Brussels, 12/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - European Energy and Climate Action Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete stated on Tuesday 12 July after his hearing before the European Parliament legal affairs committee that he felt fully entitled to remain in post at the Commission.
His position having been questioned after the Panama Papers scandal which revealed links between some political leaders and offshore companies, Cañete told the press that he had scrupulously observed the commissioners' code of conduct and denied any conflict of interest in his activities.
“My performance as a commissioner is beyond reproach”, he said after his hearing, held in camera, with the legal affairs committee at which he was questioned over possible fresh conflicts of interest revealed by the Panama Papers (including on the company owned by his wife, Micaela Domecq, in Panama), the Acuamed scandal in Spain and the proposed uranium mine in Salamanca. Cañete said, with regard to the inclusion of his wife in the accounts of the Rinconada Investments Group, that the company had ceased to operate in 2010, so there was no conflict of interest.
Several MEPs, from the Greens/EFA and the GUE/NGL Groups in particular, called for his resignation in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations. In a press release, Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria) said that the legal affairs committee would submit recommendations to the president of the Parliament. Regner said that questions remain over Cañete's conduct and his suitability as a representative of the Commission and that the European anti-fraud office, OLAF, should investigate. The Greens/EFA Group was critical that the meeting took place behind closed doors.
The Spanish party Podemos initially called for a Parliamentary plenary session debate with Cañete. This request was turned down by Parliament President Martin Schulz, whose preference was for a hearing before the legal affairs committee. Cañete would seem to have survived, for the moment. It is possible, however, that his name might crop up again in the course of the work being conducted by the Parliament's committee of inquiry into the Panama Papers revelations. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)