Imposte le dimissioni a Henrik Hololei, Direttore generale della Direzione Mobilita’ e Trasporti della Commissione europea, Dg Move

POLITICO ha rivelato il 29 marzo 2023 che il sig. Henrik Hololei “lascerà” il suo incarico di Direttore generale della Direzione Mobilità e Trasporti, nota nel lessico di Bruxelles come DG MOVE, e diventerà Consigliere politico senza responsabilità di gestione presso la DG INTPA, la Direzione della Commissione europea responsabile dei partenariati internazionali.

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il fatto quotidiano

Biglietti gratis. Qatar Airways, rimosso il Direttore generale della Mobilità dell’Ue – Il Fatto Quotidiano

30 Marzo 2023

Un altro scandalo a Bruxelles e anche questa volta c’è di mezzo Doha. I fatti sono del tutto slegati dal Qatargate.

Sono state confermate ieri le dimissioni di Henrik Hololei, direttore generale del dipartimento di Mobilità e Trasporti della Commissione europea, Dg Move. Tra il 2015 e il 2021 la Qatar Airways ha regalato al dirigente nove biglietti per volare in business class. La maggioranza di questi biglietti, sei, sono stati utilizzati mentre il dipartimento diretto da Hololei era in trattativa con la compagnia aerea per l’accesso allo spazio aereo comunitario. Dei nove voli almeno quattro sono stati pagati direttamente dal governo di Doha o da compagnie legate al Qatar.

Nel 2017 il Dg Move ha iniziato a negoziare con Qatar Airways per concedere l’operatività nel mercato europeo. In quel periodo Hololei ha fatto avanti e indietro da Bruxelles a Doha, non su aerei della compagnia del Golfo, a spese del Qatar. Accordo fatto: per l’Emirato si è aperta la porta sugli aeroporti europei, 450 milioni di consumatori. In cambio le compagnie aeree Ue accedono al mercato qatarino: tre milioni di persone. Hololei era direttore generale per Mobilità dal 2015, prima è stato un funzionario del governo estone e poi a lungo un importante dirigente nelle istituzioni europee. A conoscenza delle rigide regole sul conflitto d’interessi in vigore a Bruxelles, Hololei prima di utilizzare i biglietti aerei ha fatto domanda al responsabile deputato a questo tipo di controllo: se stesso. Da capo del dipartimento il funzionario ha firmato i documenti che garantivano l’assenza di una questione etica nell’usufruire gratuitamente di un servizio pagato da una società con cui egli stesso era in trattativa.

Quando è emerso il sotterfugio usato da Hololei ci sono state molte critiche all’interno della Commissione, seguite un’indagine interna. Ma non è stato possibile licenziare il dirigente che lascia il dipartimento Mobilità e viene reinserito nella DG INTPA (*)

(*) INTPA – Questo servizio della Commissione ha il compito di definire i partenariati internazionali e la politica di sviluppo dell’UE, con l’obiettivo ultimo di ridurre la povertà, garantire lo sviluppo sostenibile e promuovere la democrazia, i diritti umani e lo Stato di diritto in tutto il mondo.

Avvenire.it

La questione morale all’orizzonte della Ue

Gianfranco Marcelli, domenica 2 aprile 2023

Una vera e propria “questione morale” si profila davanti alle istituzioni europee e rischia sempre più di comprometterne la reputazione. A quasi quattro mesi dall’avvio delle indagini sul cosiddetto Qatargate (lo scandalo delle presunte mazzette versate per ammorbidire le critiche all’Emirato in vista dei mondiali di calcio), le ricadute si allargano ora dal Parlamento di Strasburgo alla Commissione di Bruxelles.

Un direttore generale è stato costretto alle dimissioni, per aver accettato di volare gratis e in business class con la compagnia di bandiera del Paese del Golfo, proprio mentre questa stava trattando con la Ue un fondamentale accordo nel settore dell’aviazione civile. Contemporaneamente l’”Authority etica”, che dovrebbe elaborare nuove regole di condotta per quanti lavorano sotto le insegne dell’Unione, stenta a decollare. E con essa l’atteso “decalogo” per evitare nuovi casi spiacevoli.

