EU Disciplinary Code: Keep A Brothel And Be Demoted, Criticise The Euro And Be Dismissed



Marta Andreasen

What does a Eurocrat need to do to get fired? Simon McGee answers the question in an astonishing report for The Sunday Times. Since that paper is now secured behind the fastness of its paywall, let me cite some of the examples he discovered in the EU’s official disciplinary record.

Cause an accident by driving one of the European Commission’s cars while drunk and you can expect to be reprimanded. Get into a brawl in a Commission building and your promotion will be delayed. Fiddle your expenses and you might actually be moved to a different post. Be found guilty by a criminal court of “living off immoral earnings and keeping a brothel” and you will be downgraded. Get yourself convicted for paedophile offences and you will have your pension cut.

But write a book attacking the euro (as Bernard Connolly did) or go public with your concerns about fraud in the budget (as Marta Andreasen did) and you will be dismissed.

Now it’s true that I don’t know the details of all these cases, though I’m pretty familiar with the last two. Perhaps, in some instances, there were mitigating circumstances. Still, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the EU regards criticism of itself as the one unpardonable offence.

By Daniel Hannan
Last updated: November 7th, 2010

Source: The Telegraph

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