EESC set to lift Regaldo’s immunity

By Martin Banks

Date: 02/06/05

THE European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is next week expected to waive the immunity from prosecution of one of its members, who is alleged to have made fraudulent claims for expenses.

The EESC has now received a response from the Belgian authorities to its request for more information about an application to lift the immunity of Italian member Giacomo Regaldo.

The Belgian public prosecutor is believed to have sent a dossier outlining the case against Regaldo and a copy of a report by OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud office, which concluded earlier this year that there was strong prima facie evidence that the member had fraudulently claimed up to €45,000 in expenses over a six-year period.

After a ruling from the committee's quaestors on the admissibility of the request, the EESC's bureau is expected to recommend that members should vote at their plenary session on 8 June for Regaldo's immunity to be lifted.

Separately, Regaldo has sent a letter to members of the committee saying: "Even though the conditions to waive my immunity have not been fulfilled, I ask you to waive it to allow me to put before the judicial authorities the means and arguments of my defence."

Regaldo could face possible prosecution in the courts for fraud.

It is the first time the committee has been asked to waive a member's immunity since it was established in 1957. "This is a new experience for us and that is why we are treading very carefully," said an EESC source.

Regaldo is currently serving his fourth term as a member of the committee and represents the Italian General Confederation of Trade, Tourism and Services. He strongly denies the allegations but has declined to comment.

EESC members are not paid a salary by the committee but are paid by the organisations they represent. The EESC does, though, reimburse their expenses.

Article reports that the European Economic and Social Committee was set to lift the immunity of Giacomo Regaldo, one of its members, accused of double reimbursement, at its plenary session on 8 June 2005.