Spokesmen speak out

Date: 26/06/1997

The best entertainment from the European Commission's spokesmen lately has come from outside the press briefing room, in the bar.

It was there that Willy Helin (competition) and Jean-Christophe Filori (science, research and education) decided to argue over which spin doctor delivered the best medicine. As tempers flared, the two demonstrated their considerable skills in multilingual expletives. It is unclear whether some of the more unorthodox suggestions the two spokesmen made concerning each other are actually permissible under EU law.

Helin was also on the receiving end of some journalistic ire in the press room last week. One grumpy hack walked out when Helin refused to speak 'on the record' about EU-US competition rules.

Van Miert's man said he was speaking on background terms only because he was fed up with being quoted everywhere. “I'm nobody,” he said. “I'm just the spokesman ...”