Luxemburg, 02/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Civil Service Tribunal has found that the former head of the European Commission's representation in France, Jean-Louis Giraudy, suffered emotional stress through the actions of the Commission during the OLAF investigation into alleged fraud at the Avignon and Vaucluse Maison de l'Europe (France) (see EUROPE 8993). Mr Giraudy, who claimed that the way he was reassigned to duties in Paris during the investigation infringed his right to the presumption of innocence, was awarded €15,000 in damages for the stress caused.
The Tribunal accepted that the European communities can transfer an official to ensure the smooth running, objectivity and effectiveness of an investigation. However, it felt that removing Mr Giraudy from his position, even if he were reassigned other duties, caused suspicion to fall on him, and this sentiment was conveyed by, among others, an article in the newspaper Le Monde on 23 November 2003. To calm the media frenzy, Mr Giraudy says, the Commission ought to have stressed to press the presumption of innocence, particularly in the light of the subsequent conclusions of the investigation which cleared him of any wrongdoing. The Tribunal conclusion was that a few off-the-cuff expressions of support for Mr Giraudy from spokespersons to the press was not enough to counterbalance the bad publicity generated by this case. Consequently, the Tribunal awarded €15,000 in damages for this attack on Mr Giraudy's honour and reputation.
This sum may be quite a way short of the €500,000 sought by Mr Giraudy, but it is still the highest sum awarded by the Tribunal to an official for non-material damages. This, then, will be of some moral and material consolation to Mr Giraudy, even after the deduction of the third of his expenses which he was ordered to pay. (cd)