Defence of Santer Commission is branded “nonsense” by whistleblower

Date: 27/03/03

By David Cronin

WHISTLEBLOWER Paul van Buitenen has voiced astonishment at claims by an EU official on temporary leave that the Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 due to "completely unjust" reports of fraud and corruption.

Santiago Gómez-Reino made the claims in an academic paper for the University of Miami, where he is lecturing as part of a Commission-funded fellowship programme. According to the Spaniard, Jacques Santer and his team stepped down due to fraud allegations that were "disproportionate, completely unjust and for a large part simply non-existent".

Van Buitenen, the former internal auditor who triggered the resignation en masse, said: "It is incredible that this guy is allowed to write such nonsense about the EU's history from a position arranged by the Commission.

"The Commission should take appropriate measures to limit the damage and see if disciplinary measures are appropriate."

Gómez-Reino was director of the Commission's humanitarian office (ECHO) in the 1990s. An internal disciplinary proceeding cleared him of wrongdoing in 1999 after he had been accused of turning a blind eye to the reported abuse of EU funds earmarked for projects in Africa's Great Lakes region and the Balkans.

Last year van Buitenen asked the Commission to hold a further probe into Gómez-Reino, arguing that he should not have been exonerated. Dutchman van Buitenen, who left the Commission in autumn 2002, claims there is substantial evidence linking the Spaniard to the disappearance of around €600,000.

Speaking to European Voice, Gómez-Reino said he was confident he had not broken any of the rules which apply to the EU's civil service by voicing his views about the fate of the Santer Commission. "I am still an official of the Commission and I am under an obligation to respect the provisions of the statute of officials," he added.

Asked if he was making the comments in a personal capacity, he replied: "Who has written the paper - the Commission or myself? I came to the US with total freedom to comment on a personal basis. Total freedom of expression is not only a human right, it is also the right of anybody working in this kind of framework, a [university] fellowship."

Gómez-Reino has been with the Commission for 18 years and is now a "hors classe" advisor in its directorate-general for administration (Marta Andreasen was appointed to the same position after being removed from her post as the Commission's accounting officer last year). His Miami fellowship is due to conclude in June, after which he intends to return to Brussels.

Meanwhile, the Parliament's budget control committee gave the go-ahead on Monday (24 March) for the EU's 2001 accounts to be signed off.

However, its members also adopted a call for the Commission to report every three months on what progress it is making on the reforms of its accounting system demanded by Andreasen.

The budget discharge for the 2001 financial year will now be subject to a vote by the entire assembly on 8 April.

Whistleblower Paul van Buitenen has voiced astonishment at claims by a European Union official on temporary leave that the Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 due to 'completely unjust' reports of fraud and corruption.