CoR must put house in order, says Bore

Date:25/09/03

By Martin Banks

SIR Albert Bore, president of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), says "lessons must be learned" from the institution's current "mess", which has resulted in its top civil servant having his appointment annulled by the European Court of Justice.

The decision to overturn the appointment of Italian Vincenzo Falcone as CoR's secretary-general in June 2000 is thought to be without precedent.

Speaking after the ruling, Bore accepted that serious mistakes had been made and that the Committee needed to "put its house in order". The A1-grade post will now be readvertised and a new secretary-general appointed.

The CoR was already reeling following the European Parliament budgetary control committee's decision earlier this month to freeze 25% of the €5.5 million set aside in its budget for members' expenses for 2004.

The CoR is now anxiously awaiting the findings of an investigation by OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud office, into allegations that some CoR members made false expenses claims.

Some observers say that if the OLAF inquiry upholds the allegations, it could be the final nail in the coffin for the much-criticized institution.

Recent events have reopened the debate over whether the CoR, which brings together 222 members from local and regional assemblies and governments, performs a useful function.

Bore, whose two-year term in office is due to end in February, told European Voice: "Lessons have to be learned from the way we do things. I can assure you that they will be learned.

"I have to say that in the past the Committee has got things wrong.

"We have been less than effective in a number of areas and we have got to acknowledge this. People have been critical of us and rightly so."

Addressing allegations made by MEPs and trade unions of nepotism in recruitment at the CoR, Bore said that, particularly in light of the Falcone case, recruitment procedures had now changed to bring the Committee "in line with other EU institutions".

"I would point out that the people appointed to the last two A2-grade posts at the CoR came from outside the institution.

"Unlike in the past, we are also now recruiting from the reserve lists of other EU institutions," he said.

Bore, leader of Birmingham city council in the UK, added: "In the 18 months I have been president, I have tried to make the CoR a more responsive vehicle for expressing the views of Europe's regions.

"I took on some difficult challenges, and I hope that when I leave the office of president I will leave a more effective institution than the one I took on."

The case against Falcone was brought by Spyridon de Athanassios Pappas, an unsuccessful Greek candidate for the secretary-general post.

Pappas claimed his file was not dealt with properly and that Falcone had an administrative role in the selection process.

The Greek, a former senior official with the European Commission, was backed by Union Syndicale, the largest EU staff union which, in the past, has organized strikes against the CoR in protest at its alleged failure to respect recruitment procedures.

Alan Hick, president of the union's Brussels branch, said: "The ECJ ruling vindicates us completely.

"We have consistently targeted the "jobs for the boys" culture that has been a hallmark of the CoR since its inception," he added.

The CoR declined to comment on claims by Union Syndicale that Falcone was to be offered the position of director within the institution.

Following the annulment of the appointment of Vincenzo Falcone as the Committee of the Region's Secretary-General, Albert Bore, President of the CoR, said serious mistakes had been made and that lessons must be learned. The vacant post will now be re-advertised and a new Secretary-General appointed.