Posted on 04/18/2005 11:51:35 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy
BRUSSELS / EUOBSERVER - The European Commission has rebuffed claims that president Jose Manuel Barroso and trade commissioner Peter Mandelson acted improperly by accepting luxurious holidays from wealthy friends.
But the commission's attitude, that officials do not need to declare gifts given while they are off-duty and that the college can police its own conduct, has ruffled feathers among some UK MEPs.
"The receipt of hospitality is a fact of private life, and therefore falls in principle under the respect for privacy of each individual Commissioner and those who host them", the college said in a statement issued on Monday (18 April).
Mr Barroso confirmed that he and his family stayed with the Greek billionaire, Spiros Latsis, on the magnate's 51 metre long yacht, the Kalinga, between August 22 and 28 last year.
The president met Mr Latsis while they were students at the University of Geneva in the late 1970s. Mr Barroso's former politics tutor, Dusan Sidjansky, was also on board.
Meanwhile, Mr Mandelson indicated that he stayed as a guest of two old friends in Guyana, South America, between December 30 and January 3 while on his way to a trade summit in the region.
The remaining commissioners also declared that their conscience was clean with respect to obligations under article 213(2) of the Treaty, the September 1999 Code of Conduct and the oath which they took in the European Court of Justice upon joining the Commission.
The college made the pledge during a meeting on 12 April in Strasbourg.
The declaration of good faith was prompted by a parliamentary question from the UKIP MEP, Nigel Farrage, on February 5.
A leak to the German newspaper, Die Welt, over the weekend may also have spurred the Commission to action.
"Mr Barroso strongly believes that he has done nothing wrong and he challenges anybody to prove otherwise", the president's spokeswoman, Francois Le Bail, said.
She added that, as far as she knew, neither Mr Barroso or Mr Mandelson's hosts had any business ties with the EU.
But she conceded that Mr Latsis' shipping, construction and banking empire is so large and complicated as to leave room for doubt.
"There are limits to how deep our investigations can go", she told EUobserver.
Ms Le Baile also disclosed that Mr Sidjansky had worked as a special advisor to the Commission, but explained that such a post entitled the holder only to claim back expenses and not to any form of remuneration.
But the Commission's response has done little to silence its critics.
"At a time when the Commission is trying to promote the Constitution as a document that will increase transparency and accountability in the EU, they are proving by their actions that they don't care about the opinions of ordinary people", Mr Farrage told EUobserver.
The UKIP MEP remarked that under the present system, Mr Barosso could go on holiday with a Russian gangster and would not be obliged to declare it if he did not personally feel it created a conflict of interest.
That corruption is thriving within the EU administration we already knew, but this story confirms it once again. The gravy train is running full speed ahead.
However, we can also find evidence that the EU commission, just like the MSM, is unable to come to grips with the Internet.
The president's spokeswoman Mme Le Bail stated that as far as she knew, neither Mr Barroso or Mr Mandelson's hosts had any business ties with the EU.
But she conceded that Mr Latsis' shipping, construction and banking empire is so large and complicated as to leave room for doubt.
"There are limits to how deep our investigations can go", she told EUobserver.
Well, let's see how difficult it is to find any "common interests":
Start with the most simple and google "Spiros Latsis" & EU. You'll get 10 hits and the first one is this:
Tanker sales signal shift in Greek shipping
It is an article from the Hellenic Voice, March 2005, telling us that Greek shipping magnates are selling off a lot of their tonnage....and making good profits. Here are some pertinent excerpts:
ATHENS, Greece — Three of Greek shipping's leading names have sold a staggering $2.1 billion worth of tankers in less than three weeks, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in profits in the process. It may hint at the start of a new trend among the current generation of ship owners.
The blockbusting deals struck by Peter G. Livanos, Theodore Angelopoulos and Spiros Latsis have demonstrated impeccable timing and outstanding asset play in the secondhand ship market at a time when ships are changing hands at record high prices.
SNIP
The most spectacular deal was struck by Livanos, who sold 16 Greek-flag tankers to Brussels-listed tanker specialist Euronav for $1.02 billion.
SNIP
The Angelopoulos and Livanos sales came as the market was digesting indications that Latsis is reducing its interest in shipping. The Spiros Latsis-controlled group has sold three modern 46,000-ton product tankers to highflying Greek owner TOP Tankers for a very firm $135 million in total. The five-year-old ships were built for under $100 million.
The sale to TOP, which listed on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange last summer, leaves the once mighty Latsis with just four 46,000-tonners and two 2003-built LPG carriers of 58,900 dwt.
SNIP
Thirdly, the sales come at a time when the EU has moved to introduce criminal sanctions against seafarers in cases of ship pollution, following the Prestige disaster in November 2002 off Spain and the mid-summer 2003 grounding of the Tasman Spirit at the entrance to Karachi port.
SNIP
Thus, with new European Union regulations on the way, shipping is becoming a very risky business for all involved. It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract recruits. There is an increasing number of instances in which seafarers are being put in jail to wait trial.
A major motive for these sales of tankers may well be the heightened liability of operating ships carrying crude oil and oil and chemical products.
.........
So, of course shipping and EU regulations were obviously never discussed on Mr Barroso's luxury cruise summer holiday.
Martha Stewart, eat your heart out!
PING!
Believe it or not - corruption at the EU top!
Well shut my mouth!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.