Brussels, 12/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 March, the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, told the European Commission to issue guidelines on public statements made by Commissioners on ongoing investigations.
She found that statements by former Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia about an ongoing cartel investigation involving French bank Crédit Agricole “created a public impression of bias, that the former Commission had already reached a conclusion about the bank's alleged participation in the cartel before the investigation was complete,” Emily O'Reilly commented: “The new Commission should acknowledge the maladministration that has occurred in this case under the previous Commission, apologise, and make sure that this does not happen again.” The Commission takes note of the Ombudsman's recommendation and says it remains committed to impartiality and objectiveness and protecting the parties' right of defence. At the same time, the Commission argued that the statements served the purpose of transparency and informing the public about important cases. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's spokesman, Ricardo Cardoso, said that the Commissioner made it a point of honour not to comment on ongoing cases.
Crédit Agricole is being investigated about its alleged involvement in price fixing for derivatives in euros. Four banks were fined in this connection in 2013, but Crédit Agricole and two other banks rejected the accusations. The investigation is still under way. In July 2014, Crédit Agricole complained to the Ombudsman about how in several public statements from 2012 to 2014, Almunia violated his duty of impartiality by saying he had already decided about the bank's involvement in the cartel. The Ombudsman says the Commission does not share Crédit Agricole's interpretation and pointed out the transparency obligations described above. The Ombudsman explains that having analysed the different arguments and statements, she concluded that the Commission committed 'an instance of maladministration'. (Elodie Lamer)