Some questionable cost-cutting

Date: 22/02/1996

There are budget worries, too, in DGVII (transport), where the financial wizards decreed that too much money was being spent on foreign travel.

An official who was due to travel to Copenhagen on official Commission business was told to fly via Rome to save money. On another occasion, a senior official travelling to London was advised to buy two separate Apex tickets, which are cheaper than a normal return ticket.

Commendable cost-cutting, said some. Dubious, said others, pointing out that this could be legally questionable and therefore perhaps unwise for the department whose job it is to legislate on fair transport policies.