L’alto dirigente dell’esecutivo che ha rinunciato all’incarico è l’estone Henrik Hololei, numero uno del dipartimento trasporti. Un’inchiesta giornalistica ha rivelato che fra il 2015 e il 2021 ha accettato per nove volte di viaggiare e soggiornare a spese del governo di Doha, anche durante il negoziato con Bruxelles. E lo ha fatto dopo aver “autorizzato se stesso”, in qualità di capo della struttura, secondo le regole a quel tempo in vigore. Prima di arrendersi, il funzionario ha trattato per un trasferimento a parità di stipendio ad un altro incarico, con minori poteri decisionali ma tutt’altro che disprezzabile.

Tuttavia tre giorni fa l’Ufficio antifrodi dell’Ue (l’Olaf) ha aperto un’indagine sulla vicenda e tutto potrebbe ancora accadere.

Altro tema scottante che ciclicamente si riproduce negli “euro-palazzi” è quello delle cosiddette “porte girevoli”, ossia i casi di politici o amministratori che escono dagli uffici comunitari per entrare dietro lauti compensi in grandi imprese o multinazionali private, sempre molto interessate a sfruttare le conoscenze “dall’interno” dei nuovi assunti.

L’ultimo episodio riguarda l’irlandese Eamonn Brennan, fino a dicembre a capo dell’Agenzia che controlla il traffico aereo del Continente e da ieri sul libro paga del colosso Ryanair come consigliere d’amministrazione.

Da notare che, a fine novembre scorso, il manager era stato accusato di riservare un trattamento di favore proprio al “patron” della più importante compagnia di voli a basso costo, il suo compatriota Michael O’Leary, a quanto pare di casa nella sala operativa di Eurocontrol. Anche in questo caso, non c’è stata violazione formale delle regole vigenti.

Ma non c’è dubbio che un serio problema di opportunità si pone e va affrontato. Conflitti d’interesse più o meno evidenti, accettazione di doni e inviti sospetti, partecipazione a eventi di scarso valore sostanziale ma ad alto contenuto festaiolo: uno stillicidio di azioni che sfigura l’immagine dell’Europa.

Da ultimo, sempre nella settimana che si è appena chiusa, l’ennesimo richiamo alla Commissione – stavolta particolarmente severo – da parte del “Mediatore europeo”. Motivo, i ritardi cronici, talora interminabili, alle “richieste di accesso” di cittadini e organismi vari. Un diritto previsto dai Trattati Ue, che permette a chiunque di visionare i documenti alla base delle decisioni prese dal governo di Bruxelles.

Tra poco più di un anno si voterà per il rinnovo del Parlamento europeo: per evitare nuove diserzioni di massa dalle urne, sarà bene intervenire subito e in modo che i cittadini se ne accorgano.

POLITICO – Fraud inquiry launched into EU transport chief’s free Qatar flights

Henrik Hololei has been Director-General of the European Commission’s department for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), a position he has held since 2015. He served as a Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission from 2013 to 2015. Previously, Hololei served twice as Head of cabinet when Sim Kallaas was Vice-President for transport from 2010 to 2013 and Vice-President for administration, audit and anti-fraud from 2004 to 2010. He has also worked as Chief Government Counsellor for EU Affairs in the Estonian government from 2003 to 2004 and the Director of the Office of European Integration from 2002 to 2003, prior to Estonia joining the European Union in 2004. He has a degree in Economics from Tallinn Technical University.

Henrik Hololei faces new EU probe after POLITICO revealed his free trips to Qatar while his team struck open skies deal with Gulf state.

March 30, 2023 8:01 pm CET – By Jacopo Barigazzi, Joshua Posaner and Mari Eccles

The EU’s anti-fraud office has opened an investigation into Henrik Hololei, the EU’s departing transport chief, following POLITICO’s revelations that he accepted free flights on Qatar Airways.

The fresh probe comes shortly after Hololei resigned from his position as director general of the European Commission’s transport department on Wednesday amid mounting scrutiny over the free trips, which came while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state.

Hololei approved the flights himself — a procedure that was allowed at the time. The rules were later changed following the revelations.

“We can confirm that OLAF has opened an investigation into the matter,” said the agency, formally known as OLAF, in a statement to POLITICO. The probe, the agency’s press office stressed “does not mean that the persons/entities involved have committed an irregularity/fraud.”

