Connolly sets legal precedent in latest round of legal battle

Date: 14/12/1995

SUSPENDED senior European Commission official Bernard Connolly has failed in his legal bid to challenge statements made by the Commission when it announced the opening of disciplinary proceedings against him.

But in an emergency decision from the EU's Court of First Instance this week, Connolly won partial satisfaction. The Court asked the Commission to take all measures necessary to ensure that no information on Connolly's career, personality, opinions or health be divulged by its staff to the media.

The ruling came after Connolly argued that the unattributable allegations made by Commission officials could prejudge the disciplinary hearings initiated after the unauthorised publication of his highly critical book on a single currency “The Rotten Heart of Europe”.

The Court maintained that the Commission's official statements, in which President Jacques Santer speculated whether the author still had a place in the institution, were not defamatory. They were merely a public reaction to Connolly's behaviour .

The judgement does not touch on the substance of Connolly's case, in which he demands the internal disciplinary proceedings be annulled and he be awarded 19,400 ecu in damages. Hearings are likely around Easter and a judgement delivered next year, once the Commission's internal procedure is completed.

Connolly's lawyer Pierre-Paul van Gehuchten welcomed the ruling, saying it would stop any drift towards further unattributable comments and stressed its legal significance.

“This is the first time the Court has gone so far in an emergency disciplinary ruling.”