above), and of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on the ERDF.
• Own resources: Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) N° 2028/2004 of 16 November 2004 (amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000)  implements Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom.
• Practical arrangements concerning the requirement to notify irregularities: Working document [53 KB]

4. Conventions

Conventions combating fraud on an international scale (harmonizing national criminal financial laws related to the protection of the EU financial interests) drew up by the Council, recommended for adoption to and adopted by the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

EU Convention of 26 July 1995 and its three protocols: 

1. 1st Protocol
2. Protocol on the competence of the Court of Justice
3. 2nd Protocol

See also the explanatory report on the second protocol

Fight against corruption: EU Convention of 26 May 1997

Commission reports concerning the implementation by Member States of the EU Convention of 26 July 1995 and its related protocols:

• 2004 [139 KB] - Annex [735 KB]
• 2008 [169 KB] - Annex [662 KB]

5. Agreements with third parties containing provisions on mutual administrative assistance in customs mattersAll available translations.

6. Case law

• Summary of case law
• List of decisions

7. Legislative proposals

A reform of OLAF is currently underway via the European Commission's Proposal for the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999All available translations.