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Prodi Vows Not to Fire EU Officials Over Fraud Scandal
Followup to yesterdayâs post
Embattled European Commission President Romano Prodi says he will not fire senior members of his team over a fraud scandal that has shaken a key EU Agency.
After all, if TotalFinaElfâs actions are OK, whatâs wrong with a little graft?
Mr. Prodi told senior members of the European Parliament that that there was no reason to ask any commissioner to take political responsibility and resign over the allegations.
| "Nothing to see here. Move along. These aren't the pols you want..." |
There have been open calls by some parliament members for EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes to step down. The economics chief oversees the EU statistics agency, Eurostat, which is accused of gross financial negligence. Mr. Prodi appeared before the closed door inquiry in Strasbourg after an internal report, issued Wednesday, accused top Eurostat executives of creating fictitious contracts and funneling millions of euros into secret bank accounts. Mr. Prodi says the most serious instances of malpractice happened in the 1990s before he took office four years ago. He says he stands by his pledge of "zero tolerance for fraud".
uh huh
Posted by: Frank G 2003-09-25 |
