European Commission confirms Babiš’s conflict of interest in Czechia

The European Commission has concluded that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is in a conflict of interest and that the measures taken to resolve it are insufficient. The anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI) reported this, citing Brussels’ reply to its inquiry.

TI turned to the Commission in May, after Babiš placed the shares of his Agrofert holding into the RSVP Trust trust fund in February. The organization doubted that this step was enough and sent questions to the EU institutions.

What the European Commission wrote

According to TI, the reply it quotes says that, based on information from the Czech national authorities, the Commission concluded that Babiš’s situation constitutes a conflict of interest within the meaning of Article 61(3) of the EU’s 2024 Financial Regulation. The measures notified to the Commission are insufficient to resolve that conflict under paragraph 1 of the same article.

David Kotora, head of TI’s Czech office, believes Brussels has sided with the organization: by placing the shares in a fund, Babiš did not resolve the conflict of interest. The prime minister himself has repeatedly said that he did. “This report convicts Babiš of lying, because he did not keep the promise he made to the public and the president to settle his property affairs in line with European and Czech law before being appointed prime minister,” Kotora said.

Babiš told the ČTK news agency it was nonsense: “I did much more than I had to. If I followed the conflict-of-interest rules for European commissioners, it would have been enough for me to report the conflict and walk out the door.”

“We will be watching you”

According to TI, the Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG Agri) also warned in its letter that the European Commission will take all necessary measures to protect the EU’s financial interests, including a possible interruption of payment deadlines, suspension of payments or financial corrections. Brussels also intends to keep checking whether the management and control systems in Czechia are working. “The Commission will in particular carefully monitor future changes that could weaken its resilience to conflict-of-interest situations,” TI quotes Wernerová as saying.

TI sent its complaint not only to DG Agri but also to the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG Just), the Directorate-General for Budget (DG Budget), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Babiš: I do not own Agrofert

Last month, because the possible conflict of interest had not been adequately addressed, the European Commission suspended the deadline for paying out €3.18 million (about 77 million crowns) from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development for six months. In a letter to the Czech authorities it also pointed out that the potential beneficiaries of the RSVP Trust fund are Babiš’s descendants and that, in the Commission’s view, the prime minister has information about its portfolio. Babiš insists that he does not own the fund.

“Something is being dealt with now at the level of our officials and the Commission’s officials, they are exchanging some letters. But I am not dealing with it, because the whole thing is absolute nonsense,” the prime minister said. Agrofert is convinced it acted in line with the law. The Czech opposition believes the prime minister deceived both the president and citizens.

Kotora, for his part, accuses Babiš of “abusing public budgets to support his own business and continuing to damage the good name of the Czech Republic abroad”. “That is why he must resign as head of the government,” he urged.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz