Register lacking in interest

Date: 14/12/1995

It has become known as the Commission's register of lack of interests. The long-awaited publication of the so-far secret account of what Commissioners get up to in their spare time, professionally that is, left journalistic guardians of openness and transparency clamouring for less. “About as gripping as the phone directory, but less informative,” bleated one. “Not so much a whodunnit as a whodoesn't-do-it,” moaned another. Still, we can't complain: we asked for the facts and we've got them, in all their tediousness. The results show that Commissioners are too busy doing their jobs to do much of anything on the side.

Secretary-General David Williamson set the three questions to be answered, requesting information on past or present directorships of firms or foundations, details of any financial involvement (over 5&percent; of capital) in private companies, and a breakdown of professional links to firms which have been investigated by the Commission.

The prize for brevity goes to Sir Leon Brittan, whose replies to all three questions amounted to: “None, since January 1989; none; none.”

The register shows that Manuel Marín is on the board of the College of Europe, while Martin Bangemann is chairman of the German Liberal Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung.

No one holds any shares that cross the 5&percent; threshold, while Anita Gradin confides that she has one share in Konsum, three in MODO and 100 in Pharmacia. The only Commissioner to have had any links with a firm subsequently investigated by the Commission was Hans van den Broek, who was first secretary of the administrative council and then commercial director of Enka BV of Arnhem in the late Sixties and early Seventies. As part of the Akzo group, it was later investigated by the Commission. While some other Commissioners, such as Edith Cresson, Yves-Thibault de Silguy and Mario Monti, held directorships before being appointed to Brussels, none do so now and all came below the 5&percent; threshold and answered “no” to the final question. Dull? Very, but worthy and accountable.

The register of interests does not extend to political matters, but Entre Nous can reveal that Cresson is still mayor of the French town of Chatellerault. Before anyone mutters scandal, the post is unpaid and the Commission's legal service has confirmed there is no incompatibility between the role of a Commissioner and a local (as opposed to a national) political mandate. Those with a good memory will recall that former Belgian Commission vice-president Henri Simonet was mayor of Anderlecht at the same time.