Commission opens Cresson investigation
By Honor Mahony
The European Commission decided Tuesday to open investigations into Edith Cresson, a commissioner in the late 1990s.
Mrs Cresson, a former French prime minister, was accused of corruption in a report by the EU anti-fraud office. The report led to the resignation of the whole commission in 1999. Among the most serious allegations contained in the report was that Mrs Cresson had hired her dentist, Rene Berthelot, to write a scientific report that was not delivered.
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A spokesperson for the Commission said the decision was the "outcome of an internal procedure" adding that this is the first time that the Commission is taking such a measure against one of its former members.
Mrs Cresson will be sent a statement, "in the next few weeks" which sets out "the facts pertaining to possible breaches by Mme Cresson of her obligations when a commissioner." The former commissioner will then have two months to reply. "Her response will be thoroughly considered by the commission before any decision is taken," says a commission statement.
In the meantime, Mrs Cresson continues to avail of a generous pension system. She stands to lose this if the charges against her are upheld.
The decision by the Commission has been welcomed in some quarters: Chris Heaton-Harris MEP, Conservative Spokesman on Budgetary Control, said: "At long last the Commission is taking steps to investigate its troubled past. The Commission that resigned in 1999 was corrupt, and it is high time that it is held to account for its fraudulent behaviour. How can the Commission ever be trusted if it continues to possess a history of uninvestigated malpractice?"
The current commission, under its president Romano Prodi, came to power promising reform and transparency in the institutions.