Ex-Comissioner charged with corruption
By Honor Mahony
Edith Cresson has become the first former Commissioner to be charged with corruption.
Ms Cresson, who is also a former French prime minister, has been charged by the Belgian authorities with counterfeiting benefiting from professional contracts.
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A Commission spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that Ms Cresson received a letter from the Commission last Monday listing their allegations against her.
Parallel enquiry
That inquiry is running parallel to the Belgian judicial inquiry, which has been carried out by magistrate Jean-Claude Van Espen.
The Commission decided in January that it was going to charge Ms Cresson but took until now to make the letter "legally waterproof."
The Commission said it had not been informed of the Belgian decision but said the two actions were "completely independent."
Ms Cresson was the education commissioner from 1995-1999. She has been accused of hiring her dentist Rene Berthelot, who was allegedly paid huge sums of money for fictitious projects. These allegations were levelled at her in a report by the EU anti-fraud office.
The report led to the resignation of the whole commission in 1999.
The Commission has launched a total of eight disciplinary procedures against EU officials in light of the allegations file against Ms Cresson, seven of which are still open. The remaining file has been closed.