Euro judges to hear Connolly case

Date: 04/09/1997

FORMER European Commission official Bernard Connolly faces a new round in his lengthy legal battle against his dismissal after publicly denouncing plans for a single currency.

Almost two years after publication of his book The Rotten Heart of Europe with its strong critique of monetary union, lawyers representing Connolly and the Commission are preparing to argue their respective cases before the Court of First Instance.

After the submission of all the written evidence to the Luxembourg-based judges, the way is now clear for the oral hearings to be held this autumn with the possibility of an advocate-general's opinion later in the year and a final ruling in 1998.

As the case moves inexorably through the Court's machinery, the judges will have to decide whether to group together the three cases which Connolly and his lawyers have brought against the Commission. They are appealing against the opening of disciplinary proceedings against him and his initial suspension, against the disciplinary committee's recommendation that he be dismissed and against his actual dismissal. In addition, Connolly has lodged a claim for compensation for the way he was treated.

Previously a senior official in the Commission's economic and financial affairs department, Connolly was suspended in September 1995 and dismissed the following February on the grounds that he had failed to secure the necessary permission from his superiors for the publication of the book he wrote during unpaid leave.

Since leaving the Commission, Connolly has been working for AIG International, the financial trading arm of AIG, the large American insurance and reinsurance company.

As the former official continues his legal challenge, it has emerged that earlier moves to streamline the Commission's internal disciplinary procedures and to clarify behaviour on the part of officials which would trigger sanctions have been put very much on the back burner.

“Reform of disciplinary procedures is definitely on hold. The Commission is now concerned with the far wider reorganisation involved in its MAP 2000 programme,” confirmed one well-placed source this week, referring to plans to modernise and decentralise the institution's personnel policy.

Personnel Commissioner Erkki Liikanen was the prime mover behind the original plan to review the EU's staff regulations, which are almost 30 years old.

Explaining the need for change, the proposals noted: “Experience acquired especially during recent years, which have seen a growing number of cases, makes strengthening of the disciplinary system desirable in the interest of the institutions in order to achieve greater efficiency as well as speeding-up of procedures, while respecting the rights of the accused.”

But the proposals ran into opposition from the staff unions and even supporters of change wondered whether it would be worth suffering the inevitable upheavals given that there are little more than a dozen disciplinary cases per year.