Commission trio face possible loss of immunity

Date: 04/07/1996

By Rory Watson

BELGIUM'S legal authorities want to question a trio of senior Commission officials as part of their investigation into allegations of improper conduct and fraud in the institution's tourism unit.

In a new twist to the long-running inquiry into fraud in the department, the Commission revealed this week that it had received a request to lift the immunity of Heinrich von Moltke, the director-general in charge of the policy area.

Von Moltke himself is understood to be willing to cooperate with the Belgian authorities

so that he can respond to allegations made during the investigation into tourism fraud.

Criticism of the department, which first emerged in 1990 over the handling of the European Year of Tourism, reached a peak two years ago when suspicions were voiced that study contracts were being awarded in exchange for kickbacks.

The Commission has already dismissed two members of Von Moltke's department - Greek official George Tzoanos and French temporary agent Pascal Chatillon - after an internal inquiry. Both were arrested earlier this year and now face trial, possibly in the autumn, in Brussels.

The Belgians also want to question former British Commission official Alan Mayhew, who was previously head of the tourism department, and a third official, René Guth, and have asked for both men's immunity to be lifted as well.

“We just want to question the people concerned and then see whether we should continue our investigations or not,” explained an official in the public prosecutor's department.

The Belgian authorities are required to follow up on any allegations they receive, but cannot question EU officials, whether they are still employed or have recently retired, without first asking for their diplomatic immunity to be lifted.

But the move has nevertheless surprised many in the Commission. Mayhew left the tourism department over six years ago to handle relations with Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, retired from the institution last year and now teaches at a Belgian university.

The Commission has asked the Belgian authorities for more information on why they want to question the three men before deciding whether to lift their immunity.

The delay was criticised yesterday (3 July) by British Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, who has played a leading role in pressing for an investigation into the tourism department.

“I was assured at the highest level by the Commission last week that it was going to cooperate fully with the police in respect of these new requests. I am astonished that there should be any delay, especially as it is clear these requests do not imply any guilt, merely that the police wish to complete their inquiries following charges they have already made against other individuals,” he said.

Explaining why the whole process has taken so long, a Belgian lawyer said: “The request has to go from the public prosecutor's office to the ministry of justice and then to the ministry of foreign affairs before being handed to the Commission.

“It can take at least two weeks in every department for the paperwork to be processed so two and a half months can go by quite easily. The Commission's reply also takes time as it travels the same route.”