BRUSSELS: European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has offered to explain his holiday on a Greek tycoon's private yacht to the European Parliament, his spokeswoman said yesterday.
Mr Barroso acknowledged this week that he and his family spent a six-day holiday last August as guests of Greek shipping, oil trading and banking magnate Spiros Latsis, an old friend, but said there was no conflict of interest with his EU duties.
Mr Barroso telephoned European Parliament president Josep Borrell from Moscow yesterday to explain the circumstances of the holiday, which has drawn media criticism after parliament's influential socialist floor leader demanded that he be called to account.
"The president had the opportunity to talk to President Borrell . . . and explain to him what the story was and clarify what the details of the story are," spokeswoman Françoise Le Bail told a news briefing.
"It is clear that the president is at the disposal of the parliament if the parliament decides on something more and something useful to do," she said.
Ms Le Bail later told reporters that Mr Barroso had offered to confirm his explanation in writing.
A spokesman for Mr Borrell said the commission chief had agreed to send a letter by the end of this week.
The parliament speaker would then consult political group leaders and decide whether any further action was required.
So far only socialist group leader Martin Schulz has called for Mr Barroso to explain himself to parliamentary leaders, and only in a press statement. Parliamentary officials said none of the other political groups had joined the demand.
Details of the holiday surfaced after a eurosceptic British EU lawmaker, Nigel Farage, sent all 25 commissioners a written question asking what hospitality they had accepted since being nominated to the EU executive.
In a sub-plot to the same affair, Ms Le Bail dismissed accusations by British newspapers that EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson might have behaved inappropriately by attending a Caribbean drinks party on the private yacht of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on New Year's Eve.
She told reporters that Mr Mandelson had spent about an hour at the party on the billionaire's boat moored off the island of St Bart's.
"Having a drink with somebody surrounded by 100 people is not the basis for a conflict of interest," she said.