The 144-page report of the investigation into corruption and cronyism in the EU Commission which prompted the resignation of all 20 Commissioners and precipitated the present crisis concludes with the damning phrase: "It is becoming difficult to find anyone who has even the slightest sense of responsibility."
The dossier damns a culture of cronyism and slack administration which allowed fraud to go undetected or ignored, although no Commissioners are found guilty of fraud themselves.
The following are among the highlights of the report released:
Commissioners sometimes argued that they were not aware of what was happening in their services. Undoubted instances of fraud and corruption in the Commission have thus passed "unnoticed" at the level of the Commissioners themselves.
Protestations of ignorance on the part of Commissioners . . . are tantamount to an admission of a loss of control by the political authorities over the Administration they are supposedly running.
This loss of control implies at the outset a heavy responsibility for both the Commissioners individually and the Commission as a whole.
The Committee did not encounter cases where a Commissioner was directly and personally involved in fraudulent activities.
It found instances where Commissioners or the Commission as a whole bear responsibility for instances of fraud, irregularities or mismanagement in their services or areas of special responsibility.
The Committee found no proof that a Commissioner had gained financially from any such fraud, irregularity or mismanagement.
In the case of (Education/Research Commissioner) Ms (Edith) Cresson, the Committee found that the Commissioner bears responsibility for one instance of favouritism.
She should have taken suitable steps to ensure that the recruitment of a member of her staff who would be working closely with her was carried out in compliance with all the relevant legal criteria. Subsequently, she should have employed that person to perform work solely in the Community interest.
In the case of (Regional Policy Commissioner) Mrs (Monika) Wulf-Mathies, the Committee found that she used an inappropriate procedure to recruit a person to join her personal staff and carry out work of Community interest.
In the case of (External Relations Commissioner) Mr (Joao de Deus) Pinheiro, where his brother-in-law was recruited. The Committee believes a Commissioner should under no circumstances recruit a close relation to work in his or her Private Office.
Very often, the appointment of an individual numbered among the close friends, or the "entourage", of a Commissioner to a well-remunerated position in the Commission.
It is becoming difficult to find anyone who has even the slightest sense of responsibility. However, that sense of responsibility is essential. It must be demonstrated, first and foremost, by the Commissioners individually and the Commission as a body. That concept is the ultimate manifestation of democracy.