The European Commission took the unprecedented step today of taking former French prime minister Mrs Edith Cresson to the European Court of Justice over alleged abuses when she served on the EU executive.
"The European Commission decided today to submit to the Court of Justice the file concerning allegations that Mrs Cresson failed to meet her obligations during her term as a Commissioner," the Commission said in a statement.
"The alleged breaches ... concern cases of favouritism and gross negligence."
The EU's highest court will determine whether Mrs Cresson (70), breached her treaty obligations by hiring a dentist and personal friend from her French constituency as a scientific adviser. It could decide to reduce or strip her of her EU pension.
A ruling is likely to take at least two years.
Mrs Cresson, who was Commissioner for Education, Research and Training, was at the centre of allegations of nepotism and mismanagement that led to the mass resignation of the Commission headed by Mr Jacques Santer of Luxembourg in 1999 under threat of parliamentary censure.
A Belgian court dismissed criminal charges against her over the matter last month, prompting her lawyers to demand that the Commission drop its administrative proceedings against her.
But the EU executive has insisted that its case is entirely separate and concerns her treaty responsibilities as a member of the European Commission.
Commission President Romano Prodi pledged on succeeding Mr Santer to root out corruption and mismanagement. The former Commission official and self-declared whistleblower whose allegations triggered the scandal, Dutchman Mr Paul van Buitinen, was elected to the European Parliament last month.
Mr Cresson became France's first woman prime minister in 1991 but was forced to resign after just over ten months amid rising unemployment and scandals involving the Socialist Party.
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