On Friday 2 June, the GUE/NGL group at the European Parliament called for the resignation of Miguel Arias Cañete, following revelations in the Spanish press earlier this week that the anti-fraud office of the EU (OLAF) has opened an investigation linked to the revelations of the Panama Papers scandal and involving certain members of the inner circle of the European Commissioner for Climate Action (see EUROPE 11798).
Cañete's wife, Micaela Domecq, comes in for scrutiny as the owner of a shell company based in Panama and referred to in the Panama Papers.
OLAF has cross-referenced data with 40,000 companies and persons with links to the EU, the GUE/NGL explains, which reduced the field to 17 cases. This makes Cañete one of six investigations launched by the anti-fraud office.
The German far-left MEP Fabio De Masi urged Cañete to “step down as Commissioner until the investigations of OLAF come to a conclusion”. “Furthermore, in addition to his appearance before the PANA committee, we also expect Cañete to come before Parliament as a whole during the June plenary to explain himself”, he added in a press release.
On Friday, neither the Commission nor OLAF responded to our requests for comments. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)