I. Constitutional Aspects

The Commission resigned on 16th March 1999 shortly after the publication of the First Report of the Committee of Independent Experts. 1 The Committee had been created by common agreement between the European Parliament and the Commission in order to address the persistent allegations of fraud, mismanagement and nepotism levelled at the Commission. 2 The First Report investigated allegations of fraud against individual commissioners and the Commission as a whole. 3 Although most of the allegations of fraud against individual commissioners were discarded as unfounded, the Committee held the Commission responsible for a series of mismanagement, administrative irregularities and a general failure to oversee the work it had contracted out. 4 The conclusions of the report were damning and it became clear that resignation of the whole Commission was the only way forward. The events came at an all-time low for the Commission and will have lasting effects on the institution and its legitimacy

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