Brussels, 13/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the Commission decided to dismiss Marta Andreasen, considering that "the gravity of Ms Andreasen's conduct has constituted an irremediable breach of the trust which the Commission is entitled to expect from its officials, and consequently made it impossible to maintain any employment relationship between her and the institution". The Commission will permit her to retain her pension rights. Ms Andreasen has been suspended since April 2002 and will now definitively leave the Commission on 1 November. The Commission concurs with the considered opinion of the Disciplinary Board of four members who in this case are senior officials in the Commission and are selected by lot, and an independent external Chairman, M. José Luís Cruz Vilaça, a former judge at the Court of First Instance and took into account the results from the hearing by the College of Commissioners on 29 September.
The Commission concludes on the basis of the evidence that Ms Andreasen has repeatedly and knowingly acted in disregard of her obligations, particularly those set out in Articles 11, 12, 17 and 21 of the Staff Regulations. The charges against Ms Andreasen main involve: unfounded charges against officials from DG Budget and Commissioner Michaele Schreyer; she had criticised the weaknesses of the accounting system and financial regulation; concealed important information about her previous employment and the circumstances in which she left this job.