Thursday

28th Mar 2024

New Irish commissioner locked in legal spat with MEP

  • Phil Hogan (in the middle) has threatened an Irish MEP with legal action (Photo: Fine Gael)

Phil Hogan, due to be in charge of agriculture in the next EU commission, is locked in a legal spat with Irish MEP Nessa Childers.

Hogan, who is also Irish, has threatened Childers with legal action over a letter she sent to her colleagues in the European Parliament laying out why she did not believe he should be a commissioner.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Childers’ letter refers to allegations that when he was a member of the Irish parliament and environment minister he asked a local county council not to provide social housing to a “Traveller family” following a request by some of his constituents.

The allegations surfaced in Irish media in 2012.

The Socialist MEP suggests this makes him ineligible for the commissioner post.

Hogan responded by sending three legal letters – on the 8, 22 and 24 September - to Childers accusing her of disseminating “false, defamatory information”.

The last letter asks her to “formally withdraw your allegations within five days” or Hogan may have “no option but to initiate legal proceedings”.

In a further twist both sides are arguing over whether Childers has parliamentary privilege in this instance – something which applies when an MEP is carrying out their parliamentary duties.

She says yes while Hogan’s lawyers argue the opposite.

Following Hogan's third letter, Childers sent a letter of her own to MEPs in the legal affairs committee drawing their attention to the whole dispute.

She said that if MEPs were put off by Hogan's legal path "this would seriously prejudge the scrutiny which is incumbent upon the members of Parliament's Committee in charge".

She asks her legal-committee colleagues to reassure MEPs that they "can discharge their duties of scrutiny without hindrance or fear of legal retaliation".

Hogan is due to be grilled by MEPs in the agriculture committee next Thursday (2 October) to assess his suitability for the farm portfolio - a key dossier that is set to feature heavily in the ongoing EU-US free trade talks.

Childers, for her part, is not a member of the agriculture committee.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  2. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  3. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  4. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  5. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  6. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  7. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  8. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us