X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Paul Van Buitenen


Open government

They point to the role of whistleblowers reporting from inside the government bureaucracy (individuals like Daniel Ellsberg or Paul van Buitenen).

Paul van Buitenen

The free daily underlines that "in 2001, it was Bolkestein himself that announced the Commission's refusal to open up a parliamentary investigation on Clearstream", following Harlem Désir's requests and accusations that Menatep had an "undeclared account" at Clearstream.

Andreas Oldag, Hans-Martin Tillack: Raumschiff Brüssel – Wie die Demokratie in Europa scheitert (in German, Spaceship Brussels – How Democracy in Europe fails), Argon Verlag, 2003 (1st ed., hardcover), ISBN 3-87024-578-6, ISBN 978-3-87024-578-8 / Fischer, Frankfurt 2004 (2nd ed.) ISBN 3-596-15746-3, ISBN 978-3-596-15746-4

In May 2005, he also asked the European Commission to create an investigation, after learning that Frits Bolkestein (famous for the Directive on services in the internal market) was a member of the Russian Bank Menatep's international consultative council (owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky) and that he had worked for the Shell British-Dutch petrol company, two firms "detaining secret accounts in Clearstream".


Eurostat scandal

In 2001, Paul Van Buitenen, whose earlier report had indirectly led to the resignation of the previous Santer Commission, produced a second report, but this at first led to no action, until Hans-Martin Tillack and the press started to take interest in the matter.


see also