Transatlantic Politics

This is not a joke, it's actually from the EU jargon.. so don't crack yourselves up.  The mega-efficient EU anti-corruption enforcement squads have just payed a surprise visit to the Brussels bureaucrats in an attempt to crack down on the "passive corruption". Here is what EUObserver reports:

European Commission officials were being interrogated by Belgian police on Tuesday afternoon (27 March) following surprise raids by police on commission buildings.
Jos Colpin at the Brussels prosecutor's office told EUobserver the officials arrested on Tuesday are suspected of "passive corruption," or taking "bribes" from real estate and security firms.
The officials being interrogated - the number of which is not being made public - possibly "circumvented normal tendering procedures" involving the commission's representation premises in Luxembourg, France and Italy.
The civil servants are suspected of pocketing bribes from real estate and security companies in return for rewarding them contracts to rent and secure the commission buildings.  

The beauty of the story lies in the minor detail that this case has been going on for the past..3 years. With no convicts so far…Just another regular EU procedure with no scary outcome. But the OLAF (EU's anti-fraud and (anti?)corruption body) has been "fully supportive" so there still is hope.

A commission spokesman confirmed the raids in commission buildings, but refused to comment on the affair other than saying the commission is "fully co-operating" in the investigations. The EU's independent anti-fraud office, OLAF, took part in the investigations, he added.  Belgian Prosecutor Berta Bernando-Mendez started investigations into the case three years ago, leading to Tuesday's operation which was spearheaded by the Belgian police's anti-corruption unit and which also saw the participation of Italian and French police. It will be decided before Wednesday morning 06:00 CET whether any official will be held in custody for further interrogation, Mr Colpin said.

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