Euro-MPs decided by 515 votes to 88 yesterday to absolve the European Commission over rampant fraud at its Eurostat data office. This establishes the remarkable precedent that the political figures in charge of the European institutions are not responsible for abuses committed on their watch. At least £3 million of taxpayer’s money is known to have disappeared into slush funds described by fraud investigators as "a vast enterprise of looting". Missing records hint at far greater losses and similar patterns of black accounts are suspected across a wide range of EU agencies and departments. "I can’t be blamed or asked to take responsibility for something I don’t know about," said Pedro Solbes, the Eurostat commissioner. He has returned to Spain to become finance minister in the new socialist government. Jens-Peter Bonde, a Danish Euro-MP, said: "The moral of this story is that every commissioner is untouchable as long as they make sure civil servants keep them in the dark. This is madness."
EU: The Home of Corruption and Procedural Madness. Whoda thunk it? |