Sacked EU whistleblower loses claim (Andreasen)

Publication date: 9 November 2007

Sacked EU whistleblower loses claim

Marta Andreasen. Sacked EU whistleblower loses claim

Marta Andreasen was sacked after alleging that the EU was riddled with fraud

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels12:01AM GMT 09 Nov 2007

A Brussels whistleblower sacked for alleging that EU book-keeping was riddled with "slush funds and fraud" vowed to fight on after she lost her battle against wrongful dismissal.

Marta Andreasen, the European Commission's former chief accountant, has sought for two and half years to clear her name of accusations of misconduct and disloyalty.

But the EU's civil service tribunal yesterday rejected Mrs Andreasen's bid to have her dismissal annulled and upheld, in a 55-page judgment, every single complaint made against her by the commission.

"I have received the news about this judgment with great disappointment. But I still have the will to continue the fight and I will appeal," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I am being treated worse than criminals."

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Mrs Andreasen was fired in 2005 by her then boss Neil Kinnock for going public three years earlier with revelations of a £130 million discrepancy between two sets of EU accounts.

The Spanish accountant, who has been backed by many MEPs, believes that the courts have moved against her to silence other whistleblowers.

Yesterday's ruling came just days before the European Court of Auditors is expected to refuse to sign the EU's accounts for the 13th year running.

"It is pretty clear that people will know that if they open their mouth and make any criticism, even strictly professional as I did, they will pay a high price. They will have to prepare to be dismissed and to have no defence," she said.

"It is unbelievable for me that the judges would find it admissible that the chief accountant of the commission can be sacked merely for stating clearly what the Court of Auditors has done every year for more than a decade."

Mrs Andreasen, who was born in Argentina and is now the Treasurer of the UK Independence Party, faces huge legal bills.

She accused the EU judges of "partiality".

She said: "One would have thought they would have looked at case law and analysed the situation more. "I feel they have only listened to the commission. I think pressure has been brought to bear."

Commission officials have welcomed the judgment against Mrs Andreasen. "The court has now rejected Mrs Andreasen's claims and upheld our decision to dismiss her for misconduct. The commission is entitled to respect, trust and loyalty from its officials," said a spokesman.

The commission claims that Mrs Andreasen broke internal rules of "hierarchy" by going to the press and MEPs with her concerns over standards of EU accounting.

"Her allegations were not new and were rather general. And to be a whistleblower you have to respect certain channels," one official said.

Mrs Andreasen insists that she first raised problems over EU accountancy methods at a senior level by writing to the commission's president.

"I followed the procedures. It was the commission that decided that it did not like what I was saying internally and suspended me before I went public," she said.

Persons: Marta Andreasen (European Commisssion)