BRUSSELS: Former European commissioner and French prime minister Edith Cresson was guilty of "favouritism" and should lose half her EU pension, a judge has recommended, writes Jamie Smyth in Brussels
Advocate General Leendert Geelhoed to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) concluded yesterday that Ms Cresson had breached the obligations of her office during her tenure as EU research commissioner between 1995 and 1999 by favouring her friends for jobs.
The opinion is not legally binding but is followed in about 80 per cent of ECJ cases.
Ms Cresson, who was a controversial prime minister while in office in France in 1991 and 1992, was a central figure in the drama surrounding the dismissal of the entire European Commission in 1999 amid allegations of rampant cronyism.
It was the disclosure that she had employed her dentist, René Berthelot, as a personal adviser that sparked the controversy over a culture of favouritism that led to all commissioners serving under former president Jacques Santer being forced to go.
The Advocate General's published opinion says that the 66- year-old Mr Berthelot was appointed at the insistence of Ms Cresson, despite warnings that this was not possible. He was granted the post of visiting scientist - a job that paid him more than €100,000 between 1995 and 1997. He also exceeded the time limit for the post.
The opinion also highlights the fact that commission services under Ms Cresson's control offered contracts to another acquaintance, commercial lawyer Timm Riedinger, at her request. No payment was ever made, or work done on the contracts, the opinion says.
The Advocate General dismissed Ms Cresson's objection that her fundamental rights were breached in the manner that the commission had taken the case against her. He also noted that the facts in the case had not been "seriously disputed" by Ms Cresson.
He said the severity of the charges warranted a full deprivation of pension rights. However, a number of factors, including the lapse of time since she left office, the damage already suffered to her reputation, and the general administrative culture at the time within the commission were mitigating factors in the case. Accordingly, Mr Geelhoed suggested a 50 per cent cut in Ms Cresson's €47,000 a year pension.
Dutch MEP Jan Mulder welcomed the opinion yesterday. "A real statesman would have resigned, rather than bring about the downfall of the whole Santer commission in 1999," he said.
"We are still feeling the impact today from the poor standards of sound financial management of the Cresson era, which badly damaged the reputation of the European executive, but which is now finally being addressed by the substantial financial reform measures introduced since 2000."