WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2759/96 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. An inappropriate appointment
Date: 1996-10-21
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, advisory power, corruption, information policy, power to appoint, professional ethics, telecommunications













EUR-Lex - 91996E2759 - EN






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91996E2759

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2759/96 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. An inappropriate appointment  


Official Journal C 091 , 20/03/1997 P. 0028 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2759/96 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (21 October 1996)Subject: An inappropriate appointmentThe Commission is obviously not aware of events in Italy and does not read the Italian newspapers. Otherwise it would have heard about the recent sentence on appeal (second degree) passed against Carlo De Benedetti and the fact that he has numerous interests in the telecommunications sector. On 22 July he had another problem - he was called for trial on charges of corruption. The reason for this was the payment of bribes amounting to tens of billions of lire for the awarding of contracts which would otherwise never have been obtained by his companies. Furthermore, another case being brought in Pordenone concerns 'divided stripping', a sum of billions of lire diverted away from the Italian tax authorities. There is also the inquiry into supplies to the Italian State Railways, the one concerning the OMINITEL funding and, finally, the Consob inquiry about insider trading in Olivetti shares.If the Commission had known all this it would probably not have assisted in the surprising appointment of the Chairman of Olivetti, the same Carlo De Benedetti, as chairman of the working group on setting up a European telecommunications authority.Since Mr De Benedetti did not refuse the appointment, as would have been correct, can the Commission say whether it knows the facts outlined above and whether it does not consider, in the light of such facts, that it should review Mr De Benedetti's appointment, since to confirm it or, worse still, to behave as if nothing had happened as regards both the conflict of interests and lack of transparency, would entail a great loss of credibility for the European institutions?Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (20 December 1996)The high level industry advisory group on the information society supports the Commission in identifying future priorities for its actions to facilitate the application of the information society in Europe. Three working groups were created to address a number of key topics related to the information society. In this context working group 3, chaired by Mr De Benedetti, has been asked to discuss certain questions on the telecommunications regulatory framework.The Commission is perfectly aware of the circumstances mentioned by the Honourable Member, as it follows attentively current events in all Member States. The appointment of Mr De Benedetti as chairman of working group 3 was agreed, taking into account his long-established commitment on European matters, when no legal proceedings were pending involving him, and no judicial decision had been taken concerning him.