Brussels, 18/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - Vindicated in the Court of Appeal, Belgian Commissioner Karel De Gucht is unlikely to be troubled at his trial, in 2015, over a tax fraud case which dates back to before his term in office at the Commission.
In an interim ruling, the Court of Appeal of Ghent stated on 17 December that the Belgian special tax inspection service, which suspects De Gucht of tax fraud, did not have enough evidence to examine the accounts of the former Belgian foreign minister and his wife. The judge therefore annulled all items of the resulting dossier, meaning that the Belgian tax service cannot use these as evidence in proceedings against Mr and Mrs De Gucht, which will start on 15 January 2015 at the Ghent court. However, the Belgian state may lodge an appeal with the Court of Cassation, but the Belgian politician remains confident in the matter, stating that “there is not the slightest reason for doing so”.
For its part, the European Commission has consistently been behind its Trade Commissioner in this private matter which predates his European duties (see EUROPE 10971). De Gucht has already said that he hopes to be part of the next Commission, after the European elections of May 2014. (EH/transl.fl)