Brussels, 11/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - John Dalli, the former European commissioner for health and consumer policy, is continuing his fight in the General Court of the EU. He believes that he was improperly pushed to leave his post by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
The General Court of the EU has just scheduled its hearing of the case on 8 July (Hearing T-562/12). The issue dates back to 16 October 2012. An OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) report suspects Dalli of accepting a bribe from the tobacco industry at the time he was preparing the anti-tobacco directive.
Since then, Dalli (from Malta) has continued to proclaim his innocence and to contest his dismissal. Dalli brought the case before the General Court of the EU on 24 December 2012. He is seeking recognition of the prejudice he has suffered and damages. In June 2013, the Maltese law courts dropped all the charges against Dalli due to lack of evidence. The complainant (Dalli) asks the General Court of the EU to: - annul the oral decision of 16 October 2012 “of his termination of office with immediate effect”, taken by Barroso; - order the defendant to pay compensation of both the moral and material prejudice that he has suffered; - order the defendant to bear the entire costs. Dalli also states the “breach” of procedural rules, “as the challenged decision does not rest on valid grounds and the OLAF findings, on which the challenged decision is based, result from an illegal procedure”.
The date of the General Court's definitive ruling is not yet known. (LC)