Belgian police raided the EU’s diplomatic service in Brussels on Tuesday, along with the College of Europe in Bruges and private homes, as part of a probe into alleged misuse of EU funds, according to people familiar with the investigation and witnesses, APA reports, citing Euractiv.
Raids took place across Belgium in the early hours of the morning, with police seizing documents and arresting three people to question them on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and criminal conflict of interest.
Around 10 officers dressed in civilian clothes entered the European External Action Service (EEAS) headquarters at 7:30 am on Tuesday, one eyewitness said. Another EU official from the EU’s diplomatic service confirmed the raid.
The criminal probe began after allegations that the EEAS, and the College of Europe – the prestigious post-graduate training school for Eurocrats – misused EU public money in 2021 and 2022, according to four people with knowledge of the investigation.
The raids are the latest major scandal to hit the EU institutions and will pile pressure on the College of Europe and its rector, Federica Mogherini, who used to run the EEAS, and started a second five-year term in Bruges this year.
Mogherini, a former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, did not immediately respond to Euractiv’s questions.
Belgian federal police and the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, took part in the operation as part of a criminal probe led by the EU’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
Spokespersons from EPPO and OLAF declined to comment.
Investigators are examining whether the College of Europe or its representatives had prior knowledge of a public tender to finance the new EU Diplomatic Academy, an annual training programme for European diplomats in Bruges which is funded by the EEAS.
The College of Europe, founded in 1949, is regarded as the EU’s finishing school for diplomats and civil servants, with alumni including top politicians and officials in the European institutions.
Investigators have focused on the circumstances surrounding the college’s €3.2 million purchase of a building on Spanjaardstraat in Bruges, which houses diplomats who attend the academy, the four people with knowledge of the probe said.
The competition to host the academy required applicants to provide accommodation.
The College of Europe purchased the building in 2022 during a period of financial strain, and shortly before the EEAS issued a tender that later awarded the institution €654,000 in funding, two people with knowledge of the probe said.
Investigators examined allegations that the College of Europe and its representatives had access to confidential information about the tender, which was supposed to remain confidential to allow for fair competition between institutions vying to host the new academy.
OLAF, which has administrative powers to pursue suspected fraud involving EU money, interviewed several individuals before passing its findings to EPPO, tasked with investigating and prosecuting serious crimes against the EU’s interests.
There is no indication that OLAF or EPPO have reached conclusions of wrongdoing, and no one has been formally charged yet.
The College of Europe and the new EU Diplomatic Academy are both led by Mogherini, the former Socialist Italian foreign minister, who led the EEAS as high representative for foreign affairs between 2014 and 2019. She became rector of the College in 2020 and director of the academy at its launch in 2022.
During the period under scrutiny, the EEAS was led by another Socialist former foreign minister, Spain’s Josep Borrell.
A spokesperson for Borrell was not immediately available for comment.
A spokesperson for the College of Europe declined to comment. A spokesperson for the EEAS said he had no information.
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond.
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