OLAF is tasked with investigating EU budget fraud and misconduct within EU institutions. It can recommend disciplinary actions, but its suggestions are non-binding. It can also refer evidence of criminal activity to relevant authorities, but it cannot bring criminal charges itself.

Prior to the OLAF announcement, the Commission had also been probing Hololei’s flights. But on Friday, a Commission spokesperson said the institution had paused its work and would defer to the anti-fraud office’s investigation, citing an agreement between the two.

The OLAF probe is the latest development in the weekslong saga that began in late February when POLITICO reported that Hololei had flown business class for free on Qatar Airways nine times between 2015 and 2021, according to details obtained through freedom of information requests.

Six of the free flights occurred while the EU and Doha were hammering out their aviation agreement. And four of the flights were paid for by the Qatari government or a group with links to Qatar.

On Wednesday March 29, Hololei said he was resigning as director general of the European Commission’s transport department, known in the Brussels lexicon as DG MOVE, and moving to a department dealing with international partnerships. He will retain his salary level but lose his management responsibilities, according to a senior EU official.

EU transport chief quits his post over free Qatar flights

Henrik Hololei is under investigation after POLITICO revealed he accepted free tickets while his officials struck an open skies deal with Doha

By Nicholas Vinocur, Jacopo Barigazzi, Mari Eccles and Samuel Stolton

March 29, 2023 11:20 am CET

BRUSSELS — A top European Union official is leaving his role in charge of transport policy, following POLITICO’s revelations that he accepted free flights on Qatar Airways while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state.

Henrik Hololei, director general of the European Commission’s transport department, faced an internal investigation into the flights, and whether he was right to clear himself of any conflict of interest.

On Wednesday, POLITICO revealed Hololei will leave his job as director general of the transport department, known in the Brussels lexicon as DG MOVE, and will become a political adviser with no management responsibility in DG INTPA, the Commission’s department in charge of international partnerships.

A spokesperson for the Commission later confirmed to reporters that Hololei would move to his new role on April 1, 2023.

Top EU official flew free with Qatar while Brussels drafted Doha air deal

POLITICO reveals EU transport chief took Qatar Airways freebies, as his officials worked on an open skies deal with Doha.

By Mari Eccles, Samuel Stolton and Joshua Posaner

February 27, 2023 7:50 pm CET

BRUSSELS — The European Commission is facing demands for an inquiry after POLITICO revealed its top transport official took free flights from the Qatari government while his team was negotiating a major aviation deal vital to the Gulf state’s own airline.

Henrik Hololei, the director general of the Commission’s transport department, flew business class for free on Qatar Airways nine times between 2015 and 2021, according to details obtained by POLITICO through freedom of information requests. Six of the free flights occurred while the market access agreement was being put together, and four of these were paid for by the government of Qatar or a group with links to Qatar.

Transparency campaigners called for an investigation into the EU executive’s links to Qatar and criticized Brussels’ ethics rules as too weak.

Hololei declined to comment. A Commission spokesperson defended Hololei’s decision to accept the free Qatar Airways flights. “All the missions detailed … were authorized and conducted in accordance with the applicable rules,” the spokesperson said, adding that potential conflicts of interest were “carefully considered and excluded.”

POLITICO’s investigation follows revelations that Qatar and Morocco allegedly paid large sums of cash to bribe EU lawmakers to do their bidding in the European Parliament, claims that have severely damaged the bloc’s reputation and the credibility of EU institutions. A law enforcement inquiry has targeted senior Brussels figures including current and former MEPs and their staff, while police raids yielded €1.5 million in cash.

One MEP linked to the inquiry though not charged with any offenses — Maria Arena — resigned as a committee chair hours after POLITICO revealed she had accepted free flights and accommodation paid for by Qatar and then failed to declare them transparently.

The FOI disclosures from the Commission detailed all Qatar Airways flights senior EU officials in the transport department took between January 1, 2015 and January 1, 2022, a timeframe which includes the negotiations on the open skies deal. The Commission was given a mandate to work on the deal in June 2016 and signed the final agreement in October 2021.

In January 2017, just months after Hololei’s team at the Commission began work on the air services deal with Qatar, Hololei accepted free business class flights on the state-owned airline, Qatar Airways, from Brussels to Doha — and back again. The travel was paid for by the government of Qatar, the documents showed.

