The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today issued an opinion in which it found that former French prime minister Edith Cresson engaged in favouritism during her time as a European commissioner.
In an unprecedented case, Advocate General Leendert Adrie Geelhoed found Ms Cresson used her office "to extend benefits to personal friends". He recommended that she lose half her pension as a sanction.
"While the severity of the charges against Mrs Cresson warrant a full deprivation of pension rights, a number of factors, including the lapse of time between her leaving office and proceedings being brought, the damage which has already occurred to her reputation and the general administrative culture in the Commission at the time mitigate against such a severe sanction," the opinion said.
While the finding does not constitute a ruling, the ECJ upholds the AG's opinion in the vast majority of cases.
Ms Cresson denied wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts worth €150,000 to her dentist René Bertholet and business given by her department to lawyer Timm Riedinger, both of whom were personal friends.
The AG said Mr Berthelot was recruited at her insistence to serve as her personal science adviser, despite receiving advice that he was not qualified for the position. Furthermore, he held the position for 28 months - four months longer than allowed under Commission regulations..
Mr Riedinger was offered three contracts in 1995 from Commission services under Ms Cresson's control; at least two of which were at her express request. No payment was ever made for the contracts and the work was not carried out.
"The fact that the sums of money which were paid to Mr Berthelot were modest has no bearing on the question of admissibility ... What matters is whether the conduct concerned was likely to damage the Commission's authority and credibility," Mr Geelhoed said in the opinion.
The Commission led by Jaques Santer resigned en masse in 1999 amid a series of corruption allegations. The resignations came after a an independent inquiry cleared all commissioners of personal wrongdoing but found the Commission lacked political responsibility.
Iin 2004, the current Commission interviewed Ms Cresson about her time as Education and Research Commissioner. Afterwards it referred the case to the ECJ. At the time Ms Cresson described the interviews as "Kafkaesque".
A definitive ruling by the ECJ will be made at a later date.