Andreasen rejects MEPs’ demand for new written evidence

Date: 03/10/02

By David Cronin

WHISTLEBLOWER Marta Andreasen has ruled out complying with a European Parliament demand that she submit written evidence of fraud in the Commission as the price of formally addressing MEPs.

On Monday (2 October) the Parliament's budget control committee decided that the sacked Commission official could be invited to appear before it but would first have to provide documentary evidence of wrongdoing.

However, Andreasen told European Voice she would not compile such a report at this stage because it would give those she may accuse of irregularities scope to cover them up. 'It would be exactly like telling the thieves that the police are on the way,' she added.

In any case, Andreasen says she has already provided written evidence to substantiate her allegations to her superiors in the Commission. She believes MEPs should request to see those documents - and she is ready to identify them by number.

Andreasen, who was removed from her post as the Commission's accounting officer after claiming its computer-based bookkeeping system is 'vulnerable to fraud', also believes that the EU's executive may seek to prevent her from discussing such a report with MEPs or use it in the disciplinary process currently under way against her.

A senior aide to personnel chief Neil Kinnock had previously sought legal advice about whether Andreasen could be restrained from airing her grievances at a Parliamentary hearing.

Meanwhile, Chris Heaton-Harris, the Conservative MEP who championed Andreasen's case after it was first highlighted by this newspaper, has told friends he wants to move the focus of his campaign away from Neil Kinnock, the Commission vice-president.

As a former leader of the UK Labour Party, Kinnock was a natural target for Heaton-Harris. However, the commissioner responsible for personnel issues has won some sympathy because of his tangental role in the original circumstances that led to Andreasen being axed.

Heaton-Harris has indicated that Michaele Schreyer, the German budget commissioner who hired Andreasen - allegedly against the advice of her director general, Jean-Paul Mingasson, is now the target of his ire.

Schreyer, meanwhile, has circulated a memo to colleagues admitting that the institution's accounting system has inherent deficiencies.

It states that 'the Commission's accounting system was designed for cash accounting and has only been adapted to a limited extent to meet the requirements of general modern accounting'.

By the end of this year, it adds, the Commission will be asked to approve proposals drafted by its budget officials on 'how generally-accepted accounting practice can be implemented' and what type of computer system it should use for bookkeeping in the future.

In a related development, the Parliament's budget control committee has rubber-stamped a report stating that MEPs should be notified of all appointments, sackings or reshuffling of Commission officials.

Whistleblower Marta Andreasen has ruled out complying with a European Parliament demand that she submit written evidence of fraud in the European Commission as the price of formally addressing MEPs.