Karel de Gucht

Former EU Commissioner John Dalli has accused the European Commission of applying two weights and two measures in its handling of a case which will see the European Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gucht, face tax evasion charges in Belgium.

In a statement, Mr Dalli said this exposed the “hypocrisy” of the commission’s president Jose Manuel Barroso and its executive.

The commission’s handling of the de Gucht case jarred with how it had handled his own case, he said.

The commission has said it cannot “prejudge the outcome of the case”, that “presumption of innocence must be respected” and that the charges are “unrelated to the functions of (Mr de Gucht’s) portfolio”.

Mr Barroso’s action to terminate my position was very rapid

Mr Dalli, who resigned from the commission last year in the wake of an EU anti-fraud inquiry linked to tobacco legislation, said that in his own case the presumption of innocence had not been respected by the Commission or the EU’s investigative arm, OLAF.

“Mr Barroso’s action to terminate my position was very rapid, denying me access to the report on which the decision to terminate was based and also denying me the time to seek legal advice.”

He said he had made it clear to Mr Barroso that he had nothing to do with the discussions between Maltese parties and Swedish Match/ESTOC (entities involved in the tobacco industry), adding the Maltese authorities had stated there was no basis for any action to be taken against him.

“The differences between the de Gucht case and my case are very obvious. The tobacco industry was not involved in the de Gucht case. The Belgian Government did not see the termination of Mr de Gucht as an opportunity,” Mr Dalli said, in an obvious reference to the previous administration which, he claims, had a part in the termination of his job as commissioner.