The new Commissioner for
Climate Action and Energy, the gallant Spaniard Miguel Cañete, did not
fly to New York to bring his expertise to the ongoing conference
dedicated to this: he has to prepare himself for the hearing in the
Parliament next week, together with the other new Commissioners.
He has indeed, a lot of expertise: he's been criticised for being on
the board of two oil companies, in which he held shares worth at least
326,000 Euros.
Those companies are based in fiscal paradises, in the Canary Islands
and the enclave of Ceuta, in Marocco. But his new superior, Jean-Claude
Juncker, forced Cañete to get rid of his shares…
He promptly did this, and, according to the Commission he is now as clean as spring water…
The EPP Group are also convinced of his saintliness. Their leader,
Manfred Weber said, "By selling his shares in the oil industry he will
have cleared the matter up."
"In view of recent reports about my personal shareholdings I would
like to clarify the following: I gave instructions to divest my shares
in the energy sector the moment I was nominated Commissioner-designate
for Climate Action and Energy to avoid even the slightest notion of
potential conflict of interest", Cañete said in a statement issued by
the EPP.
Problem solved? Not quite.
New information, revealed by the knowledgeable French weekly Le
Canard Enchaîné in its last issue, which says Cañete’s former companies
in which he held those shares are now run by none other than his
brother-in-law.
Climate change, or a change of climate in the Commission?
http://www.neurope.eu/article/will-canete-share-change-climate