On Monday 12 June, the European Commission ruled that the Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, had complied with the internal rules applicable to European officials to avoid conflicts of interest in the management of their personal assets, after Politico claimed that Mr Koopman owned a luxury hotel in Bali.
“There is absolutely no case or subject! (...) Commission officials have the right to manage their own assets. There are rules on the outside activities that officials may engage in, which limit them”, said European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer. According to the information available to the EU institution, Mr Koopman “has no role in the management of this property, even though it is part of his family’s assets”, he added.
According to another spokesman, Balazs Ujvari, Mr Koopman is neither the manager nor the owner of the hotel, a situation that Politico questions. Mr Ujvari stressed that the Commission had “no reason” to doubt Mr Koopman’s statements. It has no intention of seeking further clarification from the senior European official, in whom it has renewed its confidence.
Taking the lead in Parliament on ethics issues (see EUROPE 13197/14), Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) felt that this situation showed why the Commission’s ethics rules were not working, in particular the separation of ownership and management of the same asset and the unshakeable trust in self-regulation by European officials.
In March, further revelations led the Commission to tighten its internal rules in order to limit possible conflicts of interest with regard to hospitality and travel abroad (see EUROPE 13136/13). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)