Brussels, 01/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - While Commissioner Pascal Lamy was setting out the details, on 30 September, on his action before the World Trade Organisation against the subsidies that the South Korean government is paying to its shipyards (yesterday's EUROPE, p.12), it came to light that the advisory company GPlus Europe (whose contract with the Commission had been suspended that same day: see yesterday's EUROPE, p.13) was also counselling the South Korean party, states the French daily, Le Monde, in its Wednesday's edition. The company in question, which had concluded a contract with the Directorate General on press and communication at the Commission in order to draft information documents, is headed by former Commission spokespersons some of whom were specialised in the field of trade and competition. Jonathan Faull, Director General DG Press, admitted on Monday that the personal leave granted to two former spokespersons who had become GPlus associates, Peter Guilford and Michael Tscherny, could pose a "problem of perception, which deserves clarification of certain rules on conflicts of interest". He therefore decided to suspend the contract of EUR 23 million that he had signed, in June, with the Franco-Belgian consortium Ascii on the Commission's information policy. The contract with GPlus, sub-contracting from Ascii, is said to reach 4% to 10% of this amount. According to Mr Faull, the contract is suspended pending reflection on the rules for personal leave of officials. The private office of President Prodi, for its part, is said to have urged the Directorate General on Administration to draft a proposal for revision of the rules for leave on personal grounds.