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Former European Commission president Jacques Santer was appointed on Monday January 23 to head the board of the Special Purpose Investment Vehicle (SPIV), which is designed to boost the firepower of the EFSF, the eurozone rescue fund. Mr Santer, the Daily Telegraph recalls –
… led the Commission which collapsed in 1999, after a devastating report on fraud and nepotism attacked the EU's executive body for serious management failings.
All 20 members of the Commission stepped down, in what was described at the time as the biggest crisis in the European Union's history.
Although absolved of direct involvement in fraud, Mr Santer, was criticised for “his failure to impose order on the Commission” the London daily notes.
Defending the decision, Euro Group president and Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker declared that Santer, himself a former Luxembourg PM, “served both Europe and his country in the best way possible.” However, according to Martin Callanan, leader of the UK's Conservative MEPs --
Putting Jacques Santer in charge of fundraising is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank. Santer's little helpers have dragged him out of retirement to give him another cushy EU job.
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