New Commission, political groups' spending and maladministration

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In this edition:

• What the new Commission set-up means for fraud and corruption
• Who is being funded by the European Parliament's political groups?
• Maladministration in handling documents continues
• The Dutch big "if" opt-out from EU migration rules
• Telegram's quiet cooperation with European police revealed

What the new Commission set-up means for fraud and corruption

The set-up of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's new team suggests little ambition in the fight against fraud and corruption, which seems to remain a low priority, spread across different portfolios. FTM's Simon Van Dorpe gives us a taste of what can be expected.

Poland's Piotr Serafin, the proposed new Budget Commissioner, will also be responsible for anti-fraud policy, overseeing the Commission's anti-fraud office OLAF. During a mandate in which the EU will revise its seven-year budget, it is no surprise that Ursula von der Leyen has chosen a candidate from her own European People's Party (EPP) for this key position. Serafin will have the important task of proposing appropriate resources for the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which has proven more efficient than OLAF in tracking fraud against the EU budget.

Ireland's Michael McGrath (ALDE Party), who is set to become the EU's new Justice Commissioner, will also be responsible for the rule of law and anti-corruption policy. The Commission is currently working on an EU anti-corruption strategy, and rumours suggest that the unit responsible, previously part of the Commission's Home Affairs department, will move to the Justice Department. Commission spokespeople did not respond immediately to these claims.

Portugal's Maria Luís Albuquerque (EPP) is expected to head the financial services department (DG FISMA), which includes a task force that established the EU's new anti-money laundering authority, set to be based in Frankfurt and operational by mid-2025.

Finland's Henna Virkkunen (EPP) will be the Vice President in charge of coordinating the work on the rule of law and anti-corruption. However, her main focus will be in the digital sphere, and she will not have dedicated departments working on fraud or corruption, raising concerns about whether she will have real influence. As in many other policy areas, von der Leyen and her team have divided power among various Commissioners, ultimately centralising it, in line with the age-old adage "divide et impera."

Equally concerning is the Commission's decision to allocate portfolios with direct powers over huge amounts of EU subsidies to Italian far-right candidate Raffaele Fitto (cohesion), Bulgaria's Ekaterina Zaharieva (research), who faces accusations of selling passports, and former investment banker Jozef Síkela of the Czech Republic (international partnerships, in a distant past known as development cooperation).

For a full overview, the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory reviewed the curricula of the Commissioners-designate and identified cases of revolving-door conflicts of interest and far-right affiliations. It remains to be seen which Commissioners will fail their exam in front of the European Parliament.

Spain's Teresa Ribera, in addition to her vice-presidential role overseeing the green transition, will become the EU's new Competition Commissioner, succeeding Denmark's Margrethe Vestager. Among other challenges, Ribera will need to decide whether to move forward with a crackdown on preferential tax deals granted by EU countries to multinationals. As we reported last week, a court victory for the Commission in the case against Apple and Ireland could prompt her to pursue similar cases against Nike and Ikea in the Netherlands, as well as against Finnish food packaging company Huhtam?ki in Luxembourg.

Other stories from the EU bubble…

Who is being funded by the European Parliament's political groups?

The political groups in the European Parliament receive tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money each year to cover expenses like office supplies, advertising, and business trips. However, due to a lack of transparency, efforts to verify whether these groups comply with Parliament's rules – prohibiting the use of these funds to benefit national political parties or friends and family – have so far been unsuccessful.

Parliament's rules also require political groups to follow an official consultation procedure when the total amount of a contract exceeds €15,000. This includes obtaining multiple bids from companies or individuals and justifying the selection of a supplier to prevent them from simply dishing out contracts worth hundreds of thousands of euros to acquaintances.

Each year, the groups publish a general overview of the awarded contracts on the Parliament's website. However, the details are limited to total amounts and vague descriptions such as "gadgets", "travel" or "printing", leaving us in the dark on the specifics of the provided services. Also: who benefits from the contracts that escape scrutiny altogether by staying below the €15,000 threshold?

With the information that is publicly available, FTM's Alistair Keepe calculated which companies received the most money from the political groups over the past four years (2019–2023). Major firms like CWT and Morris & Chapman received millions (€3.9 million and €2.3 million, respectively). Controversial service providers Unanime and E-Politic, which both have been linked to Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National, also ranked among the top ten beneficiaries.

We are trying to break down the door and gain insight into all tenders and awarded contracts to check for other cases of favouritism. Unfortunately, the political groups are not budging so far – either ignoring our inquiries or citing "private data" of companies as an obstacle to releasing the contracts to FTM.

We will keep pushing, but if you have any tips or ideas, do not hesitate to contact Alistair at [email protected].?

Maladministration in handling documents continues

In October 2023, FTM's Peter Teffer requested a single document from the European Commission, but access was denied for a number of reasons. After an appeal and a complaint to the European Ombudsman, the Commission eventually released the document – six months too late. On Monday, the Ombudsman stated that the time the Commission took to handle the request "cannot be good administration."

"This case is another example of the significant and systemic delays the Commission faces in dealing with confirmatory applications [appeals - PT], which the Ombudsman considered to amount to maladministration." Furthermore, the Ombudsman noted that the "unconvincing" arguments initially presented by the Commission were suddenly withdrawn without explanation after the appeal, "whereas it was not evident that any relevant circumstances had changed."

The Dutch big "if opt-out from EU migration rules

The Dutch cabinet has formally requested an "opt-out" from EU migration rules. In a letter to the Commission, the Dutch Migration minister Marjolein Faber expressed her desire to drastically reduce migration, citing the need to provide "housing, healthcare, and education." Faber emphasised that, in the event of a treaty amendment, the Netherlands would request an opt-out.

This remains a big "if," as treaty changes are rare. During the Commission's midday briefing, a spokesperson commented on the Dutch opt-out request, stating, "No treaty change is upcoming." As long as no treaty changes occur, the minister reaffirmed in the letter that the Netherlands will remain committed to the European Migration and Asylum Pact.

And here are our latest reads, in case you missed it

Telegram's quiet cooperation with European police revealed

Telegram cultivates the air of a renegade platform, but behind the scenes, it cooperates with law enforcement authorities much more than it lets on, an investigation by FTM's Alexander Fanta found. The messenger app is facing renewed scrutiny following the brief arrest of its CEO Pavel Durov in Paris last month, sparking speculation over whether it could be forced to take down content and hand over user data to French authorities.

But as responses from German authorities and the EU police agency Europol show, Telegram has already complied with orders to take down content in hundreds of cases since last year. Most of these orders, issued by the German Federal Criminal Police, are based on the relatively new EU law, the Terrorist Content Online Regulation. Legal requirements for Telegram are set to tighten further, as it may soon fall under the stricter rules of the EU's Digital Services Act. Read the full article here.

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