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Paul van Buitenen Blows Whistle on European Commission
European
Commission auditor, Paul van Buitenen, blew the whistle in 1998-99 on
fraud and mismanagement. He first drew the attention of a Member of European
Parliament to the irregularities in 1998. For being a decent human being,
a dedicated professional and a conscientious citizen he was suspended, had
his salary halved and ordered to face disciplinary action. He fought on and
his exposures triggered the collapse of Jacques Santer's Commission. (Photo:
BN/DeStern)
The 42-year old Dutch Euro-civil servant has now been named 'European of the Year' by Reader's Digest magazine. He says he will donate his prize money to a fund in the Netherlands for helping other whistleblowers.
Paul van Buitenen's book reveals the whole story.
REFORMS
Paul van Buitenen is now being completely vindicated, and reforms are being made. A body to oversee standards in Euro-public life is being created - along the lines of the UK's Nolan Committee. European Commission vice-president Neil Kinnock is involved in these reforms - but was not very keen on Paul van Buitenen's actions. For information on the reforms and Kinnock's position click here:
| Kinnock |
or make a note of this web address for later:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/kinnock/index_en.htm
PAUL'S STORY
Paul van Buitenen's book, Blowing the Whistle: One man's fight against fraud in the European Commission, was launched in London on 13th March 2000. The book is published by Politico's, London, ISBN 1902301463 and may be ordered from their web site at http://www.politicos.co.uk/publishing or by telephone on 020 7931 0090 (UK).
In the Preface he writes: "On 9 December 1998, in my position as assistant-auditor in the Commission’s Financial Control Directorate, I blew the whistle on the Commission’s poor management of the fight against internal irregularities and fraud. I forwarded an incriminating 34 page letter, including almost 600 pages of reference material, to a Member of the European Parliament. This was the acceleration of an ongoing series of events that finally led to the resignation of the entire Commission little more than three months later.
On 15 March 1999 the first report of the Committee of Independent experts was published. Support for the Commission within the European Parliament evaporated immediately. This Committee of five “wise persons” was called in by the European Parliament to investigate my allegations and it largely confirmed what I had been saying all along. More important even than that was the report’s devastating conclusion that it was not easy to find anyone in the Commission with a proper sense of responsibility.
As a result of this, I was suspended for 4 months on half pay. I was reinstated in April, but banned from further auditing tasks and was finally disciplined with a reprimand that was severe in its wording. I have considered leaving the Commission’s services as I doubted whether there would still be a basis for me to continue my efforts to help improve the organisation from within. However, quite unexpectedly the previously anonymous support from many colleagues materialised in more visible form through my election as a staff representative with a high number of preferential votes. I decided to stay on board.
The Committee of Independent Experts issued their final report on 10 September 1999. It presented detailed recommendations for a thorough administrative reform of the Commission. This final report has been acknowledged by the European Parliament as a very good basis for reform."