Suspicions of conflicts of interest against Commissioner-designate Thierry Breton are increasingly insistent on the side of the European Parliament, due to the links between the digital transformation company, Atos, which he manages, and the Internal Market portfolio that would be his at the Commission.
One of the concerns would be the link between Atos and the Copernicus programme. On 21 June 2018, Atos announced the launch of the new Earth Observation (EO) platform, called “Mundi Web Services”, in conjunction with the European land observation programme Copernicus.
According to the press release at the time, it is a platform supported by a consortium consisting of, among others, the German space agency DLR, or Thales Alenia Space. However, this consortium is led by Atos “on behalf of the European Commission and the European Space Agency”, according to the press release.
The platform aims to provide “unlimited, free, complete and instant access to Copernicus’ geographic satellite data” and is one of five DIAS (Copernicus Data and Information Access Services) platforms whose objective is to strengthen the dissemination of Copernicus’ data. The consortium is still current and led by Atos.
This could be a problem, given that Mr Breton would be responsible for space policy as part of his portfolio and, therefore, for the European terrestrial observation programme Copernicus.
Mr Breton was presented by France for the position of Commissioner two weeks after Sylvie Goulard's rejection, due to suspicions of conflicts of interest weighing on her (see EUROPE 12346/1). However, although the choice of the French candidate was praised for his skills and expertise, the potential conflicts of interest that his candidacy could present is worrisome, particularly on the left side of the Chamber, among the Greens/EFA, the GUE/NGL and the Social Democrats.
However, among the EPP members, the candidacy causes less gnashing of teeth than that of Mrs Goulard, we are assured. It is true that Mr Breton comes from the same political family.
The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is expected to rule on the matter soon. No date has been set, but 6 or 7 November are reportedly being put forth (see EUROPE 12357/9). The European Parliament is awaiting further information from the President-elect, Ursula von der Leyen, who is expected to provide the names by Monday 4 or Tuesday 5 November at the latest, we are told.
To consult the Atos press release dated 21 June 2018: http://bit.ly/36cciwI (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)