The future President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) threatens anger over one of her possible commissioners. Poland's Janusz Wojciechowski, an agricultural commissioner, is investigating "Olaf" for "alleged irregularities in reimbursement of travel expenses," according to an Olaf spokeswoman. The allegations refer to Wojciechowski's settlements during his time as a MEP from 2004 to 2014. According to information from the Parliament, the sums should be "in the five-digit range".
More in the SPIEGEL
Issue 37/2019
King Boris
Chaos on schedule? As Prime Minister Johnson gambled the future of the BritishDigital Edition | Printed issues | Apps | SUBSCRIPTION
Wojciechowski is currently a member of the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg. At the request of SPIEGEL he admitted that he had paid "11,250 euros for" 2009-2007 "on his own initiative" for "insufficiently documented" travel expenses. However, according to SPIEGEL information, the "Olaf" investigations refer to further events.
The EU Commission and the Leyens transition team do not want to comment on the ongoing investigation. It is unclear whether a final report from Olaf is available before the future commissioners are heard in the EU Parliament at the end of September - and whether Wojciechowski has to reimburse money. The Agricultural Department is one of the most important in the European Commission. Around 40 percent of EU spending is earmarked for agricultural policy.
Julien Warnand / DPA
Janusz Wojciechowski (archive photo): "Insufficiently documented" travel expenses reimbursed
Von der Leyen wants to announce on Tuesday the members of their new EU Commission and their portfolios. She has tinkered with her team until the very end, mainly because Italy has not named a candidate for a long time because of the government crisis. It is almost certain that von Leyen will achieve its goal of half occupying the EU Commission with half of men and women for the first time.
In Brussels, the allocation of portfolios has been discussed for weeks, but nothing has yet been confirmed. It is clear, however, that the two Vice Commission Heads Frans Timmermans and Margrethe Vestager should take care of the climate and digital issues. Who takes exactly which topic is open.
As a health commissioner, the Cypriot Stella Kyriakides seems set. Wojciechowski's predecessor as Argarkommissar, the Irishman Phil Hogan, could take over the trade department. It is particularly interesting to see how the conflicting areas of currency and competition will be filled, and whether - as has been reported in the meantime - Czech Vera Jourová will in future actually be responsible for the rule of law.
This topic comes from the new SPIEGEL magazine - available at the kiosk from Saturday morning and every Friday at SPIEGEL + and in the digital magazine edition.
What is in the new SPIEGEL and what stories you find at SPIEGEL +, you will also learn in our free policy newsletter DIE LAGE, which appears six times a week - compact, analytical, opinionated, written by the political minds of the editorial staff.
