S&D Euro MPs expressed their disappointment following the decision in the legal affairs committee, due to the support of right wing political groups, to allow the French Commissioner-designate Thierry Breton to be cleared without additional questions being asked about what has happened to the money made from selling off his shares in Atos. As a former CEO of companies that are directly linked to his portfolio as Commissioner-designate in charge of internal market, the S&D Group pushed for written questions to be addressed to Thierry Breton to clarify his current assets as well as how he intends to avoid conflicts of interests in his future role.
S&D coordinator on the legal affairs committee, Tiemo Wölken, said:
“A candidate who was a CEO of a multinational company only a few of weeks ago will now regulate huge sectors of the European economy linked to digital issues, defence and telecommunications. We wanted to ask Thierry Breton how he intends to address this before grilling him on his competence for the role of European Commissioner for the internal market. This is important in view of his future work and in the public interest. We put the blame at the feet of conservatives and liberals for blocking this.”
