Belgian legal investigators turn spotlight on CoR

By Martin Banks

Date: 08/07/04

THE Belgian judicial authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement at the Committee of the Regions (CoR), it has emerged.

The inquiry follows allegations made by outgoing Dutch Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten about rigged tendering procedures and abuse of expenses by senior CoR members.

Van Hulten was interviewed at his office in the European Parliament for more than two hours yesterday (7 July) by anti-corruption police officers.

The Belgian public prosecutor is expected to decide next week whether to open a full investigation.

The matter relates to a file van Hulten submitted last Autumn to the Belgian authorities on the Brussels-based committee which represents local and regional authorities.

He acted on concerns first raised by Robert McCoy, a financial controller and internal auditor at the CoR, over the Committee's administrative procedures.

A subsequent investigation by The inquiry follows allegations made by outgoing Dutch Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten about rigged tendering procedures and abuse of expenses by senior CoR members.

Van Hulten was interviewed at his office in the European Parliament for more than two hours yesterday (7 July) by anti-corruption police officers.

The Belgian public prosecutor is expected to decide next week whether to open a full investigation.

The matter relates to a file van Hulten submitted last Autumn to the Belgian authorities on the Brussels-based committee which represents local and regional authorities.

He acted on concerns first raised by Robert McCoy, a financial controller and internal auditor at the CoR, over the Committee's administrative procedures.

A subsequent investigation by the EU's anti-fraud agency OLAF revealed "systematic and flagrant incompetence within the CoR" with respect to "the essential rule of tendering procedures".

It found that some members of the committee had made false declarations to claim allowances and expenses to which they were not entitled.

OLAF concluded that "most threatening for the CoR seems to be an endemic culture of unprofessionalism and improvisation".

However, a subsequent inquiry by the Court of Auditors, while highlighting "some weaknesses", found no evidence of fraud.

The CoR, which expanded to 317 members after EU enlargement in May, endured a turbulent 12 months last year: as well as the various inquiries, its secretary-general, Vincenzo Falcone, had his appointment annulled by the Court of First Instance after it ruled that procedural rules were breached.

Yesterday, van Hulten, who waived his Parliamentary immunity to speak to the police, said: "The prosecutor's office called me on Tuesday to ask if I would be willing to be interviewed over this matter.

"I am glad the authorities seem to be taking this case seriously. The OLAF report clearly set out possible breaches of Belgian law and those who are responsible should not be allowed to get away with it."

A CoR spokesman said an exhaustive internal inquiry had been conducted into concerns raised by OLAF, adding: "The CoR has fully implemented all of the recommendations contained in the OLAF report of 8 October 2003.

"In order to tackle the administrative weaknesses that were identified, the CoR unveiled a 40-point action plan for reform, including mandatory specialized training for officials responsible for financial management and transparent rules for the payment of allowances."

Bernhard Friedmann, a former president of the Court of Auditors, has helped with recent adminisrative reforms, the spokesman added.