On Thursday 17 November, the European Commission reiterated its confidence in Commissioner for the Digital Economy Günther Oettinger, who is in hot water yet again after accepting an offer to travel on board the private jet of a businessman with close links to the Kremlin (see EUROPE 11669).
When asked by the press whether the Commission continued to have confidence in Oettinger, Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas answered in the affirmative. In May of this year, Oettinger travelled to Hungary on board the private jet of German businessman Klaus Mangold, who is believed to be close to the Russian government.
On Tuesday 15 November, Oettinger explained that he was travelling to a conference by invitation of the Hungarian government and that, due to diary constraints, the only way of reaching his arranged meeting with the head of government, Viktor Orban, on time was to accept Orban's offer of a lift in Mangold's jet, as Mangold was also heading for the Hungarian capital. Schinas stressed that the invitation to the meeting with the Hungarian prime minister came at a point in time when the only way to travel there was using the transport offered by the government. He went on to say that the Commission does not consider it to have involved any conflict of interests as it is fairly standard practice and occurs quite frequently. As regards the relations between the Hungarian government and the owner of the jet, "I can't help you there, you would have to ask the Hungarian government", Schinas said.
Oettinger, who is subject to the transparency rules of all commissioners, has not officially reported his encounter with Mangold to the institutions. The spokesperson said that the rules for the transparency register apply to meetings within the field of competence of the commissioner in question, adding that in this case, it did not appear that there was any connection to the Digital portfolio. At the start of next year, Oettinger will be replacing Kristalina Georgieva, who has resigned as Commissioner for the Budget in order to go and work for the World Bank.
Oettinger has now apologised for his racist and homophobic comments and his misjudged remarks about Wallonia (see EUROPE 11661, 11660). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)