Scandal and the European Commission: A Timeline of Turmoil

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For an institution that prides itself on upholding the rule of law, good governance, and transparency, the European Commission has had its fair share of spectacular falls from grace.

From mass resignations to murky deals with financial titans, the European Commission‘s history is pockmarked with scandals that have severely dented its credibility and public standing. As Europe grapples with rising Euroscepticism and populist anger, a glance back at these incidents reveals just how fragile the EU’s moral authority can be.

The most seismic event came in 1999 with the resignation of the entire Santer Commission. In an unprecedented move, President Jacques Santer and his entire executive team stepped down after a scathing report unearthed evidence of fraud, mismanagement, and nepotism at the heart of the institution.

Commissioner Édith Cresson, a former French Prime Minister, was found to have appointed friends to EU positions and to have presided over an office where professionalism gave way to cronyism. The collective resignation was intended to be an act of responsibility, but the damage was done. For the first time, the European public saw Brussels not as a fortress of high-minded governance, but as a labyrinth of personal fiefdoms, bureaucratic excess, and casual corruption.

The fallout prompted the creation of OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud office, and sparked internal reforms — but trust, once broken, proved difficult to restore.

The next major wound came from a familiar culprit: the revolving door between public service and private gain. In 2016, former Commission President José Manuel Barroso accepted a senior role at none other than Goldman Sachs, the very institution often blamed for its role in the 2008 financial crisis and Greece’s debt catastrophe.

Barroso’s appointment — and the suggestion that he might lobby on behalf of the bank — ignited a firestorm. The Commission opened an ethics probe, but its eventual decision to clear Barroso only poured fuel on the fire. The episode played perfectly into the hands of Brexit campaigners and Eurosceptics across the continent, who seized on it as proof that Brussels was little more than a cushy retirement home for elites eager to cash in.

Meanwhile, 2012 brought the scandal of John Dalli, the Health Commissioner who became entangled in a sordid affair involving the tobacco industry. According to OLAF, an associate of Dalli solicited bribes from Swedish Match, a tobacco company, in exchange for influencing legislation. Although Dalli denied any wrongdoing, he was forced to resign. While the scandal was somewhat contained, it reinforced a dangerous narrative: that Brussels, far from being an impregnable fortress of regulation, was in fact highly susceptible to the dark arts of lobbying.

If the Dalli affair was a crack in the wall, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaping holes. As Europe scrambled to secure vaccines in 2020 and 2021, the Commission negotiated vast contracts with pharmaceutical giants — but refused to disclose key details. Allegations swirled around President Ursula von der Leyen’s private text exchanges with Pfizer’s CEO, with many questioning the lack of transparency in agreements involving billions of euros.

Requests for documents were stonewalled, and the European Parliament began hearings to investigate. Although the vaccines undoubtedly saved countless lives, the secretive manner in which the contracts were secured left an indelible stain on the Commission’s reputation for openness.

Then came the Frontex debacle. In 2021 and 2022, Europe’s border agency was rocked by accusations of illegal migrant pushbacks, internal harassment, and human rights abuses. Although technically an independent body, Frontex operates under the Commission’s supervision, and the executive’s failure to rein in its excesses raised serious questions. The resignation of Frontex’s Executive Director, Fabrice Leggeri, was seen as an admission of systemic failures. For an EU that styles itself as a beacon of human rights, the revelations about brutal treatment of migrants were particularly toxic.

Each of these scandals inflicted wounds of varying depths, but some were undeniably more damaging than others. The resignation of the Santer Commission remains the most catastrophic, a full-blown institutional implosion that laid bare the Commission’s vulnerabilities.

Barroso’s dalliance with Goldman Sachs was a symbolic disaster, feeding the perception that European elites are unaccountable and self-serving. The COVID-19 vaccine secrecy, though less theatrical, eroded trust in a more insidious way, chipping away at the public’s willingness to grant the Commission the benefit of the doubt. Frontex’s abuses tainted the EU’s human rights record, while the Dalli affair reminded all who cared to notice that lobbying in Brussels remains alive and well.

The timeline of these scandals tells a story not just of isolated incidents, but of systemic challenges: the revolving door between Brussels and big business, the opacity of decision-making, the vulnerability to lobbying, and the persistent gap between lofty ideals and grubby realities. While each scandal prompted promises of reform, the recurrence of such events suggests that the underlying culture has yet to be fundamentally transformed.

For an institution that commands enormous power over the lives of Europeans — from trade policy to environmental regulations to border control — the stakes could hardly be higher. If Brussels wishes to stem the tide of populist revolt and Eurosceptic anger, it must do more than paper over the cracks. Transparency must cease to be a buzzword and become a lived reality; accountability must be enforced not only when scandals break, but as a daily practice.

As the European Union looks ahead to a turbulent future — with looming challenges from climate change, digital transformation, and global instability — it would do well to remember the lessons of its own recent history.

Institutions, like reputations, are built painstakingly over decades but can be destroyed in a matter of days. The European Commission must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as a bastion of principled governance — or as just another case study in how power corrupts.

Main Image: Aurore BELOT © European Union 2016 – Source : EP