Bulgaria: Jeleva, No Conflict of Interests

Bulgaria’s EU Commissioner-Designate Jeleva has been accused of being involved in a conflict of interests in 2007-2009 when she was simultaneously a Member of the European Parliament, and a manager and owner of the Global Consult firm.

According to the document, published in the New Europe newspaper Thursday, Jeleva was under no legal obligation to disclose her stake in the company, as the Prevention and Exposure of Conflict to Interests Act only came into force in Bulgaria on 1 January, 2009.

After her parliamentary hearing earlier this week designed to assess her suitability for the job of commissioner for humanitarian aid MEPs expressed doubts about her ability to do the job, but more crucially doubts that she told the truth about her ownership of a company.

In the end, they opted to investigate further her alleged business involvement by asking Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to disclose the results of a Commission internal audit of Jeleva's business involvement. At the same time parliament lawyers will study documents submitted by Jeleva and her opponents.

The controversy surrounds Jeleva's role in Global Consult, a Bulgarian privatisation firm. Jeleva declared that her involvement in the company ended in 2007 when she became an EU deputy. But Bulgarian liberal MEP Antonyia Parvanova claims that she owned the firm until April 2009 in violation of Bulgarian law.

MEPs are now likely to turn to Jeleva’s ability to do the job, as many said her answers at the hearing did not express adequate knowledge of international aid or the role of a commissioner.