11.08.2006 - CESP
Le Président de la Commission Européenne répond au CESP
COMMISSION EUROPENNE
Direction Generale Elargissement A.2 - BULGARIE
Bruxelles, le 27 juillet 2006
D(2006) 104405
Monsieur Gerard GRENERON Secretaire general du C.E.S.P.
Rue de Marseille 39 bis
69007 LYON
FRANCE
Dear Sir,
I thank you for your letter of May 5th 2006 to which the President BARROSO asked me to answer. By this letter, you draw the attention on the smear campaign of which Mr Jansen was victim following a work achieved for the European Commission in Bulgaria.
Mr Jansen and 7 other experts were engaged in February 2006 by the European Commission for their expertise in the field of justice and home affairs. It was about the 4th mission led in this domain since the cloture of the negotiations of this chapter with Bulgaria. Mr Jansen was in charge of bending in particular over the struggle against organized crime, which is a very sensitive subject, appealing considerable attention.
The European Commission is aware of the fact that, in that private case and in a exceptional way, the personal data of the experts were the object of leaks, in spite of the confidentiality always asked by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission regrets that reports were widely distributed. These incidents are obviously regrettable. The Commission thus handles this sensitive question with big attention. Besides, representatives of the Commission approached this question with the Bulgarian authorities during subsequent visits in Bulgaria.
However, I must draw your attention on the fact that reports submitted to the Commission remain individual reports of the concerned experts and are not reports of the Commission. They constitute one from the sources of information used by the European Commission to complete its analysis and its understanding of the situation in the country, which are reflected in the reports of follow-up on countries members.
As a consequence, the European Commission is going to continue to bring its full support for the experts it hires, while underlining that the opinions expressed in these reports or outside of these are those of the experts in cause and not necessarily those of the European Commission.
Bridget CZARNOTA
Chief of Unit
Brussels, July 27th 2006
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