Accused of corruption, misuse of power and fraud, the Santer Commission threw in the towel on 15 March 1999. We look back at events and examine the Parliament’s role in forcing the Commission to resign.

History: Fall of the Santer Commission

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/13765208/V001-0004-EN.srt

The Commission members   have unanimously decided

to hand in their   collective resignation.

Thus the Commission   accepts its responsibilities.

On 15 March 1999, after a damning   report by independent experts

and with the threat of a vote   of no-confidence from MEPs,

the Santer Commission   threw in the towel.

Several commissioners   were accused of fraud

and most notably the French   research commissioner Edith Cresson.

She was accused of misusing her   influence by giving a friend a job

on her personal staff as a scientific   adviser - a post that didn't exist.

Madame Cresson had given very   important, well-paid contracts to relatives,

in a way that was neither open   nor transparent.

The financial scandal broke out   first of all within the Commission

when an official leaked   a highly critical report.

The press got hold of the story, making it   impossible to hush up the scandal.

It was a time when every   murmur became gossip.

It was as if the European institutions   were dens of iniquity,

where favours, fraud   and corruption were rife.

For the first time, the Parliament   dared attack the Commission head on.

It is through the committee for budgetary   control that the scandal grew.

The collective resignation   of the Commission

clarified the Parliament's role as   a political force within the EU.

Parliament rose up   as a real legislative power.

It was always thought that the   Parliament was just a talking shop

and only the Council had legislative   powers but that all changed.

The Parliament's relations   with the Commission began to change.

From that point on the parliamentary   auditions for commissioners

The Commission then began to feel   - as the treaty stipulated -

that it was controlled   by the Parliament.

This scandal also sparked the creation   of OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office.

for keeping a closer eye   on the EU's financial dealings.

Despite legal proceedings,   findings are still mixed.

finally recognised   that the ex-PM of France

had failed in her responsibilities   as a commissioner.

But after an inquiry   by the Belgian courts,

Edith Cresson's case   was dismissed due to lack of evidence.