European Commissioner Phil Hogan to resign after failing to comply with measures against the pandemic

A massive gala dinner in times of pandemic. Movements suspected of breaching the quarantine obligation. And pressure from Dublin to have their man in Brussels replaced. Those three factors were enough to dislodge Phil Hogan from his post as Trade Commissioner. The resignation, forced by the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will be announced by Hogan himself in the next few hours, and comes at a delicate moment, with the future relationship of Brexit underway and the trade war with the United States without to close.

The step leaves a bittersweet aftertaste in the Community Executive: on the one hand, it maintains intact the high ethical bar that has already prevented the French Sylvie Goulard from accessing the college of commissioners. And on the other, it opens the door for States to follow the precedent of Ireland to try to influence and provoke changes in the European institution when they consider it so.

With his decision, Von der Leyen tries to close his first major government crisis a week after it broke out. Hogan, 60, attended a dinner with 80 other diners last Wednesday despite Irish law prohibiting it. He had previously made two other mistakes: he moved around the island without observing the mandatory 14-day quarantine that the authorities mark for arrivals from Belgium, and he did not respect the forced confinement for those entering County Kildare.

The commissioner, cornered by criticism, defended himself against the accusations in a lengthy report sent on Tuesday at the request of Von der Leyen, who before making a decision granted him the opportunity to provide all the details of his controversial vacation. In the text, Hogan recalls that he apologized for attending the event, but blamed the organizers, the golf club of the Parliament of Ireland, for not having complied with the rules against covid-19 as they had promised. Regarding the fact of not having kept isolation, Hogan argued that a PCR test was carried out in which it was negative, which exempted him from confinement. And finally, he claimed to have been forced to enter and leave Kildare County without respecting the confinement to go to his apartment to collect some papers from the EU-US trade negotiation. "In my opinion, it is a reasonable reason," he defended .

To complete his eventful return home, as Hogan himself recounted, during this process, a policeman asked him to stop the vehicle because he was talking on his mobile while driving, an error for which he sent a new apology.

His explanations were quickly answered. Irish health authorities were quick to deny that the negative test freed him from quarantine. And the coalition government of his country, of which his own party, the conservative Fina Gael, considered the apologies late and insufficient, and insisted that he should abandon his responsibilities in Brussels, despite the fact that only the president of the Commission has competencies to ask him to step back.

After fighting for days, including a television interview, Hogan has finally failed to convince Von der Leyen of his innocence. And less than nine months after the new Commission started, it loses one of its most prominent members.

His departure opens the door to more profound movements. With Ireland also assuming the presidency of the Eurogroup in the person of Paschal Donohoe, it remains to be seen if the country manages to maintain the important Commerce portfolio or, on the contrary, Von der Leyen takes advantage of the crisis to make a more profound remodeling.

Hogan's second term has already gotten off to a bad start. After having been Commissioner of Agriculture with Jean-Claude Juncker, the Irish politician was one of eight who repeated with Von der Leyen, this time in Commerce. However, his attempt to jump into the general leadership of the World Trade Organization, a step he took unilaterally when the EU was seeking a consensus candidate, sparked unrest in Brussels, which prevented him from campaigning to avoid a potential conflict of interests. Finally, due to the lack of support, Hogan gave up and abandoned the race for the position.

Now, he is also leaving his post as commissioner after a controversy that has already cost him the position of two other politicians: the Irish Minister of Agriculture Dara Calleary, and Senator Jerry Buttimer, both present at the gala dinner held at a hotel in Clifden, a small coastal town in County Galway.