Henrik Hololei, the director general of the Commission’s transport department, flew for free on Qatar Airways nine times between 2015 and 2021, according to details obtained by POLITICO | Rodrigo Antunes/EPA-EFE

The final aviation deal granted Qatar-based airlines, including Qatar Airways, landing rights at most EU destinations, offering the carrier lucrative access to a market of 450 million consumers. In return, EU airlines got reciprocal rights for a market of fewer than 3 million people, but through a Doha airport hub that’s strategically located between the megacities of Europe and Asia.

The Commission spokesperson said Hololei’s visit to Qatar was not part of the EU-Qatar air transport negotiations, adding that he “has never been part” of the group negotiating the deal. However, Hololei ran the department working on the negotiations and has consistently promoted collaboration with Qatar in public.

In February 2019, he praised the “honest engagement and open dialogue” between the State of Qatar and the EU, and in June 2019 he met Qatar’s Transport Minister Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, when the pair discussed “means of enhancing Qatar-European Commission relations in the fields of civil aviation and transportation.”

The Commission spokesperson said that “by default,” the institution covers expenses incurred by its staff on foreign trips. “In certain cases, third parties may offer to cover the entirety or part of the respective mission expenses,” the spokesperson said. If this is the case, “all forms of potential conflict of interests have to be excluded, as a condition for the mission to be authorized.”

While the aviation agreement was being drawn up, Hololei also traveled for free with Qatar Airways to a meeting organized by the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) — which lists Qatar Airways’ CEO on its executive committee. These return flights in 2019 were in business class seats, paid for by the AACO. In November 2021, a month after the agreement was signed, the AACO paid for Hololei to travel with Qatar Airways to Doha, where he was speaking at the organization’s annual general meeting.

Another set of return Qatar Airways tickets in February 2020 took Hololei — a regular speaker at industry events — to the Centre for Aviation’s (CAPA) political and regulatory summit in Doha. These flights were paid for by the organizer, which has no clear links to the state of Qatar other than that the flight was booked with the country’s flag carrier Qatar Airways. The EU-Qatar aviation agreement was still being worked on at the time.

“Qatar Airways can confirm that as the host airline for both AACO and CAPA conferences taking place in Doha, guests/speakers were flown by the airline to the conferences as guests of the two organizations, as is customary when requested by the organizers of such events,” a spokesperson for the airline wrote in an emailed statement to POLITICO.

The government of Qatar did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for AACO said it was common practice to provide free business class travel for speakers at its events.

A CAPA spokesperson said the organization arranges transport for speakers “as is standard practice.” The spokesperson confirmed that Hololei was a speaker at the Doha event and that was why flights were provided. Qatar Airways was “one of our many sponsors,” the CAPA spokesperson added.

Free Qatar flights

The revelations of Hololei’s free travel put the Commission under renewed scrutiny over how the EU’s policy directors handled lobbying by the Qatari government, amid the ongoing scandal over alleged corruption in the European Parliament.

Vicky Cann, a campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory, said Hololei’s travel program “exposes how Qatargate is not confined to the European Parliament, how EU ethics rules are not robust enough, and how enforcement of current rules is far too weak.”

Meanwhile, Transparency International’s Nicholas Aiossa said that the disclosure of Hololei’s free flights “should warrant an independent inquiry into the European Commission’s handling of its relations with Qatar.”

A Commission spokesperson declined to respond to these criticisms.

The EU-Qatar aviation deal came under the spotlight after the Qatargate cash-for-favors scandal erupted in December, with MEPs voting to suspend all work on the file. In practice, that decision was merely symbolic since the accord is effectively already in force.

The European Parliament will only get a confirmatory vote on the agreement once all EU countries have formally ratified it, a process that is likely to take years.

The aviation deal faced heavy criticism while it was being negotiated — especially from European long-haul airlines and unions that argued it undermined competition. But the Commission has received support from some unlikely quarters since the Qatargate allegations emerged.

The European Cockpit Association pilots’ union, a long-time opponent of the accord, said earlier this month that it was unlikely anything untoward happened during negotiations, arguing in a blog that the deal was a natural result of the Commission’s “ultra-liberal” approach to aviation.

This article has been updated to add comments from AACO and CAPA.

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