Brussels, 19/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The University of Vienna has announced a probe into Commissioner Johannes Hahn's (regional policy) PhD, following accusations of plagiarism, relaunched after the scandal that has led to the resignation of the former German minister for defence, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The Commission has taken note of this decision. The commissioner is focusing on his regional policy work and is awaiting the end of the debate, which, according to his spokesman Ton van Lierop, will be very soon.
This affair goes back very far, explained the spokesman. The plagiarism accusations were made in 2007 against the commissioner (a member of the Conservative ÖVP party and Austria's minister for higher education until 2010 when he joined the Commission). The University of Vienna called for an external expert from Zurich University to investigate the commissioner's thesis, “Die Perspecktiven der Philosophie heute, dargestellt am Phänomen Statdt” (Current Philosophical Perspectives Applied to the Phenomenon of the City). He concluded that there had not been any plagiarism. An investigation has now been launched and the Commission has taken note of the situation.
The results will be released in four to six weeks' time, explained the Univerity of Vienna, which will use modern techniques and employ experts to carry out validation. According to Agence France Presse, which quoted Professor Brigitte Kopp (University of Vienna), “an examination takes place when the facts suggest that the scientific rules have not been respected in the work undertaken. This applies to all scientific projects, no matter who writes them”. (G.B./transl.fl)