The position had become untenable for EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, who was unable to justify his recent attendance at a gala dinner of the Irish Parliament Golf Club, despite the health restrictions linked to the coronavirus.
At the request of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Hogan was forced to resign. At the time of going to press, he was due to make an official announcement on Irish public television RTE later in the evening.
The Commission is losing a heavyweight, with a substantial portfolio, in the midst of negotiations on future trade relations with the UK. The name of David O'Sullivan is circulating to replace him. But there is no guarantee that Ireland will get the same position.
The Commissioner had been under siege since he attended a gala dinner in Ireland last week, in contradiction with the health measures in force in the country (see EUROPE 12544/15).
As a result of political and media pressure and at Von der Leyen’s request, Hogan disclosed his movements in Ireland (see EUROPE 12545/10), where he claims that he was not legally subject to quarantine on the grounds that he had tested negative for Covid-19.
However, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, and leader of the Irish Green Party Eamon Ryan, contradicted this interpretation in a joint statement.
The statement said: “It is clear that Commissioner Phil Hogan breached the public health guidelines during his trip to Ireland. (…) The government’s guidelines clearly required him to restrict his movements for 14 days”.
The last individual resignation of a member of the European Commission for serious misconduct dates back to October 2012, with the leaving of Maltese John Dalli (see EUROPE 10711/2). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Pascal Hansens)