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Overholdelse af Kommissionens regler om interessekonflikter forud for udnævnelsen af en særlig rådgiver for Kommissionens formand

Decision
Case 1408/2015/OV - Opened on Tuesday | 15 September 2015 - Decision on Thursday | 26 May 2016 - Institution concerned European Commission ( Critical remark )

The issue in this complaint is the alleged failure of the European Commission, in appointing a Special Adviser, to abide by its own rules on preventing conflicts of interest.

In September 2015, two NGOs complained to the Ombudsman that the Commission had failed to comply with its Rules when it appointed a Special Adviser to assist the Commission President. The Commission issued a press release on 18 December 2014 announcing the appointment of Mr Edmund Stoiber as a Special Adviser to the Commission President. This announcement was made three months before Mr Stoiber was officially appointed on 4 March 2015, without any disclaimer about the pending administrative requirements still to be fulfilled. The complainants argued that this premature announcement compromised the Commission's capacity to conduct an unbiased and critical assessment of whether the person in question had any conflicts of interest. They complained also that the Commission's "statement of assurance", an essential part of the appointment process, failed to mention the positions the Special Adviser held with Nürnberger, a large insurance group.  

The Ombudsman inquired into the issue and found that the Commission's press release was incorrect and misleading. The Ombudsman also found that the premature announcement of the appointment, without any disclaimer, raised legitimate doubts for the interested public as to whether an unbiased and critical examination of the conflict of interest question had been carried out following the announcement. The Ombudsman found maladministration by the Commission on both counts. The Ombudsman also found that the Commission had failed to explain why the positions of the appointed Special Adviser in the insurance group were omitted from the "statement of assurance". She found that this also amounted to maladministration.

Denne klage vedrører Europa-Kommissionens påståede manglende overholdelse af sine egne regler om forebyggelse af interessekonflikter ved udpegelsen af en særlig rådgiver.

I september 2015 klagede to ngo'er til Ombudsmanden over, at Kommissionen ikke havde overholdt sine egne regler om forebyggelse af interessekonflikter ved udpegelsen af en særlig rådgiver, som skulle bistå kommissionsformanden.  Kommissionen udsendte den 18. december 2014 en pressemeddelelse, hvori den meddelte, at Edmund Stoiber var blevet udpeget som særlig rådgiver for kommissionsformanden. Meddelelsen blev udsendt tre måneder inden den officielle udpegelse af Edmund Stoiber den 4. marts 2015 uden at tage forbehold for, at der endnu ikke var foretaget en gennemgang af, om de administrative krav var opfyldt. Klagerne gjorde gældende, at denne for tidligt udsendte meddelelse bragte Kommissionens evne til foretage en upartisk og kritisk vurdering af, om den pågældende person var genstand for interessekonflikter, i fare. De klagede desuden over, at Kommissionen i sin erklæring om, at der ingen interessekonflikter består, som jo er en væsentlig del af ansættelsesprocessen, ikke havde nævnt de stillinger, som den særlige rådgiver havde bestridt hos Nürnberger, en stor forsikringskoncern.

Ombudsmanden undersøgte sagen og fandt, at Kommissionens pressemeddelelse var ukorrekt og vildledende. Ombudsmanden fandt desuden, at det manglende forbehold i den for tidligt udsendte meddelelse om udpegelsen rejste berettiget tvivl hos den berørte almenhed om, hvorvidt der efter meddelelsen var blevet foretaget en upartisk og kritisk vurdering i forbindelse med spørgsmålet om interessekonflikter. Ombudsmanden fandt, at begge forhold udgjorde tilfælde af fejl eller forsømmelser. Ombudsmanden fandt desuden, at Kommissionen ikke havde givet nogen forklaring på, hvorfor de stillinger, som den særlige rådgiver havde bestridt i forsikringsgruppen, ikke var nævnt i erklæringen om, at der ingen interessekonflikter består. Hun fandt, at dette også udgjorde et tilfælde af fejl eller forsømmelser.