Veteran EU powerbroker Henrik Hololei fired

BRUSSELS — Several EU lawmakers have declared they have a side income but didn’t reveal how much extra money those gigs bring in.

According to the MEPs’ code of conduct, lawmakers are supposed to declare any money they make outside of the European Parliament if it’s over €5,000 a year. MEPs earn €8,088 a month after tax and insurance contributions are deducted. … (ER: Whoa …)

However, Transparency International shared with POLITICO’s EU Influence newsletter the names of 14 MEPs who had not listed that income. The information was verified by POLITICO and all 14 MEPs were contacted.

This Henrik Hololei story has been ticking over for an entire three years, as the Politico piece below reveals. We had reported this story here from last year.

Hololei has the complexion and possibly the drinking habits of someone like Jean-Claude Juncker. They all have to be thoroughly compromised to get and stay in their privileged positions.

“After nearly 22 years at the Commission, I am obviously disappointed,” Henrik Hololei told POLITICO only hours after he was informed of the decision. “But I’m happy that this long process has finally come to a conclusion.”

While commissioners, the EU’s 27 political appointees, have been known to fall on their swords, there are few precedents for the dismissal of such a high-ranking civil servant, two senior officials familiar with the inner workings of the Commission said. Neither of the officials, who have several decades of EU experience between them, could remember any previous examples. Like other people interviewed for this article, they were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about Hololei and his downfall.

The “long process” Hololei described totaled three years. It was in 2023 that POLITICO first revealed that the Estonian, who was then the EU’s top transport official, had accepted free flights from Qatar at the same time as negotiating a transport deal with the Gulf state that was beneficial to the country’s airline.

It couldn’t have come at a more inauspicious time. The initial reports emerged just a few months after the so-called Qatargate corruption scandal in the European Parliament, named after one of the countries linked to allegedly offering cash and gifts in return for favors. Hololei was not involved in that affair, but it added fuel to the argument from politicians and transparency campaigners that the EU needed to clean up its act.

He resigned from his job within a month but didn’t leave the Commission. Soon after, he became special adviser in its international partnership division.

The following year, French newspaper Libération reported additional allegations, including that he exchanged confidential details of the Qatar aviation deal in return for gifts for himself and others, including stays in a five-star hotel in Doha. This led to a probe by the EU’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which in turn led to the Commission’s investigation.

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What ultimately led to his dismissal was an investigation by IDOC, the Commission’s internal disciplinary body, the result of which is not public.

IDOC’s conclusions were shared with a disciplinary committee made up of staffers who have equal or superior rank to Hololei — a relatively small pool given his seniority.

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Featured image source: https://www.touteleurope.eu/institutions/un-haut-fonctionnaire-de-la-commission-europeenne-se-retire-apres-avoir-accepte-des-vols-gratuits-pour-le-qatar/

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