madam president perhaps the most disgraceful aspect of the commissioner's conduct which this report discloses over and above the appalling treatment meted out to the complainant in this case is that it was not an isolated case of maladministration
indeed the facts disclosed in this trenchant report go beyond the realms of mere negligence and indolence
rather it is a reasonable conclusion to draw that this sort of behaviour on the part of the commission is both quite deliberate and nothing less than a calculated course of conduct designed to thwart the hard work of the ombudsman and to trash the rule of law
his work is difficult enough without the added problem of a commission that set out as the facts here show to impede at every turn the proper conduct of his office
there was a time when if such shabby conduct on the part of public servants was revealed both functionaries and the minister responsible would fall on their swords
instead i expect we shall see here an arrogant and overweening commission doing what it does best thumbing its nose at the public whilst the guilty ones go unpunished
no wonder the eu has never been so unpopular
