Watt could name accused auditors

Date: 23/05/02

By David Cronin

TWO members of the EU's Court of Auditors have been accused of hiring staff for lucrative posts because they were personally close to them rather than because of their qualifications.

The revelation follows last month's claim by Dougal Watt, an official with the Luxembourg-based Court, that some of its 15 board members had resorted to nepotism.

Watt did not substantiate this in a dossier sent to the Court's 525 employees, MEPs and the European Ombudsman. However, European Voice has learned that he may be ready to 'name names' to investigators from the European anti-fraud office, OLAF.

It is thought he will give evidence that a Court member hired an aide solely on the basis that she was the daughter of a former boss and that another bypassed the normal recruitment procedures when appointing an advisor.

Allegations have also surfaced about a former member of the Court, who is reported to have hired a nephew and subsequently the son of a personal friend.

Asked if there was substance to these claims, an advisor to the Court's President Juan Fabra Vallés declined to comment.

It has also emerged that Watt won 205 votes - almost half the institution's workers - when he stood successfully for election to the staff committee soon after circulating his dossier.

Although OLAF is investigating his allegations, which also include claims of sexual harassment, EU Ombudsman Jacob Söderman will not be pursuing a separate inquiry.

A spokesman said Watt's complaint was inadmissible as he had not exhausted internal remedies and his nepotism claims were not sufficiently specific.

Two members of the European Court of Auditors have been accused of hiring staff for lucrative posts because they were personally close to them rather than because of their qualifications.