Commission faces legal action from German aid charity

Date: 09/01/03

By David Cronin

A GERMAN charity is taking legal action against the European Commission over its allegedly improper handling of an application for funding.

Shortly before Christmas, Internationaler Hilfsfonds submitted papers to the European Court of Justice, claiming it was unfairly treated by the Commission's humanitarian office ECHO.

The group, which is based near Frankfurt, had twice applied to become a "partner" of ECHO in 1995-96. Under such a deal, EU aid to some of the world's most beleaguered people would be distributed through the group's projects.

Yet after seeking information from Germany's foreign ministry, ECHO was informed that the group was being prosecuted for irregularities, and decided not to proceed with examining the application.

The German public prosecutor, however, decided to drop the charges against Internationaler Hilfsfonds in April 1996. To the group's chagrin, ECHO was not formally told about that decision until November 2001.

The group's legal action follows a decision by the EU's Ombudsman Jacob Söderman to uphold several points of a complaint made by its president Karl Koch.

In May last, Söderman ruled that ECHO was wrong not to deal with the group's application on the basis that it did not include a reference from a national authority.

He said that the office had not told the charity such a document was required until 2001.

Söderman also found that a failure by ECHO to inform Koch about its rejection of his funding bid amounted to maladministration.

Speaking to European Voice, Koch insisted that his organisation is a reputable one.

He said the group had spent some €49 million in 1991-2001, benefiting people in countries ranging from Rwanda to Kazakhstan.

His work for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster earned him a "gold medal" award from the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Koch added that he is taking legal action in a bid to recover the €14,500 he had spent on legal fees in seeking advice about his complaint to the Ombudsman. Furthermore, he wants disciplinary action to be taken against those officials who allegedly treated his charity incorrectly.

But such calls were rejected by the Commission in a letter from September last. It was signed by Giorgio Bonacci, head of EuropeAid, which coordinates the EU's external aid programmes.

Bonacci told Koch's lawyer that the Commission's rules did not provide for reimbursing such costs. "There is no need for legal representation," he said. "Thus, if your client has chosen to use a lawyer's services to address the Ombudsman, it is his own decision and financial responsibility."

Bonacci dismissed calls for punishing the officials who dealt with the application. He wrote: "Indeed, as they have continuously been - and keep on being - personally attacked by your client, we must remind you that those people are free to take action in the civil courts against your client if they consider that he has defamed them and that in such a case, the appointing authority [the Commission's personnel service], which has an obligation to assist officials when they are attacked in their official capacity, may consider it necessary to assist them in bringing these actions."

German charity Internationaler Hilfsfonds is taking legal action against the European Commission over its allegedly improper handling of an application for funding.