Klokkenluider Marta Andreasen verwacht in oktober een ontslag als hoofd-accountant bij Europese Commissie (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The long saga surrounding the suspended former Chief Accountant and whistleblower, Marta Andreasen, seems to be drawing to a close.

She is expected to get the sack some time in October before the present Commission steps down.

Ms Andreasen explained that the disciplinary board investigating her case has recommended to the Commission that she be dismissed, adding, "It is a very difficult moment for me".

Ms Andreasen was suspended in mid-2002 after claiming that the Commission's accounting system was widely open to fraud and abuse.

She has been accused of breaking the rules of confidence by raising the issue publicly. The disciplinary procedures against her were launched in March this year.

Not a eurosceptic

On Wednesday (29 September), Ms Andreasen had a face to face meeting with Commission President Romano Prodi and the other Commissioners in an attempt to convince them that she had acted in the public interest.

I have been reading the articles about my case and they all write about the suspension, but that is not the issue, the issue here is that "they don't want to change" and "the same people manage the funds", Ms Andreasen told the EUobserver.

Ms Andreasen appeared at a meeting on Thursday in Brussels together with two other whistleblowers Paul van Buitenen - now an MEP - and Dougal Watt.

We are not eurosceptics criticising European projects, we are just criticising the behaviour of the institutions, stressed Ms Andreasen at a meeting organised by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Asked if whistleblowing is working, Ms Andreasen replied: "we are the evidence that it is not working".

New protection needed

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called for new protection for whistleblowers within the EU.

The Andreasen case is "a test case of the Commission's trust in the concept of the people's right to know", said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White.

"Why should it be appropriate in a democracy for someone to face dismissal because they told the truth", he asked.