Brussels, 15/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The report by French lawyer Jean-Paul Jacqué, which was sent to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in early April and made public on Tuesday 14 April, states that the European EULEX mission to Kosovo mismanaged the case involving allegations of corruption for three of its managers in only opening an internal investigation late and secretly. This fuelled suspicion.
In his report, independent legal expert Jacqué stated that “an investigation should have been opened at the outset”, in other words in June 2012, when a EULEX prosecutor warned his hierarchy of the risk of a corruption case. “This would have prevented the issues that later arose in connection with the use of secret and special procedures, which fuelled suspicions of a cover-up that fortunately turned out to be unfounded”, the report states.
An investigation was finally opened in March 2013, but neither the Kosovan authorities nor the European diplomatic service were informed of this at the time.
“On the institutional level, this case has caused considerable damage to the EULEX mission”, Jacqué stated. Although EULEX was set up to guarantee the rule of law, “it has been accused of undermining the rule of law itself. Its credibility has been so badly harmed that its actions will often be tarnished by suspicion”, he added. In Jacqué's opinion, the continued presence of EULEX is only feasible “if comprehensive reforms are made to improve its effectiveness and thus its credibility”. “There is no point staying just to keep doing the same thing”, Jacqué stated.
Elmar Brok (EPP, Germany) and Ulrike Lunacek (Greens, Austria) from the European Parliament, who had called for this investigation to be made (see EUROPE 11192) have welcomed the publication of the report and the recommendations it contains. They request further details, however, on certain points of the investigation.
Mogherini entrusted Jacqué in November with examining the implementation of the mandate of the EULEX Kosovo mission “with a focus on the handling of the corruption allegations” (see EUROPE 11194). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)