Subject:
[eurofaq] Brussels Sprouts, Private Eye 20th January
Brussels Sprouts
The European Parliament's head of building services Pierre Parthoens,
responsible for multi-million core building projects in Brussels, has been
suspended from work after it was discovered that he is under investigation over
corruption charges.
Partheons is one of 12 defendants accused by state prosecutors of bribing a
Belgian official in relation to a motor-way tunnel project in Liege, in East
Belgium, in his previous job. He does not deny the charge which could see
him given a four-year suspended jail sentence, but claims he was only doing as
he was told by his (since deceased) boss.
Parthoens was was quietly suspended in November after the parliament's
Secretary-General Julian Priestley learned about the criminal investigation -
Parthoens apparently hadn't thought he ought to mention the small matter to his
current bosses until October. Disciplinary proceedings have also been
opened.
Hans-Martin Tillack, the investigative journalist who exposed the story in
German magazine Stern, has been quick to point out that EU anti-fraud body Olaf
has already investigated Pathoens, who has been an official at the European
parliament since 1998, twice before.
In January 2002 questions were asked about possibly exaggerated payments to
contractors involved in the new European parliament building in Brussels.
The investigation was soon shelved, with Olaf chief Franz-Hermann Bruner saying
no irregularities had been found.
In March 2002 Parthoens's €7,500 "foreign service allowance" for the
mere 15 days a year he worked in Luxembourg was also called into question, but
again ruled to be okay. However, according to Tillack, an internal report
described Olaf's supposed probe as a "show investigation".
The EU institutions don't much like Mr. Tillack's reporting of such matters.
Two years ago his working documents were taken in a police raid in Brussels
following his exposure of the Eurostat scandal (Eyes passim).