President EU Commissie Barroso verdedigt kandidaat-eurocommissaris Jeleva; 'aantijgingen moeten van bewijs zijn voorzien' (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has sent a letter to MEPs telling them that any accusations levelled against the Bulgarian EU commissioner nominee during what is widely expected to be a tough hearing later today must be backed up by proof.
"Anyone accusing anyone of any wrongdoing should of course present corresponding evidence, as in our democratic societies the rule of law implies that the accuser should prove accusations," he said in a letter sent out on Monday (11 January).
Mr Barroso was replying to the Greens group, which had asked him about allegations in the press concerning Rumiana Jeleva i, the Bulgarian foreign minister and a former MEP.
Some of the allegations have suggested that her husband has connections with organised crime.
German paper Die Welt notably ran an article whose title referred to the "gangster bride."
Ms Jeleva has long been seen as a weak link in the commission line up, with officials admitting that if one would-be commissioner will be forced to go by the parliament, it is likely to be her, pointing to a lack of policy experience and poor English language skills, although she is fluent in German.
Mr Barroso, who is keen to get his commission up and running after over two months of delay due to institutional problems, has suggested Ms Jeleva be given the entirely new portfolio of International Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. However, the dossier is seen as one of the least important among the 26 commissioners.
With some MEPs keen to delve into the commissioners' declaration of interests, a document each one has already submitted to parliament, Mr Barroso was careful in his letter to underline that Ms Jeleva, and not the commission president, is responsible for her statement:
"All the commissioner-designates' declaration of interest have been looked at carefully in terms of respect for the terms of the Code of Conduct. Ms Jeleva confirmed to me that her declaration, like those of other commissioners, respects the Code."
The code of conduct is an internal set of rules governing how commissioners should present their past and current interests.
Speaking ahead of the hearings on Monday, UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff said: "We are all conscious of the press speculation, especially in the German press, on the family's business concerns. And I am certain that the hearing of her is to be focussed upon some of those issues."
Mr Duff, in charge of overseeing how the hearings are carried out, also suggested MEPs would not hesitate to ask Mr Barroso for more information if they felt that a candidate was not forthcoming enough.
"I think, if at the end of a hearing the committee responsible discovers that it requires further information from president Barroso as to the competences or probity of a commissioner designate then it can ask him for that and if there is a problem then I think that that is the course that will take place."
MEPs cannot veto a single candidate but they can threaten to vote against the entire commission if they do not get their way, with the plenary ballot due on 26 January. In 2004, two candidates were withdrawn and one portfolio swap was made in the face of pressure from deputies.
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