Plaid Cymru Euro MPs Jill Evans and Eurig Wyn are demanding answers and an end to the secrecy surrounding a top level European investigation into allegations of fraud at Eurostat - the European Commission's statistical bureau.

The MEPs have criticised the secrecy surrounding a meeting scheduled for Thursday where European Commission President Romano Prodi is expected to present findings of the Commission's internal inquiry into the Eurostat case to MEPs. The parliamentary group to which the Plaid Cymru MEPs belong has put forward a series of detailed questions to be raised at Thursday's crucial meeting.

Jill Evans MEP, Plaid Cymru's Leader in the European Parliament said:

"When Romano Prodi took office as the new President of the European Commission he promised a zero tolerance policy towards fraud. The decision to hold this meeting behind closed doors runs contrary to the spirit of that promise and does not augur well.

“European citizens deserve answers to a whole host of searching questions on this matter and we have submitted a set of detailed questions that should be raised at Thursday's meeting. This level of secrecy is utterly unacceptable and does nothing to improve the image of the European Commission or its reputation in dealing with serious accusations of fraud."

Eurig Wyn MEP added:

"European citizens have a right to be kept informed of developments in this extremely important case and to know exactly what steps Prodi and the Commission intend to take to deal with the situation.

”The secrecy surrounding Thursday's meeting is not a good sign. When the new Commission was appointed we anticipated a new culture of openness and transparency. We are demanding answers on behalf of taxpayers in Wales, Scotland and across the EU."

Note:

A set of detailed questions on this issue has been put forward for Thursday's meeting by the group of MEPs to which Plaid Cymru belongs in the European Parliament (European Free Alliance). These are available on request.

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