French EU
nominee could fall after brutal hearing
'I'm
clean,' Sylvie Goulard pleaded, as the hard questions kept coming (Photo:
europarl.europa.eu)
By ANDREW
RETTMAN
BRUSSELS,
TODAY, 09:28
French
president Emmanuel Macron's EU nominee risks being scalped by the European
Parliament (EP) after a brutal hearing that focused on financial improprieties.
The French
candidate, Sylvie Goulard, told MEPs that "I admit that I have made
mistakes" after her cross-examination on Wednesday (2 October).
But her mea
culpas failed to stop all but one of the EP's main political groups (her own,
liberal, Renew Europe faction) from calling her in for a second hearing later
this month.
"We
need a commissioner whose scandals will not imperil important EU projects,"
the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) group said.
Her
misspending of tens of thousands of euros of EP funds on bogus jobs for
assistants "seems to be serious enough to have sparked her resignation as
defence minister in France," the Socialist & Democrats (S&D) group
said.
"If,
as commissioner, she is forced to face judicial proceedings, her appointment
risks weakening the commission as a whole," S&D's statement added.
The 62-year
old French politician is meant to take charge of the single market portfolio
and to manage a €13bn European Defence Fund.
But she
came to Brussels facing two ongoing enquiries - by French authorities and by
the EU's anti-fraud office, Olaf - into her EP funds affair, which saw her
resign from her ministerial post in France two years ago.
Her former
€10,000 to €13,000 a month consultancy post for US think tank, the Berggruen
Institute, also drew fire.
Goulard
briefly mentioned the two issues in her opening remarks.
She went on
to speak about EU support for small businesses and green technologies, the need
for foreign reciprocity on open markets, and new ethical rules for artificial
intelligence.
But 11 out
of the 25 MEPs who put questions in the hearing ignored her portfolio and asked
about her financial dealings instead.
Jens Geier,
a German centre-left MEP, asked if she would resign her EU post if found guilty
of wrongdoing on EP spending.
Goulard said
she would "respect" such a "hypothetical" outcome, but
called for "presumption of innocence".
Evelyne
Gebhardt, another German socialist, noted: "Honestly, I can't understand
why you couldn't be a minister in your country, but you can stand as commissioner".
But Goulard
said she resigned back in 2017 only because "at a moment when there was a
state of emergency [following terrorist attacks in France]... I estimated in my
soul and heart that I couldn't run the risk for French troops" of causing
disruption.
She tried
to dismiss the affair as an administrative oversight.
"It's
more about an HR management issue … not a legal problem," she said.
"I'm
clean," she pleaded at one point, as the questions kept coming.
Regrets
"Madam,
how many French people earn €13,000 to make phone calls?", a French
far-right MEP, Virginie Joron, also asked about her think tank salary.
"I
admit that these amounts are high" and that this type of income
"could have upset people", Goulard said.
She added
that she "regrets" taking so much money, but also that she can hold
her "head high", because the job "promoted European
integration" and was a way "do things with people who have influence
and talent".
Some of the
14 other questions asked whether she had too many different tasks in her
portfolio.
"I can
only give you an abstract answer. What's clear is that I've never been afraid
of hard work," the French candidate said.
European
industry would have to "undergo a profound transformation" to compete
on the world stage, she added in other remarks.
It would
have to invest in new technologies, such as autonomous cars and low-CO2
industries, she said.
And EU laws
on tech giants such as Facebook would have to find "a balance"
between free speech and blocking "people [who] incite hatred ...
online", Goulard noted.
Financial
wrongdoing aside, the S&D also complained "about her ability to
prioritise between her different fields of work" and her lack of a
"coherent strategy" for the EU economy.
But two of
the French woman's liberal allies came to her defence.
Tactical
reasons
"Pity
that the questions didn't focus on the content of her portfolio, even though
she covers one of, if not the, largest ones," Dita Charanzova, a Czech
liberal MEP, tweeted after the hearing.
Claudia
Gamon, an Austrian liberal deputy, also accused the EPP and S&D of
political revenge because the EP had already rejected two of their candidates
(from Hungary and Romania) and because, earlier this year, Macron had killed
off the EPP's candidate to be European Commission president.
"This
is a little frustrating ... The other parties appear to throw her to the wolves
for tactical reasons," Gamon noted.
"Both
parties have already 'lost' candidates in the process to date - one has the
feeling that in their view it's now a Renew candidate's turn," she added.
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