Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: EC urged to apologize for former Competition Commissioner’s statements, (Mar 13, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly issued a draft recommendation yesterday, urging the European Commission (EC) to establish guidelines on public statements made by Commissioners on ongoing investigations. She further recommended that the EC apologize for certain statements former Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia made concerning the ongoing cartel investigation of French bank Crédit Agricole.

Almunia’s statements allegedly gave the impression that the EC had already reached a conclusion on the bank’s supposed participation in a cartel before the EC completed its investigation. Crédit Agricole is one of several banks the EC is investigating for allegedly colluding to influence the pricing of interest rate derivatives denominated in the euro currency. The bank complained to the Ombudsman in July 2014 that numerous public statements made by former Competition Commissioner Almunia infringed his impartiality by indicating he already made up his mind concerning Crédit’s involvement in the alleged cartel.

Ombudsman O’Reilly concluded in her draft recommendation, “It is clear from the foregoing that, because of a number of statements made by the Commissioner formerly responsible for competition, the Commission was perceived to have already reached a conclusion regarding the complainant’s participation in the EIRD cartel before the investigation was complete. This was an instance of maladministration. However, in view of the fact that proceedings are still pending, that the former Commissioner has left office and that the new Commissioner for Competition is now in charge of the case, the Ombudsman considers it likely that the instance of maladministration that occurred in this case will not affect the further handling of the complainant’s case by the Commission.”

Consequently, O’Reilly recommended: “The new Commission should acknowledge the maladministration that has occurred in this case under the previous Commission, apologise, and make sure that this does not happen again. I urge the Commission to issue guidelines on public statements by Commissioners about ongoing investigations.”

News: Antitrust