Fraud, corruption, abuse of power, maladministration, harassment: these are the serious charges brought by a group of employees from Eurojust, the EU’s judicial cooperation agency, against their administrative director, Nick Panagiotopoulos.
A complaint that had already been sent to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and to the European Commissioner for Justice was sent anonymously by email on Monday 8 June to the members of the College of Eurojust and the trade unions for EU staff, as well as to some European media, including EUROPE.
The authors of the email accuse Mr Panagiotopoulos of committing fraud to obtain his position in 2017 by destroying the top applications received in his capacity as head of human resources. “Many other outstanding applications from more experienced candidates mysteriously disappeared from his office”, they explain.
According to these allegations, he was also responsible for several unfair dismissals of highly competent heads of unit, whose careers he reportedly destroyed solely because they disagreed with his vision or because they were an obstacle to his plans.
The complaint also refers to the harassment and wrongful dismissal of a pregnant employee before the end of her probationary period and an episode in which Mr Panagiotopoulos allegedly forced two unit heads to provide him with employees’ protected personal data so he could use it against them for improper purposes.
“Like in an authoritarian regime”
The employees not only implicated Mr Panagiotopoulos, but also his team, composed of several of his “loyal friends” whom they believe he succeeded in placing in senior positions, citing in particular: Vincent Jamin, Roberto Lenti, Claudia Trif, Nicolas Karayannis, (...), Cecilia Thorffin and Ykje Vrancken Peeters.
“He controls his team and all together they enjoy watching us be intimidated and scared, like in an authoritarian regime”, they write.
The former president of Eurojust, Michèle Coninsx, is said to have played a special role in promoting Mr Panagiotopoulos and to have covered for his actions. The current President of Eurojust, Ladislav Hamran, apparently did so as well.
“It’s total madness! There is no freedom of speech, and it’s difficult to work and be productive in this unhealthy environment and under constant terror”, they asserted.
The authors of the email regret that by publicly exposing Mr Panagiotopoulos’ actions in this way, Eurojust’s reputation may be damaged, but they denounced a situation that has become unbearable for them. They are calling on those responsible for these acts to resign in order to “begin a new era for Eurojust, free of corruption, fraud and harassment”.
The anonymous complaint was discussed by the College of Eurojust on Tuesday 9 June, the Agency’s spokesperson told us. “Eurojust is strongly committed to legality and transparency and believes that the allegations do not reflect the reality of its workplace”, he said.
In any case, the Agency stands ready to co-operate in an independent investigation which, in the interest of all concerned, should deal with this matter expeditiously, he said. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)