European Parliament hamstrings Dalligate probe

The “Dalligate” scandal, which rocked the European Commission, may finally be laid to rest without the truth ever being known. The European Parliament (EP) has effectively decided not to form a committee of inquiry on the affair, which resulted in the resignation of Health Commissioner John Dalli, amid allegations of involvement in influence trafficking last October, reports Mediapart.

The decision on April 11 not to appoint a committee of inquiry, which was also supposed to shine a spotlight on dubious institutional practices with regard to lobbying, was effectively taken by the main parliamentary groups in the EP — the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe — which refused to back the call for an investigation. The rejection of measure astonished several MEPs, notably in the Green parliamentary group which had submitted the proposal. Some suspect the Commission, which has refused to publish the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) report on the matter, and the Parliament of wanting “to bury the affair”. According to Mediapart —

… the PPE will go to any lengths to defend its champion [Commission President] José Manuel Barroso, while the S&D will do all it can to support the highly controversial Director General of Olaf, Giovanni Kessler, who is also a member of the left-wing Italian Democratic Party. The interests of the two major parties were served by a common position: the scandal should be forgotten and attention should be focused elsewhere. [...] In the meantime, many people will be surprised by the rejection of the call for a “special committee” to look into the affair, which, over the last six months, has appeared increasingly shady, while the accounts of those involved appear more and more unlikely and contradictory.