Brussels, 16/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided on Wednesday 15 October to accept the resignation of the director general of Directorate General Health and Consumers (SANCO), Paola Testori Coggi (Italy), for “failure to comply with the rules” during a call for tenders, one of its spokespersons has indicated.
An investigation “did not find any evidence of corruption or criminal behaviour” and “the deeds of which she is accused have had no financial consequences”, stated Antony Gravili, spokesperson for Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic.
“This is a case of failure to respect internal procedures. Ms Testori herself took steps when she realised her error and cancelled the procedure. She accepted responsibility and offered her resignation”, he said. “Ms Testori, who is 61, has had an impeccable 32-year career in the Commission but there is zero tolerance towards failure to comply with internal rules and procedures, to ensure a level playing field for all those submitting tenders”, he emphasised.
According to a European source, the director general personally telephoned an NGO to inform it of the launch of a call for tenders for a contract worth €100,000 for a food-related study in 2012. This error, “committed in a room full of her colleagues”, was reported by a whistle-blower and OLAF (the European anti-fraud office) was asked to investigate. OLAF concluded that “there was no corruption”, the source said. In the course of the disciplinary procedure which followed, Testori offered her resignation, which was finally accepted on Wednesday by the College of Commissioners.
In October 2012, the Commission dismissed Health Commissioner John Dalli after an OLAF investigation implicated him in a case of peddling of influence related to the tobacco industry. Dalli was the commissioner with responsibility for DG Health and Consumers, headed by Testori.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said recently that he had received indications of unwise and inappropriate behaviour on the part of his commissioner, whose contacts with representatives of the tobacco industry were, in his view, “sufficient reason for him to leave the Commission”. “If the integrity of one member of the Commission is questioned, the whole Commission is undermined”, argued Barroso (our translation throughout). (LC)